Massive Attack v Mad Professor - No Protection [UK Import]

No Protection hands Massive Attack's Protection to dub scientist Mad Professor, who strips it down and rebuilds it as a smoky, echo-drenched landmark, here as a UK import.

The Bristol collective had released Protection, their second album, in 1994. Mad Professor, the London producer behind the Ariwa label, was first asked to remix a single, and the idea grew until he had reworked almost the entire record track by track. Released in 1995, it arrived just as a new generation was rediscovering dub, and it became one of the most celebrated remix albums of the decade.

"Radiation Ruling the Nation" turns the title track into eight minutes of drifting reverb, Tracey Thorn's voice surfacing and vanishing like a radio signal at night. "Bumper Ball Dub" reworks "Karmacoma" into a heavy, rolling groove, while "Cool Monsoon" floats the elegant piano of "Weather Storm" over a bed of echo. "Trinity Dub" keeps things low, slow and hypnotic.

Throughout, bass is king. Mad Professor pushes the low end forward, chops vocals into fragments and lets delay effects bounce around the stereo field until the originals feel like half-remembered dreams.

It works brilliantly as a companion to Protection, and even better on its own, with the lights down and the volume up.