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By Eric Chavez

After Sade’s “No Ordinary Love,” the best song used for a love scene in a film has got to be Massive Attack’s  “Unfinished Symphony” in the film Sliver, but Massive Attack went on to be known as much more than erotic thriller music makers. The band, in their 20+ year career has broken ground and conventions of what music is and can be. It’s been nearly seven years since their last LP, but not a beat has been missed as seen in Helioland.

Horace Andy of course makes an appearance on the disc, as do many other vocalists. It’s the music, though, that makes this album stand apart from any album out there today. The band has always been known for their experimental beats and song structures and Heligoland does not disappoint.

“Flat on the Blade” shows minimalistic music at it’s most extreme. Hums and electronic beats make up for the backbeat, making it perhaps one of the bands least commercial tracks of all time. Going down the eery road, “Psyche” has a mix of a mesmerizing sound but weak vocals.

The same could be said for “Paradise Circus,” the rhythm is there but the singer just doesn’t cut it. “Saturday Come Slow,” the most commercial on the record, mellows things out and “Atlas Air” brings the electronic bliss to the mix.

The “catchiest” of them all, “Girl I Love You” sounds like a musical theme Madonna may have experimented with in the late 1990’s. We all remember the group and Madonna collaborated in 1995 on her track “I Want You,” a cover of the Marvin Gaye classic. It would have been really interesting to see what else these visionaries could have come up with together.

Going back to the vocals, when it comes to the female vocalist on the album, the thing is that they make you miss the past singers like Neneh  Cherry and Shara Nelson. They had soul and grit, and that’s something that these female vocalists clearly lack.

At the end of the day, the music on the record is much like the cover art, done by Robert Del Naja. Its odd, weird, experiment, sometimes infectious, sometimes eerie, sometimes fascinating, but always serves it’s purpose and is not different for the sake of being different. Massive Attack have proved once again that changing things up can bring you far beyond outside the box, if done well, it can lead to success.  Not for everyone, but Heligoland makes for an interesting adventure.

In the musical world, so many acts trip over themselves trying to be hot. This makes it even more refreshing that Collective Efforts seem to just want to chill. Effortless and smooth, Freezing World sends a gentle beat-based breezed through your mind. The LP, a concept record, is full of musical ice, but the delivery from the boys brings the heat.

Rap is known for its simple-beats and cliché lyrics on bling, hoes, and the club. Collective Efforts don’t play that. Like a rose rising from the snow, Collective efforts breathe life and beauty into the limp genre. Unlike trendy rap artists, Collective Efforts sound isn’t frozen in time. Though they aren’t alone, for there are plenty of fresh rap acts out there, they are definitely one of the best.

At first crack, the albums first track “Tunnel Vision” melts the tension with its funky fusion of longue and hip-hop. Perhaps the groups most atmospheric work, the song gives past rap-haters something to love about the genre.

Tingled with musical ice water, “The Game” and “Hour of Change” drip with steamy sounds.  On the other side, “So Cold” has the frozen solid sound, mixing hard hip-hop with soft piano samples, making it the darkest, but also one of the most memorable of the disc.

Standing out like a glacier in the ocean, “Good Energy” slides the listener down a musical journey. Airy and haunting, “Good Energy” brings nothing but good energy and funky feelings with its vivacious vibes.

Flowing to the jazzy side, “Crazy Things,” “Freezing World,” and “Try Again” get down to the sassy samples that move your feet to their boss beats. “Time to Grow” has the feel-good vibe that the band is known and loved for, and though they stay true to their roots on this album, this song and more show that the band has always grown in their sound and their message.

Scented with soul and frozen in funk, the album stands as the best rap album in 10 years. With rhymes tight and rhythms right, Freezing World shows that not all rappers ice is diamonds. Rarely can a rap album actually be all killer and no filler, but at the end of this ice-age era of the band, it’s only obvious these  men will survive to the next era of rap.