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Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
100th Window
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 25 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 32 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Virgin
Release Date: 11 February 2003
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Electronic, Alternative, Trip-Hop
Summary
The first of two planned 2003 releases for the far-from-prolific Bristol-based electronica collective sees the group pared down to one original member: Robert "3-D" del Naja (although Grant "Daddy G." Marshall intends to return to the group for the next disc). Horace Andy returns to provide vocals on several tracks, and Sinead O'Connor also guests on two songs.
Also On The Web: Official Artist Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Stylus Magazine
The naysayers do not understand. Their expectations hamstring them.... Like the glass sculptures featured in the artwork it is precise, transparent, dangerously fragile, and ominously lit. 100th Window is a masterpiece of its kind.
Read Full Review >Urb
While its hardly an overwhelming masterpiece like Blue Lines or Protection, it still stands head and shoulders above most everything else. [Mar 2003, p.95]
Dot Music
'100th Window' is every bit the production masterpiece its predecessors are - in places harkening back to, if not quite matching, the collective's glorious debut.
Read Full Review >Alternative Press
It's a magnificent accomplishment, the sound of one long night spent waiting for someone, but never being certain if you want them to arrive. [Apr 2003, p.87]
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Where Mezzanine sounded scared and sinuous, 100th Window goes a step further: It sounds like music made for headphones with teeth.
Read Full Review >Mojo
It's recognisably the same band, but lower key, less structured, a set of soundscapes rather than songs, and sometimes almost gothic in its mood. [Mar 2003, p.97]
Vibe
With its ice-cold beats, smoldering bass lines, and shimmering textures, this is one of the most openly erotic albums British pop has ever given us. [Apr 2003, p.178]
Uncut
Takes a few listens to become accustomed to. [Mar 2003, p.104]
All Music Guide
Satisfaction enough for those who kept Mezzanine near their stereo for years on end, but a disappointment to those expecting another masterpiece.
Read Full Review >Launch.com
Is this Mezzanine lite? In a way, yes. There is nothing here as gripping as "Angel," "Risingson," or "Inertia Creeps." Womblike and seductive, this is make-out music for hibernating astronauts.
Read Full Review >Spin
100th Window is a masterpiece of haunted sonics. But the spirit of community that once warmed this band's angsty soul is missing. [March 2003, p.117]
Neumu.net
If there's one misstep on 100th Window, it's that [Sinead O'Connor's] talent and her range are underused.
Read Full Review >Dusted Magazine
For most artists, this album would be a significant achievement--but we've come to expect more from Massive Attack.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
Massive Attack fans won't be startled by anything on 100th Window, but at nine tracks, this may be the most accessible, freaky, futuristic electronic head-food album on the market.
Read Full Review >Village Voice
Even in the album's most quiet moments, songs rarely waver in dynamics from their liftoff point.
Read Full Review >Planet
The downside is a lack of innovation that has always accompanied Massive Attack's recordings. [#3, p.86]
Almost Cool
The problem is that it's just not very engaging, treading the same cinematic-heavy soundscapes over and over again without much in the way of dynamics or anything new in terms of sound.
Read Full Review >Playlouder
For those who looked forward to the new genre-leading direction in downbeat dance that would come with the next Massive Attack album... well, let's just say the major challenge you'll face with '100th Window' is deciding whether there is a hidden track or that 'Antistar' is really a 22-minute song with an excessively long silent bit in the middle.
Read Full Review >Billboard
100th Window meanders along, emotion-less and soul-less—albeit with haunting Middle Eastern flourishes.
Read Full Review >Blender
All the surfaces are exquisitely tasteful, all the string arrangements achingly melancholic. But there are no tunes. [#14, p.138]
The Wire
It's all elegantly executed and often beguiling, but just too clean and predictable to be really involving. [#228, p.62]
Entertainment Weekly
A series of often stillborn soundscapes. [14 Feb 2003, p.72]
E! Online
Less immediate than their brilliantly untouchable 1998 album Mezzanine, this project is unsettling, uneasy and, okay, sometimes unbearably depressing.
Read Full Review >Q Magazine
Everything comes dripping in portent and seems too in love with its own seriousness to excite any emotions. [Mar 2003, p.106]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 7.9 (out of 10) based on 32 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Phil M gave it a10:
Absolutely a 10! I can't get enough of Butterfly Caught!! That song just doesn't end...Definitely for headphones. CD should have a warning label advising anyone going through treatment for depression to stay away!! As good as Mezzanine? Yes, and so different. Next release, please.
Poldo G. gave it a10:
The best album for M/A Absolutely FUTURE PROOF!
Joris V. gave it an 8:
Just listen to Futureproof, Butterfly Caught or Smalltime Shot Away! Every album of the massive was different and the expectations heep rising each time too, that's wahy some gave it bad reviews... but this is another spooky masterpiece. 1.Protection 2.Mezznine 3. 100th Window 4. Blue Lines
nilo n gave it a 10:
The best album from Massive Attack. Incredible. I never listened somthing like this.
John gave it a 10:
As with all other Massive Attrack CD's, my favourite it Protection and Mezzanine, 100th Window is different, it what I expected late at night in a dark room - Fan Fucking Tastic..just listen to it!
Dave T gave it a 9:
in a darkened room, late at night, headphones on, it talks to your soul. not mezzanine, but nothing else ever was. i miss daddy g, and sinead is good but better on asian dub foundation. horrace andy is awesome. the next evolvement with daddy g back will show whether there is more magic to come or if this was the end.
L P gave it a 7:
This album is beautitul, but also quite dark and disturbing. It will take a couple of listens to get used to, but then after that you realize the detail in 3-D's production is Crazeeee!...but in a good way.
