Blue Lines
Blue Lines is usually considered the first trip hop album, although the term was not used commonly until years later. The album was a success in the United Kingdom, reaching #13 in the albums chart; sales were limited elsewhere. A mix of electronic music, hip hop, dub music, '70s soul music and reggae, the album established Massive Attack as one of the most best British bands of the 1990s and the founder of trip hop's Bristol Sound. Music critic Simon Reynolds stated that the album also marked a change in electronic/dance music, "a shift toward a more interior, meditational sound. The songs on Blue Lines run at 'spliff' tempos – from a mellow, moonwalking 90 beats per minute ...down to a positively torpid 67 bpm." The group also drew inspiration from concept albums in various genres by artists such as Pink Floyd, Public Image Ltd., Billy Cobham, Herbie Hancock and Isaac Hayes.