Massive Attack - Unfinished Sympathy
"Like a soul without a mind. In a body without a heart. I'm missing every part."
Album: Blue Lines [Debut album]
Recorded: Bristol & London, England
Genre: Trip Hop
Album Release: April 8th 1991
Single Release: February 11th 1991 [2nd single]
Length: 5:09
Producer: Massive Attack and Jonny Dollar
Vocals: Shara Nelson
Label: Virgin Records
Music video
Live in Belgium from 1991
Charts (Peak Position)
Holland: #1
UK: #13 [1x platinum]
Spotify: Over 120 million
YouTube Music: Over 90 million
BBC Radio 1 Best Tracks Ever (released in 1998 and voted for by the public): #1
Credits
Vocals: Shara Nelson
Strings Arrangement: Will Malone
Scratches: DJ Mushroom
Details
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As this song was released just after the start of the Gulf War Massive Attack dropped the 'Attack' from their name and were, for a while, known simply as Massive. They are featured as such on the single release.
- As far as 'Unfinished Sympathy' goes the melody came first. Originally Shara Nelson came up with the tune for a track she was working on called 'Kiss and Tell'. Coincidentally, in the same studio were Massive Attack who were working on their debut album Blue Lines.
They heard the melody and were so inspired they built the rest of the track around it, including the signature string section. So one of the classic tunes of the nineties came about almost by accident, if either party had decided not to show for whatever reason 'Unfinished Sympathy' wouldn't have happened. - Originally produced electronically, the group weren't happy with the strings and decided to have them recorded live in the studio using real instruments. DJ Mushroom was so confident in the quality of the track that he financed a 40-piece ensemble by selling his car. Quite the gamble as the group were still relatively unknown in 1991.
- It was Swedish singer Neneh Cherry who encouraged Massive Attack to actually get in the studio and record an album. She knew they had potential after performing with them in Bristol and in her 1989 hit single 'Buffalo Stance' she mentions "hanging with the Wild Bunch." The Wild Bunch, of course, being the group that would spawn Massive Attack.
- The video is a long one shot of Shara Nelson singing with the rest of the group making cameos in the background.
- There is a cover version by Tina Turner from 1996.
- There is a cover version by Hooverphonic.
Artwork
