[.ca] Pre-Millennium Tension

From Amazon.co.uk:
Pre-Millennium Tension picks up where the first album, Maxinquaye, left off, but this CD fulfils the promise of Tricky's unbounded spontaneity and fondness for sonic digression. Abandoning the accessible pop of Maxinquaye, Pre-Millennium Tension serves up a beguiling array of sound effects, electro distortion and fragmented lyrics that amount to a rich--if bizarre-musical montage. As suggested by its title, this disc zeros in on a kind of end-of-the-millennium disruption of classifiable sound. With its cross-pollination of hip-hop, cabaret balladry, background textures, and disjointed arrangements, Pre-Millennium Tension takes a peek at the future of pop music and declares it will be nothing like we expect. --Nick Heil

Chronique amazon.fr:
Au tournant de l'an 2000, un titre en forme d'avertissement par celui qui représente la force noire du trip-hop. Membre actif de la Wild Bunch, puis électron libre à la périphérie de Massive Attack, Tricky impose, avec ce deuxième album, un univers touffu et couillu, une jungle sonore qui fait se percuter voix soul, beats hip-hop, ambiances trip-hop et les récurrences d'un dub roboratif. Du coup, en faisant imploser le genre de l'intérieur, le mauvais garçon de la scène de Bristol s'impose comme l'une des voix tout à fait singulières dans un univers où de pâles copies fleurissent. --Jacques Denis

experimental, otherworldly:
I can understand why some people can't really get into this whole album. A lot of it is really out there and doesn't vibe to beats you can really nod your head to. But I like strange, off-the-beaten-path music and this stuff certainly qualifies. "Vent" kicks off the album with a steady, relentless drum-roll beat, what sounds like highly tortured backwards guitar, layers of trademark sampled percussion and Martina repeating, " Can't hardly breath" - very claustrophobic. "Christiansands" and "Tricky Kid" are fabulous - classic Tricky. "Bad Dream" is less compelling but pretty good. "\oShe\c Makes Me Wanna Die" has a laid-back hip-hop beat with nice vocals and melody. But the lyrics make me kind of uncomfortable - especially listening with my girlfriend. I don't know, sweetly singing "She makes me wanna die" is uncomfortably creepy to me. No one should be complaining that they can't understand the "Ghetto Youth;" neither can I, but I find the cant fascinating and I'm grateful to be exposed to something so alien to me. If I rejected all the vocals I couldn't understand, I'd have to get rid of nearly half my CDs! "Sex Drive" has that fluttering, rolling off the rails quality one hears in "Vent." "Bad Things" is murky and dark while "Lyrics of Fury" is a hyperkenetic rap. "My Evil is Strong" is very experimental, very rambling and pure genius. Finally, "Piano" has an ominous atmosphere. Tricky recites a staggered rap over what sounds like breathing machines pumping in rhythm to the spare piano chords. Not for everyone, but it took me a few listens to digest the compellingly innovative sounds on this album. Tricky's where it's at!

best trip hop you can hear:
This is my favorite downbeat album, beating out portishead and massive attack. The track "tricky kid" is worth the whole CD. Tricky somehow manages to get a downtempo feel without loosing an edge or feeling overly polished. It feels soft and gritty at the same time. Amazing!

Underated if unpolished gem:
I think this is one of Tricky's better albums but is usually snubbed when i mention it to people.This is probably his darkest and most intense work, making it all the more endearing for being so.His signature incoherant, lispy grumblings are present - and stand out on the tracks Tricky Kid and Sex Drive.The earlier tracks are a lot funkier than the last few which could have been trimmed off without loss.Still i am happy to have it in my collection and do still play it on occassions though not at my Grandma's birthday party.

There's Something About This album:
I don't know what it is. I can't quite explain it. Every time I listen to PMT though I feel it. The songs are like a vaccum, they move through you and fill you with a void. It's the only album in my collection that presents a sort of hollow apathy towards the world as if it sees everything in some sort of half-sleep state where you'd only partially understand the world as you normally would. I think this is Tricky's most important album, and the only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is simply because you can't listen to it whenever you want to. The music is very abstract, and the voices and lyrics are usually garbled or spoken in a seemingly disjointed manner that doesn't really follow any clear method. Thoughts and analysis ruin the album, and you have to listen to the voices and not the words being spoken. If you listen to it around lunch-time when you're wide-eyed awake and dilligently pursuing some errand in your day, you'll be thinking and moving too fast to get this. The moon and stars have to be around when you hear this, and even then you have to be in a certain state of mind; you basically have to be in a mental place where you don't particularly care about anything. Then, this album comes alive and engulfs your brain like cold black tar. It flows over you and through you, like some faceless phantom. It's hard to explain, this is a truly unique album. Despite how many times you listen to it or try to get into it, you'll never appreciate it until you hear it under the right circumstances.

FANTASTIC!!:
This CD confirms for me that the 90s was probably the greatest decade for music in terms of freshness, creativity and inventivness. The triphop scene especially. Dark demonic trippy rythmes and beats coupled with soft creamy singing against raspy grainy vocals which sound like he's been gargling gravel. Although I have to say I think Trick blew his load on this CD. Nothing he did after quite matched up. Thsi is a gem and should be in your collection.

• Vent
• Christiansands
• Tricky Kid
• Bad Dream
• Makes Me Wanna Die
• Ghetto Youth
• Sex Drive
• Bad Things
• Lyrics of Fury
• My Evil Is Strong
• Piano