20. Maxinquaye - Tricky 1995
Adrian Nicholas Matthews Thaws became known as 'Tricky Kid', later dropping the 'Kid' part. Part of the burgeoning Bristol Hip Hop/Trip Hop scene, he joined up with a local collective called, The Wild Bunch, who then, by the turn of the decade, had morphed into, Massive Attack, who became hugely successful and influential, in their own right. On their debut album, 'Blue Lines', Tricky can be heard rapping. In 1994, he decided to step out from under the Massive Attack umbrella, signed a deal with Island Records, and began working on 'Maxinquaye'. The record (named after Tricky's mother, Maxine Quaye) features two unsung heroes in the shape of co-producer, Mark Saunders, and vocalist, Martina Topley-Bird, who features on almost every track. She was also Tricky's girlfriend at the time and her vocals are a key ingredient to the mysterious and dark moods this album portrays. The opening track, 'Overcome', is eerie and horror-movie like, with great use of pan-pipes to boot. Saunders and Tricky construct, bleak and nightmarish songs that are not a comfortable listen. Saunders, who was under the impression that he was to act as engineer, frequently found himself utilized as DJ and programmer, under Tricky's direction and supervision. Tricky definitely had a vision of how his debut was going to sound, with an apocalyptic menace that was a far cry from how safe Trip became in the second half of the 90's, when it became background music for upscale dinner parties. Tricky himself appears in a minor vocal role on second track, 'Panderosa', but doesn't take the lead until track 4, 'Hell is Round the Corner', which is a highlight, using the same Isaac Hayes sample that Portishead base their hit, 'Glory Box', on. Self-doubt, claustrophobic paranoia, has rarely sounded so seductive and, worryingly inviting. He would never match the quality and impact, heard on 'Maxinquaye'.