100th Window

100th Window is the fourth studio album by English electronic music group Massive Attack, released on 10 February 2003 by Virgin Records. The album was mainly produced by lead member Robert Del Naja, as the group's producer Andrew Vowles departed shortly after the release of their previous album Mezzanine (1998), and Grant Marshall opted out of the production of the album. 100th Window features vocals from regular guest Horace Andy, as well as newcomers Sinéad O'Connor and Damon Albarn (performing as 2D from Gorillaz). Stylistically, it is the first album by the group to make no use of existing samples, and contains none of the hip hop or jazz fusion styles that the group were initially known for.
Background
Del Naja initially conceived of 100th Window in its untitled form in early 2000 at the Christchurch Studios in Clifton, Bristol, recruiting Lupine Howl, a band made up of ex-members of Spiritualized, for the new project. In a November 2001 interview, Lupine Howl's lead singer Sean Cook described the sessions as "very experimental [...] minimal loops and noises that were fed to our headphones from the computer up in the control room. Then we would have this sort of extended jam session playing along to them and they would do various things to do the loops." Del Naja and Davidge also maintained a strobe light in their studio while the band jammed, dictating the intensity of their performances with the lighting. However, in a post to Massive Attack's forums in July 2002, Del Naja subsequently announced that the band had become "very unhappy with the shapes being formed", and that by the beginning of 2002 they had discarded most of the material that was written up to that point; the September 11 attacks also motivated him to depart from the original tone of the album.
Reception
Initial critical response to 100th Window was positive. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 75, based on 25 reviews.
As of February 2010, the album had sold 180,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Track listing
Notes
Track 7 features backing vocals by the character 2-D, performed by Damon Albarn.
On track 9, "Antistar" ends at 8:17. At 8:47, an untitled instrumental track, commonly referred to as "LP4", plays.
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of 100th Window.
Musicians
Alex Swift – additional programming, keyboards
Sinéad O'Connor – vocals
Horace Andy – vocals
Robert Del Naja – vocals, string arrangement
Angelo Bruschini – guitar
Damon Reece – drums
Jon Harris – bass
Stuart Gordon – violin
Skaila Kanga – harp
Craig Pruess – string arrangement, conducting
Neil Davidge – string arrangement
Gavyn Wright – orchestra leader
2-D (performed by Damon Albarn) – backing vocals on "Small Time Shot Away"
Technical
Robert Del Naja – production
Neil Davidge – production
Alex Swift – additional programming, keyboards
Lee Shephard – recording, engineering
Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing
Paul "P Dub" Walton – mixing assistance
David Treahearn – mixing assistance
Robert Haggett – mixing assistance
Tim Young – mastering
Mike Ross – recording
Artwork
Robert Del Naja – art direction, design
Tom Hingston – art direction, design
Nick Knight – photography
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications and sales
Notes
References
2003 albums
Albums produced by Neil Davidge
Ambient dub albums
Massive Attack albums
Minimal techno albums
Virgin Records albums