Angel from Massive Attack – Everything you need to know about this song!
Website design By BotEap.comFirst released on: April 20, 1998
Duration: 06:18
Variations / Remixes: Website design By BotEap.comBlur Remix – A remix made by Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon of Blur, which is a far cry from the normal version, which has polarized many fans for its quality (or lack of it!). This was Damon Albarn’s first remix for another artist that was released. He worked on remixing some of Tricky’s songs two years earlier, but the couple fell out and the material was never released. Included in all individual releases. Website design By BotEap.comMad Professor Remix – The Mad Professor once again remixes a Massive Attack single. Included only on the 12 “promotional vinyl release, and then only in truncated form, until the arrival of Singles 90/98 Box Set where this remix was included on CD in its full form. Website design By BotEap.comRadio Edit – A truncated version of the song for radio playback. Cut out much of the beginning and end of the song. Included only in promotional releases and in the Box Set for Singles 90/98. Website design By BotEap.comCredits: Website design By BotEap.comWritten by Robert Del Naja, Grant Marshall, Andrew Vowles and Horace Hinds
Produced by Robert Del Naja, Grant Marshall, Andrew Vowles and Neil Davidge
For the compiled version of the song, the additional credits are:
Remastered by Mike Marsh at Exchange and Tim Young at Metropolis Mastering. Website design By BotEap.comSampled:
Angel uses a sample of the song “Last Bongo In Belgium” by The Incredible Bongo Band. It appears primarily on their 1973 release Bongo Rock. Massive Attack does not officially credit it. Website design By BotEap.comVocalist (s):
Horacio Andy Website design By BotEap.comLyrics:
You are my Angel
Come from high above
To bring me love Website design By BotEap.comHis eyes
She’s on the dark side
Neutralize
Every man in sight Website design By BotEap.comTo love you, love you, love you … Website design By BotEap.comYou are my Angel
To love you, love you, love you … Website design By BotEap.comHistory: Website design By BotEap.comAngel was originally intended to be a song with a very different sound, as it was to be a cover of “Straight To Hell” by The Clash that would also have included a sample from an old Sex Gang Children album. For this version, 3D had designated Horace Andy as the ideal vocalist, but when it came time to record his voice at London’s Olympic Studios, they ran into a snag. Horace Andy, a religious man, was unwilling to sing the word “hell” in the Clash song, so at the last minute, Massive Attack was unexpectedly forced to improvise a new song on the spot to accommodate the refusal of Horace Andy. In the space of just four hours, they removed much of the originally prepared track, wrote a new melody around it, halved the tempo, and eliminated the Sex Gang Children sample entirely. Finally, to use as the lyrics for this new untitled song, they took the lyrics almost directly from Horace Andy’s own song, You Are My Angel. Website design By BotEap.comAdditional Information: Website design By BotEap.comAngel was the third single released from Mezzanine Website design By BotEap.comHorace Andy is credited with the role of Horace Hinds in Angel, as he has a real name and “Andy” is his stage name. Website design By BotEap.comIt is very likely the most used Massive Attack song on film and television soundtracks to have appeared in countless different film media. See the Videography section for a sample of what Angel has been used for. Website design By BotEap.comLive appearances: Website design By BotEap.comAngel was first performed live in its final state at the Olympia in Dublin, Ireland, on April 15, 1998. Since then it has become one of the permanent fixtures of the Massive Attack live show, hardly ever leaving the band. track list, except on the rare occasions that Horace Andy was not available to do live vocals. On the 1998/1999 tour, Angel served as the opening song in most cases and had a long intro sequence of about two minutes before the entry of Horace Andy’s voice, but on subsequent tours this intro was has reduced to just half a minute. minute. On the 2008 tour, Angel moved to near the end of the live show typically being the first of 3/4 encore songs. Website design By BotEap.comQuotes: Website design By BotEap.comMushroom on Angel: “I like the simplicity. You see, I always liked the previous albums and the elements in them, and Angel really takes me back to the Protection and Blue Lines stuff.” [Mezzanine Interview Disc – March 1998] Website design By BotEap.com3D on the meaning behind Angel – “As with many of the clues [on Mezzanine], is about relationships: what you expect from a woman and what you really get ” [Vox Magazine – May 1998] Website design By BotEap.com3D on Angel’s initial recording – “In the space of four hours we removed all the music, we wrote a lot of things around it, we kept some of the old tune, we added the new Horaces tunes, we removed the Sex Gang sample, halve the tempo and add new words ” [Q Magazine – January 1999]
Duration: 06:18
Variations / Remixes: Website design By BotEap.comBlur Remix – A remix made by Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon of Blur, which is a far cry from the normal version, which has polarized many fans for its quality (or lack of it!). This was Damon Albarn’s first remix for another artist that was released. He worked on remixing some of Tricky’s songs two years earlier, but the couple fell out and the material was never released. Included in all individual releases. Website design By BotEap.comMad Professor Remix – The Mad Professor once again remixes a Massive Attack single. Included only on the 12 “promotional vinyl release, and then only in truncated form, until the arrival of Singles 90/98 Box Set where this remix was included on CD in its full form. Website design By BotEap.comRadio Edit – A truncated version of the song for radio playback. Cut out much of the beginning and end of the song. Included only in promotional releases and in the Box Set for Singles 90/98. Website design By BotEap.comCredits: Website design By BotEap.comWritten by Robert Del Naja, Grant Marshall, Andrew Vowles and Horace Hinds
Produced by Robert Del Naja, Grant Marshall, Andrew Vowles and Neil Davidge
For the compiled version of the song, the additional credits are:
Remastered by Mike Marsh at Exchange and Tim Young at Metropolis Mastering. Website design By BotEap.comSampled:
Angel uses a sample of the song “Last Bongo In Belgium” by The Incredible Bongo Band. It appears primarily on their 1973 release Bongo Rock. Massive Attack does not officially credit it. Website design By BotEap.comVocalist (s):
Horacio Andy Website design By BotEap.comLyrics:
You are my Angel
Come from high above
To bring me love Website design By BotEap.comHis eyes
She’s on the dark side
Neutralize
Every man in sight Website design By BotEap.comTo love you, love you, love you … Website design By BotEap.comYou are my Angel
To love you, love you, love you … Website design By BotEap.comHistory: Website design By BotEap.comAngel was originally intended to be a song with a very different sound, as it was to be a cover of “Straight To Hell” by The Clash that would also have included a sample from an old Sex Gang Children album. For this version, 3D had designated Horace Andy as the ideal vocalist, but when it came time to record his voice at London’s Olympic Studios, they ran into a snag. Horace Andy, a religious man, was unwilling to sing the word “hell” in the Clash song, so at the last minute, Massive Attack was unexpectedly forced to improvise a new song on the spot to accommodate the refusal of Horace Andy. In the space of just four hours, they removed much of the originally prepared track, wrote a new melody around it, halved the tempo, and eliminated the Sex Gang Children sample entirely. Finally, to use as the lyrics for this new untitled song, they took the lyrics almost directly from Horace Andy’s own song, You Are My Angel. Website design By BotEap.comAdditional Information: Website design By BotEap.comAngel was the third single released from Mezzanine Website design By BotEap.comHorace Andy is credited with the role of Horace Hinds in Angel, as he has a real name and “Andy” is his stage name. Website design By BotEap.comIt is very likely the most used Massive Attack song on film and television soundtracks to have appeared in countless different film media. See the Videography section for a sample of what Angel has been used for. Website design By BotEap.comLive appearances: Website design By BotEap.comAngel was first performed live in its final state at the Olympia in Dublin, Ireland, on April 15, 1998. Since then it has become one of the permanent fixtures of the Massive Attack live show, hardly ever leaving the band. track list, except on the rare occasions that Horace Andy was not available to do live vocals. On the 1998/1999 tour, Angel served as the opening song in most cases and had a long intro sequence of about two minutes before the entry of Horace Andy’s voice, but on subsequent tours this intro was has reduced to just half a minute. minute. On the 2008 tour, Angel moved to near the end of the live show typically being the first of 3/4 encore songs. Website design By BotEap.comQuotes: Website design By BotEap.comMushroom on Angel: “I like the simplicity. You see, I always liked the previous albums and the elements in them, and Angel really takes me back to the Protection and Blue Lines stuff.” [Mezzanine Interview Disc – March 1998] Website design By BotEap.com3D on the meaning behind Angel – “As with many of the clues [on Mezzanine], is about relationships: what you expect from a woman and what you really get ” [Vox Magazine – May 1998] Website design By BotEap.com3D on Angel’s initial recording – “In the space of four hours we removed all the music, we wrote a lot of things around it, we kept some of the old tune, we added the new Horaces tunes, we removed the Sex Gang sample, halve the tempo and add new words ” [Q Magazine – January 1999]