Arguably one the best songs of the 90's, Massive Attack's Unfinished Sympathy combined elements of soul, hip-hop and orchestral strings to give an unprecedented sound which put Massive Attack's name on the map. Shara Nelson's moving vocal performance on this track is enough to send shivers down anyone's spine. Great song, great record sleeve, great video, great album; seems to tick every box. Also the Oakenfold remix was as good as the original and they are both on a par for me. A truly breathtaking piece of music.
The percussion loop on the original version is sampled from the song Parade Strut by J.J. Johnson from the 1974 soundtrack of Willie Dynamite. The voice at the beginning of the song is a sample from John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra's Planetary Citizen.
The Paul Oakenfold mix:
Incidentally, the reason why the group were called 'Massive' at the time was because the name 'Massive Attack' was deemed by EMI as being insensitive seeing as the First Gulf War was going on.
And you thought political correctness was a new thing...
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