"Protection" is a collaboration between English

trip hop Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with " downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic fusion of hip hop and electronica with slow tem ...

collective

Massive Attack Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol by Robert "3D" Del Naja, Adrian "Tricky" Thaws, Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. The debut Massive Attack album '' Blue Lines'' was releas ...

and

Tracey Thorn Tracey Anne Thorn (born 26 September 1962) is a British singer. She is best known as being one half of the duo Everything but the Girl from 1982 to 1999. She was a member of the band Marine Girls between 1980 and 1983 and since 2007 has bee ...

from English duo Everything but the Girl, that appears on Massive Attack's second studio album, '' Protection'' (1994). Released as a single on 9 January 1995, the song reached number 14 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, staying in the chart for four weeks, and also peaked at number 27 in New Zealand. The song was also included on Everything but the Girl's compilation ''

The Best of A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

'' and '' Like the Deserts Miss the Rain''. The song contains samples taken from "

The Payback ''The Payback'' is the 37th studio album by American musician James Brown. The album was released in December 1973, by Polydor Records. It was originally scheduled to become the soundtrack for the blaxploitation film ''Hell Up in Harlem'', but w ...

" by

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the hono ...

, namely the hi-hat/bass figure that drives the beat and the recurrent wah-wah guitar chord.

Critical reception

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the music ...

from ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'' viewed the song as "gorgeous". Linda Ryan from the ''

Gavin Report The ''Gavin Report'' was a San Francisco-based radio industry trade publication. The publication was founded by radio performer Bill Gavin in 1958. Its Top 40 listings were used for many years by programmers to decide content of programs. The p ...

'' wrote, "Produced by Soul II Soul's

Nellee Hooper Nellee Hooper (born Paul Andrew Hooper on 15 March 1963) is a British record producer, remixer and songwriter known for his work with many major recording artists beginning in the late 1980s. He also debuted as a motion picture music composer w ...

(who also did

Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...

's album, ''

Debut Debut or début (the first public appearance of a person or thing) may refer to: * Debut (society), the formal introduction of young upper-class women to society * Debut novel, an author's first published novel Film and television * ''The Deb ...

''), "Protection" is a slow groove to paradise. I mean, this one is smooooth! Everything but the Girl's

handles the vocals on this one, and she really shines." Caroline Sullivan from ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' felt that the "normally limpid" singer "shows torchy sensuality" on the song. Chuck Campbell from ''

Knoxville News Sentinel The ''Knoxville News Sentinel, also known as Knox News,'' is a daily newspaper in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, owned by the Gannett Company. History The newspaper was formed in 1926 from the merger of two competing newspapers: ''The ...

'' viewed it as "supple", naming it the album's "highlight". In his weekly UK chart commentary,

James Masterton James Masterton (born 2 September 1973) is a music writer and columnist, his work focusing on the UK Singles Chart having been an online fixture on various sites since the 1990s. Masterton is also a producer for talkSPORT, and has worked on air ...

complimented the "velvet tones" of Thorn, stating that "the result is an instant Top 20 smash, just one place short of the peak originally reached by their groundbreaking debut hit "

Unfinished Sympathy "Unfinished Sympathy" is a 1991 song by the English trip hop group Massive Attack, released under the temporary group name Massive. It was written by the three band members Robert "3D" Del Naja, Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles and Grant "Daddy G" Mars ...

"." James Hamilton from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

s ''RM'' Dance Update described the song as "an attractive gentle atmospheric R&B swayer". Barry Walters for ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally ...

'' constated, "The eight pained minutes of the title track are alone worth the price of the CD, despite suggesting that an Everything but the Girl remix album might have been the way to go."

Music video

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...

was produced to promote the single, directed by French film director, screenwriter, and producer Michel Gondry. It was later published on Massive Attack's official

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

channel in March 2009, and had generated more than 16 million views as of January 2023.

Track listings

* UK CD single 1 # "Protection" (7" edit) # "Protection" (The

Eno Eno may refer to: Music * English National Opera, London * ''Eno'', an album by Japanese band Polysics * "Eno", a song by X-Wife from '' Rockin' Rio EP'' Organisations and businesses * Eno (company), a Chinese clothing and accessories busine ...

Mix) # "Protection" (Radiation for the Nation Mix) # "Protection" (J Sw!ft Mix) * UK CD single 2 # "Protection" # "Protection" (Underdog's Angel Dust Mix) # "Three" (Dom T's House of Fortune Mix) * UK 12-inch single # "Protection" (Underdog's Angel Dust Mix) # "Protection" (Radiation for the Nation Mix) # "Protection" (The Eno Mix) # "Protection" (J Sw!ft Mix) # "Protection" (album version) * UK 2×12-inch single # "Protection" (The Eno Mix) # "Protection" (The Eno Instrumental) # "Protection" (Underdog's Angel Dust Mix) # "Protection" (Angel Dust Instrumental) # "Three" (Dom T's House of Fortune Mix) # "Protection" (Radiation for the Nation Mix) # "Protection" (album version) # "Protection" (J Sw!ft Mix) * US CD single # "Protection" (album version) – 7:51 # "Protection" (single edit) – 4:53 # "Protection" (The Eno Mix) – 9:10 # "Protection" (J Sw!ft Mix) – 7:12 # "Three" (Dom T's House of Fortune Mix) – 7:16

Charts

References

External links

* 1994 songs 1995 singles Massive Attack songs Music videos directed by Michel Gondry Song recordings produced by Nellee Hooper Songs written by Andrew Vowles Songs written by Daddy G Songs written by Robert Del Naja Songs written by Tracey Thorn Tracey Thorn songs Virgin Records singles {{1990s-pop-song-stub