Published on Aug 13, 1997
Dense and suffocating, Tricky’s album
Pre-Millennium Tension was not the album that would take
trip-hop to the top of the charts. Tricky is one of the most
prolific artists around today, at the same time he’s one of the
most pretentious, and that pretension clouds
Pre-Millennium Tension.
Tricky has said he does not want to be lumped into the
“trip-hop” category of music. Fair enough, but Tricky tries to
prove too much as he is both repelled and infatuated with other
genres of hip-hop, such as gangsta rap. “My Evil Is Strong”, “Bad
Things” and “Bad Dream” all have the elements of gangsta rap with
certain twists. Each boasts about having the ability to coldly look
someone in the eye and shoot, but one song is a dream, one
moderately condems the life and one tells the tale so chillingly,
if merits repulsion.
In these weak moments, Tricky is obviously not in his
comfortable element. In
Maxinquaye, his supremely acclaimed 1995 album, Tricky made
a sound that was a sonic trip unlike anything most people have ever
heard. That sound more than carries into
Pre-Millennium Tension. The thick throbs of “Christiansands”
and the staccato struts of “Tricky Kid” are some of the fattest
beats you’ll hear on any album this decade.
Like Lee “Scratch” Perry, Tricky thrives on the journey. While
Pre-Millenium Tension sometimes falters, you can’t dis him
for not daring to try new sounds. Tricky successfully dips into
reggae with “Ghetto Youth” and does a crisp cover of “Lyrics Of
Fury”. However, this cover lacks the sheer sonic pulverising beats
he gave us when he covered Public Enemy’s “Black Steel” in
Maxinquaye.
Tricky’s deep rasp is gripping, but Martina is still the one who
puts the listener in a trance. Though she’s not as present as she
was in
Maxinquaye, she’s the saving grace on
Pre-Millennium Tension. Since 1995, Martina split with
Tricky, though they do share a child. It makes me wonder if the
split made Tricky give Martina less of a role on
Pre-Millennium Tension. The songs that Martina does sing on
are the strongest on
Pre-Millennium Tension. “She Makes Me Wanna Die”,
“Christiansands” and her entrance on “Sex Drive” give each song a
mysticism that lacks when she is gone.
Tricky never wanted to be accessible. He probably didn’t make
any new fans with
Pre-Millennium Tension, but a little bend towards a distinct
rhythm would help him greatly. After all,
Maxinquaye has only sold about 80,000 copies, hardly a
sell-out. Still,
Pre-Millennium Tension is a sonic journey that rewards the
listener again and again. Shut out the lights and burn a few
candles and Tricky can take you on a sonic trip. But Martina does
something much more important in
Pre-Millennium Tension:when she’s on she makes the trip
tangible.