Tricky - Vulnerable

If you’ve followed Tricky’s career you’ve probably heard it over and over again, “Massive Attack is one of the most remarkable electronic bands of all time, and Tricky’s solo work just isn’t as significant.” (Tricky was one of the cornerstones behind Massive Attack) I’ve read equivalent statements in Tricky reviews for years, and because of this, I wasn’t expecting Vunerable to be an album that I would particularly enjoy; I wasn’t a big fan of his previous record Blowback. Now that you know where I’m coming from let me get it out of the way: Massive Attack is one of the most remarkable electronic bands of all time, and Tricky’s solo work just isn’t as significant. But, you know what? I still like this album. In a lot of ways, it’s the opposite of Massive Attack’s tightly constructed songs, sweeping with elegance and slick production. Vunerable is a hip-hopish electronic jumble that moves around between a lot of different types of songs. Tricky works a lot looser, slipping little things here and there, never growing or shrinking, just carrying one type of sound through a song. It’s in this eccentric clutter of mischief that I find interest, because Tricky obviously isn’t trying to outperform anyone; he isn’t trying to make music that will shape the course of future electronic music, he’s just doing his own thing, and getting by. Sometimes it’s great, sometimes it is not, but overall it’s pretty good. I prefer it when Tricky acts as a bass compliment to the female vocalist, Liz Constantine, rather than being upfront, which is closer to his Massive Attack style singing. The slower, simpler songs really show this off, and the upbeat-in-your-face songs get a little repetitious and annoying. We all have preferences and expectations, and when it comes down to it, Tricky’s expectations seem to be pretty high. This sure isn’t a groundbreaking album, but it’s not bad. [www.trickyonline.com]