Tricky: Blowback : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Tricky earned his stripes as a premillennial pop icon with the imposing, inventive soundscapes of his 1995 debut, Maxinquaye. But across a handful of follow-ups, the trip-hop pioneer nudged toward irrelevance by steering down a dead-end alley of increasing sparseness and inaccessibility. Blowback doesn't constitute a new beginning - Tricky's stuttered guitar treatments, passive-aggressive breakdown beats and desert-parched voice still preside - but the record does suggest he is trying an alternate route that might have provided a more fruitful path after Maxinquaye.

The new road leads to Disney (on whose Hollywood Records he debuts), and if Tricky's not quite as chirpy as Mickey, his outlook and tone are certainly sunnier than ever on Blowback. Less singing from Tricky helps brightens things; guest appearances by Live's Ed Kowalczyk, Chili Peppers Anthony Kiedis and John Frusciante, Cyndi Lauper, Ambersunshower and Hawkman provide more inviting vocals. Credit also goes to Blowback's focused, melodic songs and stylistic range - the album veers from dreamily childlike to furiously metallic, from bouncy dance-hall reggae to funked-up TV-theme fun. There's even a pop single or two. If there was career rehabilitation for Moby, why not Tricky?

RONI SARIG
(RS 872 - July 5, 2001)