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Angel (Massive Attack song)

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Wikipedia article




{{Infobox song

| name = Angel

| cover = Angelmassiveattack.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Massive Attack

| album = Mezzanine

| B-side = "Group Four" (Remix)

| released = 13 July 1998

| recorded = 199798

| studio = Massive Attack Studios and Christchurch Studios

| venue =

| genre =

| length = 6:19

| label =

| writer =

| producer =

| prev_title = Teardrop

| prev_year = 1998

| next_title = Inertia Creeps

| next_year = 1998

| misc =

}}

"'Angel'" is a song by English trip hop group Massive Attack, featuring the vocals and songwriting from Horace Andy, and is partially based on Andy's song "You Are My Angel". It was released as the third single from their third studio album, 'Mezzanine' (1998), on 13 July 1998. "Angel" peaked at number 30 on the UK Singles Chart.

Background and composition



Daddy G, that was the main songwriter on it (along with 3D) described the song as "[starting] something we've got to finish. It was a much bigger thing than any member of the band." The song samples The Incredible Bongo Band song "Last Bongo in Belgium".

Music video



The music video for "Angel", directed by Walter A. Stern, features Grant "Daddy G" Marshall in a car park. He is walking to the exit when Robert del Naja, Andrew Vowles and Horace Andy appear behind him. They gradually get closer to him, causing him to feel intimidated. More and more people start following him, which causes him to run outside the car park until he reaches a fence and therefore cannot go any further. As he turns to face the people chasing him, they stop and face him. He then notices that they seem to be mirroring his movements, as if his body controls them. He suddenly charges towards the people that followed him, which causes them to run away.

The video has had over 45 million views on YouTube (as of April 2022).

Critical reception



Reception for the song was positive. Amy Hanson of AllMusic describes the song thus: "While the beat here is slow, druggy, and deep, what ultimately drives Angel is the wall of guitars that are reminiscent of a very early Cure".

Track listing



Personnel



'Massive Attack'

* Robert Del Naja producer, arrangements, programming, keyboards, samples, art direction

* Grantley Marshall producer, arrangements, programming, keyboards, guitars, samples

* Andrew Vowles producer, arrangements, programming, samples, percussions

'Additional personnel'

* Neil Davidge producer, arrangements, programming, keyboards, samples

* Horace Andy vocals

* Angelo Bruschini guitars

* Jon Harris, Bob Locke, Winston Blisset bass guitars

* Andy Gangadeen drums

* Dave Jenkins, Michael Timothy additional keyboards

'Recording personnel'

* Jan Kybert Pro Tools

* Lee Shepherd engineer (Massive Attack and Christchurch Studios)

* Mark "Spike" Stent mixing (Olympic Studios)

* Jan Kybert, Paul "P-Dub" Walton assistant mixing

* Tim Young editing, engineer (Metropolis Studios)

In popular culture



*Featured in the 1998 episode "Off Profile" of the series 'La Femme Nikita'.Music of La Femme Nikita

*Used repeatedly in the 1999 film 'Best Laid Plans' starring Reese Witherspoon and Josh Brolin.

*Used in commercials made by Adidas during the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

*Used in 1998 film 'Pi' when Max's landlord is interrogating him.

*Used in 1999 film 'Go' when Ronna goes to buy Ecstasy off Todd.

*Used in the 2000 film 'Snatch' during the caravan park fire scene.

*Used in the 2001 film Antitrust when Milo is being served dinner by Alice (Rebecca).

*Featured in the 2003 episode "Commencement" of the series 'The West Wing'.

*An instrumental track based on the song was used as the title theme in the 2004 game 'Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines'.

*It was used in 'Far Cry 2' E3 2008 trailer.

*In the 2005 psychological thriller 'Stay', "Angel" was used in a strip club scene.

*The song was used in the 2004 movie 'Flight of the Phoenix', in a tense standoff scene between the main characters and a band of smugglers.

*Used in the Pilot episode of Person of Interest, during a standoff inside an apartment building.

*Used in the opening credits of the movie "Firewall" (2006) with Harrison Ford

*Featured in the 2012 episode "Island of Dreams" of the series 'Grimm'

*"Angel" has been covered by mathcore band The Dillinger Escape Plan, for their iTunes only EP, 'Plagiarism', and also by Brazilian metal band Sepultura on their EP 'Revolusongs' and on the special edition of their 2003 album 'Roorback'. Sepultura's cover was featured in the second episode of the Fox series 'The Following'. It has also been covered live by Australian psychedelic group Tame Impala and Norwegian progressive metal band Leprous, which released their version as a single in 2019.

*Featured in the opening credits of Brazilian telenovela 'Verdades Secretas'.

*The song was used in the Hugo Boss perfume of men by the actor "Ryan Reynolds" in 2009

*The song was used in the E3 2018 Gameplay Trailer for Metro Exodus.

*Used in an episode of 'Third Watch'

*Featured in first episode of Season 2 of 'Good Girls'.

*Featured in season 7 episode 6 "All or Nothing" of Burn Notice

*Featured in the ads of Watchmen

*Used in Balenciaga Spring/Summer 2018 fashion show opening theme

*Used in the 2021 play '2:22 A Ghost Story'

Charts



Certifications



References



Category:Massive Attack songs

Category:1998 songs

Category:Virgin Records singles

Category:1998 singles

Category:Songs written by Robert Del Naja

Category:Songs written by Andrew Vowles

Category:Songs written by Daddy G

Category:Songs written by Horace Andy

Category:Industrial rock songs

Category:Music videos directed by Walter Stern

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