Blue Lines

Massive Attack's Blue Lines invented trip-hop with its 1991 debut, laying groundwork that directly influenced Portishead, Tricky, and DJ Shadow. Blending hip-hop beats with soul samples, it achieved a 92% positive critical rating and sold over 500,000 copies in its first year—a remarkable feat for an underground, genre-defining album. It outperforms #8 Odelay in originality and historical significance, having launched an entirely new sonic landscape that shaped the 1990s.