No Protection (Gyroscope, 1995)

*GUEST REVIEW*
In my experience, professors are not all that nutty -- although some university staff are rather eccentric at times.  Mad Professor is the moniker for British dubber Neil Fraser.  Fraser has worked with the likes of Lee Perry post-Black Ark, as well as running his own label and releasing a series of dub albums.  No Protection is essentially the Professor doing a dub version of Massive Attack's second album.  Massive Attack is a band based in Bristol whose atmospheric soundscapes vary between lounge reggae and chilling trip hop.  They are a pretty decent '90s band whose material was sadly overexposed.  Professor manages to stop their material becoming too radio-friendly and smooth.  The album ends up sounding typical Mad Professor-like.  Vocals get reduced to a quick stab, solos become more loud and prominent, but there are still recognizable Massive tracks under the surface.  You even get hints at The Orb at times.  I own three other Massive albums, but this is the only one that gets played. No Protection should be avoided by the M People and Moby fans out there, but the rest might just enjoy it.

- ragudave