# Massive Attack — Unfinished Sympathy Massive Attack’s Unfinished Sympathy (1991) appears on 4 of our lists — Trip-Hop, The Waxonia Desk — A Way In, The Waxonia Desk — Sounds Like a Single, and The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred, highest at No. 1 in Trip-Hop. Every verdict, in full. - **Released:** 1991 - **Label:** Wild Bunch / Circa - **On:** Trip-Hop, The Waxonia Desk — A Way In, The Waxonia Desk — Sounds Like a Single, and The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred - **ISRC:** GBAAA9100034 - **Updated:** 2026-08-29 - **Artist:** [Massive Attack](https://waxonia.com/artist/massive-attack/) - **Canonical page:** https://waxonia.com/track/massive-attack--unfinished-sympathy/ ## What 4 lists say ### No. 1 in [Trip-Hop](https://waxonia.com/genre/trip-hop/) A full string section over a hip-hop break and Shara Nelson singing for her life. Routinely named one of the best singles ever made, and the claim is not obviously wrong. ### Picked by [The Waxonia Desk — A Way In](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-a-way-in/) Strings, a slow breakbeat and a vocal that refuses to resolve. It sounds like a pop single until you notice nothing in it behaves the way a pop single does. ### Picked by [The Waxonia Desk — Sounds Like a Single](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-sounds-like-a-single/) Strings, a slow breakbeat, and a vocal that refuses to resolve. It sounds like a pop single until you notice that nothing in it behaves the way a pop single is supposed to. ### Picked by [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/) A full string section over a hip-hop break, in 1991, made by people from Bristol with no permission to attempt it. Still sounds like it cost a fortune and meant it. ## Analysis 11 sections, the first drop at 0:05, 2% of the way in, 13% of it spent climbing. - **Key:** G minor - **Dynamic range:** 5.8 dB — moderate range, typical of a modern master - **Length:** 5:20 - `0:00` A · **intro**, instrumental — opens the record below its own average energy — playing: drums, bass, other - `0:23` B · **build** (bar 11), instrumental — energy and brightness climbing without a break — playing: drums, bass, other - `0:40` C · **peak** (bar 19), sung — sits at the top of this record's range — playing: drums, bass, vocals, other - `0:56` D · **breakdown** (bar 27), instrumental — energy falling away mid-record, percussion thinning — playing: drums, bass, vocals, other - `1:22` C · **peak** (bar 39), sung — sits at the top of this record's range — playing: drums, bass, vocals, other - `1:41` D · **build** (bar 48), instrumental — energy and brightness climbing without a break — playing: drums, bass, vocals, other - `2:04` B · **peak** (bar 59), sung — sits at the top of this record's range — playing: drums, vocals, other - `2:15` D · **lift** (bar 64), instrumental — a short rise that does not resolve — a fill or a transition, not a build — playing: drums, bass, other - `3:57` D · **breakdown** (bar 111), instrumental — energy falling away mid-record, percussion thinning — playing: drums, bass, other - `4:18` B · **lift** (bar 121), instrumental — a short rise that does not resolve — a fill or a transition, not a build — playing: drums, bass, other - `4:39` E · **outro** (bar 131), instrumental — the closing fall — playing: other **Drop** at 0:05 (bar 3). A drop is a moment, not a stretch. **What is playing.** Separated into parts by a source-separation model, so each lane is the instrument it names. - **drums:** the drum kit, separated from the mix - **bass:** the bass part, separated from the mix - **vocals:** the voice, separated from the mix - **other:** everything else — synths, guitars, keys, strings Measured from the YouTube master on 2026-08-29. Section labels describe how the energy moves, not musical form. Anything we were not confident enough to state is omitted rather than hedged. ## Listen [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Massive%20Attack%20Unfinished%20Sympathy) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWmrfgj0MZI) --- Hand-curated by Waxonia. We host no audio; all links point to streaming platforms.