Recording
Unfinished Sympathy
Massive Attack
Independently chosen for4 of our lists. Here is what each of them said.
- 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
Ranked No. 1 in 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
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
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
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.