Be wary of online FLACs labeled “Mezzanine – 24bit 96kHz – Vinyl Rip.” Many are needle-drops of the 1998 LP, digitized by amateurs. These combine the worst of both worlds: the surface noise, clicks, and wear of vinyl with the coldness of digital playback. Unless you know the provenance (e.g., a known archivist using a Koetsu cartridge and a PS Audio ADC), stick to official hi-res digital or the original plastic.
Mezzanine is an album about anxiety, lust, decay, and beauty in broken places. The 1998 vinyl, with its slight surface noise, its imperfect bass response, its warm saturation, is the only format that embodies those themes. It is an analog black mirror held up to a digital age. massive attack mezzanine 1998 -vinyl- -flac- -24bit 96khz-