Customer Reviews

Portishead

5 star:		(90)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

One of the best albums of the 1990's on top quality vinyl, how could you go wrong? It's not a long album and it's spread across two records, so you'll be flipping sides a lot (two songs on side A), not really an issue, just saying.

Portishead created a unique sound in their debut "Dummy," combining smoky jazz and trip-hop. So an equally good follow-up was a pretty tall order. Enter the self-titled "Portishead," which ups the eerie noir feel while not abandoning the cool electronic edge. In the months before their return, it seems appropriate to revisit their older material.

"Did you feed us tales of deceit,/Conceal the tongues who need to speak?/Subtle lies and a soiled coin,/The truth is sold, the deal is done," Beth Gibbons intones, sounding like a slightly gleeful robot. That sets the tone for "Portishead," giving it a darker tone than its predecessor -- darker songs, darker vocals, darker music.

The jazz overtones are still there, bubbling up in songs like the distant "Over" and "Seven Months," which sounds strangely like fellow trip-hop artist Emiliana Torrini. Only the downtempo "Over" and softly poppy "Western Eyes" break from this cooler sound, sounding warm and unaltered. The rest of the album is a different story.

Somehow it adds to the noir atmosphere to have darker, colder sounds woven in with the jazzy trip-hop. "Humming" includes a strange background beat that sounds exactly as you would imagine a UFO. This dark, experimental edge makes it a bit harder to get into than their debut album, but when you do get into it, it's almost frighteningly intense.

The jazzy percussion is one of the first things you notice about this, paired with horns and thick synth. It's surprisingly heady to listen to. Also cold and distant -- which seems appropriate, since the simple lyrics focus on loneliness, melancholy, sadness and loss ("Why should I forgive you,/After all that I've seen,/Quietly whisper,/When my heart wants to scream?").

Beth Gibbons plays around with her vocals this time around -- while Gibbons's voice is normally very pretty, in a few songs she twists it into creepy monotones. It's a bit jarring at first, compared to her usual melodic singing, but it suits the darker songs here. The filtered, eerie intonations in "Cowboys" are downright spine-chilling.

Portishead, presently working on their long-awaited third album, made a triumphant second album. While not as easily accessible as their debut, it's definitely an entrancing experience.

After an album like DUMMY, it appears it would be difficult to follow up such a great album. It took the group three years to come up with this second album, and it was worth the wait. Released in the fall of 1997, this album still gets quite a bit of airplay in my CD player. As a whole I think this album is a lot more darker than DUMMY. The music is mystical and dark, with Beth Gibbons emoted vocals, very layered. What's even more impressive about this album is the songwriting, which is stronger than on DUMMY. This isn't an album that sinks in right away, but with repeated listenings more is revealed in the intricate production. There are so many layers. Overall, it gets better with each listen, and overall a very unique and rewarding musical experience.

All I can say is welcome to the "Twilight Zone". Most anyone who knows their previous album "Dummy", can pretty much expect the same thing on "Portishead". This is a bit darker, and there's no obvious stand-out tracks, but as a whole it's still very strong, and sets a nice mood. This is actually one of my favorites of the genre, along with "Mezzanine". "Beth Gibbons" continues to do an excellent job, and her voice really is a perfect match to the music. Overall, I'm not sure if I'd call it as good as "Dummy", but it's the next best thing.

melancholic, spooky, dreamy tunes into which the mind gently melts.

Less accessible than some would expect but more enduring if you give it a chance.

No, it isn't better than Dummy, but it is an equal achievement. This album is far, far darker and nastier than Dummy, as the staggering opening salvos of "Cowboys" and "All Mine" can attest. In spite of all the depression flung at you in Dummy, there was always a hopeful kind of feeling. There is absolutely no hope anywhere on this disc (except for possibly the last track). "Cowboys" is possibly the best song Portishead has ever written, and definitely one of their anthems.

1 Cowboys - Starts off with astoundingly echoed-out guitar, and goes from there into an extremely creepy and ugly "Twilight Zone" kind of vamp. Beth Gibbons' voice has been heavily bounced, and it makes her sound like a lounge singer on the world's worst hit of LSD. This is masterfully done.
2 All Mine - Worse and worse. Musically punchy, driven by loud horns, distorted guitar, and live drum and bass, but the lyrics are what make this song so incredibly unsettling. Gibbons has sketched out a narrative of a couple. One of the people involved has gone crashingly insane, and turns into a stalker. The stalker kidnaps his (or her) partner, ties them up, and that's how it stays "until the day I die", as Gibbons sings. Late night listening is not recommended.
3 Undenied - A soft and soothing keyboard drives this one, along with phased and looped drums. Almost like a lullaby, which is needed after "Cowboys" and "All Mine". But, rest assured, this doesn't last long. If this is already sounding like something that you wouldn't want to touch with a 10-foot pole, then don't touch it. This album is not for everyone.
4 Half Day Closing - This is a truly cruel psychedelic rant against...what? The lyrics are incomprehensible on first listen, due to Gibbons' treated vocal, but I can tell you, after reading them, that it is not a recommendation for Bush, as one reviewer mistakenly stated before. First off, the album was released in 1997, so that already disproves it. Second, as far as I can see, it was inspired by the United States of America. That was a psychedelic band in the sixties.
5 Over - I like how this develops. It starts with a doleful acoustic guitar, and then really heavy drums and monstrous bass come barging in and screws everything up. Another distorted guitar solo here.
6 Humming - For my money, the coolest song musically. The orchestration is brilliant against the swooping theremin (or is it an organ? It's really difficult to play a theremin correctly). The creepy organ/theremin theme comes through against the strings. Then the trippy and danceable beat comes in with Gibbons, and we're off to the races with another tale of how she wants to get with you (or someone) but can't. Oh well.
7 Mourning Air - More echoed guitar and filtered brass. Gibbons' voice is very closely miked. Actually quite touching at first, before Adrian Utley's bass and Geoff Barrow's phased and looped drums enter. I love the bass and drums on this album. In this area, this album thoroughly trounces Dummy.
8 Seven Months - Gibbons' vocal is way too strident. Ouch. This one is too harsh for me.
9 Only You - This has the famous video where the people move around in the alley like they're underwater while trench-coated people in the dark watch them from lonely office tenements. I like this song the most (well, maybe a tie with "Cowboys"). This was, I think, the biggest hit single off this album, which doesn't surprise me at all. It is also the only track which incorporates samples from other sources. Portishead record their own samples for most of this album. Beautiful jazz guitar solo.
10 Elysium - Great scratching at the beginning. Gibbons sings nice, heartening sentiments like "I despise myself". Admittedly, hearing this does make the listener want to give her a good straight right for being so goddamn neurotic and self-involved. But her beautiful voice does make me forgive a lot, and also the thought that no one could possibly be this solipsistic takes precedence.
11 Western Eyes - A dirge, but a pleasant, and kind of hopeful dirge. The Sean Atkins sample at the end is a great way to go.

Portishead will release a new album (*finally*) at the end of 2004...possibly. They are working on it.

Portishead just have that dark class that you can never forget and can't ignore.
When I finally sat back and listened to this album I was thoroughly impressed. its old portishead mixed with some new experiments with vocal effects and sounds. I highly recomend to and Acid Jazz, trip hop fan. If you like this style check out artists on the Ninja Tune Label i.e. Amon Tobin, Bonobo or Blockhead..trust me you will be in heaven.

I agree with the other reviewers about "Dummy"-but listening to this it is the sort of record that sets a mood and can create the mood--dark?-yes-but in a way that illuminates one to just feeling-the moment-it is there if one chooses to embrace it-the filtered vocals and the menacing beats draw you into this walk of aural mysteries and in listening you may figure out a few of your own--not the "softest" of listens-but sometimes you just gotta go with the slow bloodletting of ones' soul-either the artists or your own-you decide which path to take.

Don't listen to any of the other idiots giving less than 4 stars, this is what trip hop is about. Other than Massive Attack's Blue lines, no other trip hop album holds a candle to this or Dummy.

This CD confirms for me that the 90s was probably the greatest decade for music in terms of freshness, creativity and just plain good music! I love this CD every bit as Dummy. Everything that people found wrong with this album I loved! It's darker, wierder and the vocals are less polished and more organic at times. Portishead and Morphene's "Good" are the perfect CDs to listen to back to back.