| Dummy | 1994 |
| Portishead | 1997 |
| PNYC (live) | 1998 |
Trip-hop is one style of music that seems to have been overlooked, not only on this site but also many other web reviewing sites, and I'm sort of confused as to why. Glancing at critics' lists, you'll see Portishead and Massive Attack included over even such popular artists as Oasis and U2 as far as 90s music goes. It's certainly not the easiest style of music to get used to, as it took me quite a long time to appreciate even the most accessible music that it has to offer. I don't pretend to know why people do or do not review what the review, aside from myself of course. And I'm writing this because, quite frankly, above all others Portishead deserve a place on this site.
From what I can tell, Portishead were widely resonsible for the popularization of trip-hop, becomong possibly its most innovative and respected artist. Dummy was named album of the year more times than Definitely Maybe or Parklife (and probably deserved it more), the debut follow-up wasn't as well received, but still found its way onto the end-of-year lists. Since then they've had one live release, and have left their fans waiting for their next album. I read one place that they'd broken up, but neither their official website nor the All Music Guide confirm this, so we can sit and wait for whatever they'll come up with next.
--Robert Grazer
Post your comments about Portishead
(reviewed by Robert Grazer)
HIGH POINTS: Roads, It's A Fire, Wandering Star, Glory Box, Mysterons, Numb, Sour Times, Strangers. LOW POINTS: None.
The breakthrough debut, one of, if not the, best albums of the year, Dummy showed Portishead in a remarkably confident position for a band that seems to be experiemtning as much as they do. What they've created here is fucked up, insane, depressing, extremely dark and still remarkably memorable. The lyrics are beautiful and powerful, even if I can hardly decipher their maning half of the time. And Beth Gibbons' vocal performance is no less than stellar. She moves smoothly between different styles and tones, perfectly reflecting the mood of every song on the album. The trippy hip-hop beats themselves are extremely catchy, with all sorts of acid-jazz and shit popping up all over the place. What you get as a final result is a nearly flawless set of songs (only "It Could Be Sweet" stands out as a minor flaw, lacking any real power in comparison with the rest of the album), showing everything that trip-hop could be. I shouldn't make statements like that, since I'm really far from the expert of the style, but if what they say is true, it's not going to get much better than this. And I'd believe them.
The opening "Mysterons" is brilliant, a slow bass line right into some super-cool scratching until the beat hops in and the song gets going. I can't get enough of Gibbons' vocals on this one, her fragile voice as she hits the "strung out until ripped apart" line impresses me every time. The following "Sour Times" is no less spectacular. As possibly the album's best known track, it sets a good upbeat pace for itself, the witty chorus lines and the almsot rap-like verses working togehter beautifully. "Strangers," or rather the first ten or so seconds of it, is the first place I turn if someone asks me to define trip-hop. Some sort of horn sample winds down right into a backwards electronic beat in a way that sounds just completely fucked up, but held together so well. It was cettainly a shock the first time I heard it. Amazing.
My favorite stretch on the album begins with "Wandering Star," with a chorus lifted out of the Bible and a vocal melodiy most bands would kill for. It descends into a perfect jazzy jam at the end, right into the winding down organ as the song fades out. Definitely one of the albums sure highlights. Though not every song on the album is dark and depressing. The organ led and often overlooked and underrated "It's A Fire" shows some true examples of hope and optimism, a great contrast to the rest of the disc. Like everything else here, though, they manage to make it fit in perfectly with the rest of the tracks here, the gorgeous refrain "Breathe on, little sister" being one of the most memorable spots on the album. Oh, and "Numb" gives another shot of brillinace serving as both a fantastic track and a brilliant interlude between "It's A Fire" and the album's ultimate highlight. And that's not just me talking there either. "Roads" is proably the most popular track among Portishead fans, and Dummy's darkest, most depressing, and still most brilliant moment altogether. A haunting piano intro leads into the main body of the song, heavily orchestrated with strings backing almost every note. And it would be hard to imagine someone not in tears by the time it hits the "Storm, in the morning light" verse. What a masterpiece.
Following the immortal stretch there is "Pedestal," which I suppose is slighlty lesser, but that's probably only because it follows up such an astonishing set of music. "Biscuit" is one of the all around jazziest tracks on the album, and while it's certainly no "Wandering Star," it does still manage to make considerably good use of its five minutes. Finishing out Dummy is the ever-so-popular "Glory Box," built over an Isaac Hayes sample (which Tricky also sampled around the same time for his equally brilliant "Hell is Around The Corner"). It's got a slow, steady pace, building the atmosphere, until out of nowhere Gibbons calls out "This is the beginning, of forever, AND EVER!" and the song SLAMS right into a funky beat and some trippy shit pumps out. It may sound odd written here, but the actual result is near perfect. It's the sort of stuff even the nerdiest will find themselves bopping their heads to. Then we slip back into the dark verse, and slowly fade out, finishing off the journey.
Dummy stands as an incredible statement, showing a shining example of trip-hop as it would soon be known: dark. Even Massive Attack, who originated the style, couldn't do it like this. At every corner there is a surprise, something new, every song holds memorable moments. And you won't find too many mid-album stretches as jaw-dropping as you will here. It would take the band three years to properly follow it up, and even then I think that they knew that they weren't going to be able to do something breathtaking and unique quite like Dummy. They couldn't. No one could. Ever.
Post your comments / reviews for this album
COMMENTS
I think you are a little inconsistent not giving this album a 10 after such a rave review. Still it's nice to see a Portishead on your site since, as you pointed out, for one reason or another web reviewers tend to neglect trip hop. Pity, as it was one of more interesting genres of the nineties.
(reviewed by Robert Grazer)
HIGH POINTS: Half-Day Closing, Cowboys, Only You, All Mine, Over, Undenied, Seven Months. LOW POINTS: None.
Good Lord. This is Dummy pushed further, further than I though Portishead would go, further than I thought they could go. This still doesn't quite live up to Dummy overall artisically in the sense that the music isn't as good as they've done before (though it comes mighty close), with one fantastic cut after another, but as far as being creative, daring, and diverse goes, you this leaves the band's debut looking like kiddie work. Ok, maybe not, but you thought "Stangers" was fucked up? Listen to "Cowboys." You thought "Roads" was dark? Listen to "Half-Day Closing." You thought "Biscuit" was jazzy? Listen to "All Mine." Any limits that the band set for themselves before are completely gone now.
And the results are kind of mixed. It isn't that there's anything really bad on Portishead, it's just that, the second half of the album in particular, is something you REALLY need to be in the right sort of mood for, or you'll be bored to tears. It's very, very good in it's own way, but it's not easy to get used to, as it's extremely mellow and winding. As far as the individual songs are concerned, only "Western Eyes" fnds real problem with me, though. The tune itself is really great, a truly haunting piano-led tune for the first three minutes of the song (so much so that I could have listed it as a highlight), but there's some male vocals in it, and with a band like Portishead, on an album like Portishead, it really doesn't sit well with me. It's not like the scratching with male voice samples you find in some of their other songs, it's actual male whining, and it really isn't the way I would have chosen to close the album. Save that sort of thing for Tricky to do. He's good at it.
But the first half s at least as good as Dummy, opening up with the terror of "Cowboys", which can only be described in the word 'different', the repeated keyboards in the background and vocal work (especially the 'today will be the damnedest day...' line) making it more than effective in it's incredibly fucked up dark atmosphere. Some of the weirdest scratching I've heard in my life too. Yikes. "All Mine" kicks up the jazz, beginning with what could almost have been a James Bond sample with a couple more notes in the horns, and while there are no real jazz jams in it like there were on Dummy, but the horns and mood of the song are certainly one of the best definitions of the term 'acid jazz' that I've heard.
"Half-Day Closing", though, is possibly the best Portishead song to date. Haunting, dark, everything that Portishead are reaches a truly intense and frightening climax a couple minutes into the unshakable atmosphere of this song, which rivals that of even some Pink Floyd, and the horrifying scream Gibbons lets out toward the end chills me even more than "I'm The Devil", and that says a LOT there. It's their "Jizzlobber", so to speak. And following it up with "Over" continues in a mood so dark it merely sounds like a continuation of the same song. It doesn't quite hit the highs that the previous track did, but it carries a mood that in a quieter way comes dangerously close.
"Humming" is where a little bit of a problem comes in. Well, 'problem' probably isn't the word to use, but the focus shifts to the slower tunes, and if you're not prepared, you'll fall asleep in the intro (which is a minute and a half). Me, I find it simple to appreciate the second half of the album so long as the lights are off or something. "Mourning Air" is one of the easier entries on the second half, and does sound like it could almost fit on the band's debut. "Seven Months" is a more upbeat track toward the end of the album, probably the most 'exciting' track on the albums' second half. The highlight of the second side comes in "Only You", a really, really slow and really, really pretty entry, with odd breaks and pauses in it, but it's so quietly beautiful that not naming it as a sure highlight of the album would seem quite wrong.
It's obvious why some of the bands fans do consider this even better than the debut -- it's darker, mellower, and takes more chances. It's also easy to see why it wasn't as well received as Dummy -- it's darker, mellower, and takes more chances. So where does that leave me? In the rare case that I'm in the perfect mood, I do enjoy Portishead more, and the first half through "Over" is an undeniably incredible stretch of music, but I do put on Dummy twice as often as I do this one. Maybe it's because this is so hard to handle, so relentlessly dark and moody, much less 'cool' as songs like "Glory Box" were, and much more serious and depressing, and if you've already heard the band's debut, you should know that even creating an album you can say that about is a task in itself.
Post your comments / reviews for this album
Index | Main band/artist reviews page