Portishead

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Editorial reviews

Album Description
Japanese only SHM-CD (Super High Material CD - playable on all CD players) pressing. Universal. 2008.

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Amazon.com
The bad news is that there is no "Sour Times" to equal the first album's greatness. Lead single "Cowboys" doesn't do the trick, not with its '50s sci-fi dub vibe and the Yma Sumac stylings of Beth Gibbons. The upside is that this bold sophomore release is, even at this late date in trip-hop's evolution, still startling, thanks to the mix of Geoff Barrow's soundscapes and Gibbons's haunting wail. --Jeff Bateman

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2009-01-09 rating:
Ouch! That hurt...
There are many songs or albums I hear, and am genuinely puzzled why they should be so popular. About a few of those, I additionally wonder why in the world something like this would even have been recorded in the first place. Portishead is in the latter category. Scratchy, muffled, monotonous, incoherent, gloomy ... I bitterly resent the money spent to try out this over-hyped turkey. I like to try to broaden my musical horizons by checking out bands or genres I haven't listened to before, but Portishead is enough to put me off doing that for a while.

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review by: date: 2009-01-06 rating:
Only You
When I purchased "Dummy" as a trip/hop recommendation, I knew I had to have all of the band's albums. When I purchased "Portishead" I knew I was in musical heaven.

Overshadowed by it's predecessor, many consider it it's lesser equal. But I disagree. Darker, much more infused with a cinematic B-Horror Sci-fi landscape. Throw in a bit of the 60's, 70's, crunchy trip/hop and Beth Gibbon's angsty voice/lyrics. Make me ache for something close to this which I have yet to come across.

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review by: J.R U.N date: 2008-12-16 rating:
impossible to find. It wasn't available on itunes until recently.
Nice for old school hip hop lovers. A combination of wu-tang meets bjork. Interesting and doesn't disappoint.
Great Album!! Buy, Buy, Buy!!!

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review by: http://ridunkulousexperiences.wordpress.com/ date: 2008-11-04 rating:
The second masterpiece
With Dummy, Portishead cemented their niche in the world of trip hop, and honestly had no obligations to carry out afterwards. Dummy was a fantastic album, good enough that even if the group had stopped there and made it a one time deal, the album would not have faded into obscurity. In any case, Portishead's early end has always felt slightly unrealized. Portishead only made two studio albums, one live album, and a few stray singles, b-sides, and rarities. It takes a very special band to be this appreciated with so little for fans to go on.

The self titled album has always been the overlooked one. Dummy was clearly the better album, and considering the band only really had two albums, that makes Portishead the bands worst album. This curse of relativity is unfortunate. The truth is, it's a great record that appeals to fans way more than direct connection with the masses through the radio.

In comparison to Dummy, Portishead is darker and more adventurous. It is more elaborately produced, detailed, and complex. While Dummy had some more tender moments (the sublime It Could Be Sweet and the jazzy Sour Times), Portishead is a blistering, difficult album that pulls no punches. In that way it is a logical step forward from Dummy, but it lacks some of it's simplistic charm. Then again, listening to a follow up to an album as iconic and popular as Dummy entails some unfair expectations. This album was never supposed to be a direct sequel. It has it's own identity. While it may be lacking in comparison, it stands pretty strong on it's own.

Or at the very least it expands on Portishead's repertoire in a way that gives the short lived group more form. The opening song, Cowboys, pins the albums style, to a certain extent. Beth Gibbon's voice is now more jazzy, regal, and brave. The music that accompanies it is significantly darker and more big sounding. What accompanies the signature heavy beats and well placed scratching are more disjointed and disturbing melodies. Even when Gibbons is belting out some of her more positive lyrics, the music is disturbing and perverse enough to warp the end result.

This switch from melancholy to disturbing is interesting, even compelling. Being partial to the fact that this really isn't supposed to be Dummy 2 doesn't hide the fact that the albums most interesting and compelling moments occur when the music gets vulnerable. Mourning Air makes use of cold, chilling cymbals and subtle horns. This is surely almost as breaking as Roads, which is a pretty great accomplishment. Undenied is also a slower, more touching venture, which somehow manages to feel somewhat warm with it's loneliness. That meaty bass thumping always does the trick. The closing Western Eyes is a really shockingly vulnerable way to end Portishead's last album. After gently introducing a piano melody and one of Gibbon's most beautiful performances, a jazzed little piano roll is the quaint, subtly biting end to the album. These songs make a little more sense, and give the album clarity.

But no less important are the muscular, more big sounding songs that are distinct to the album. Cowboys is a fantastic opener, and is only complemented by the skilled use of strings and horns on All Mine. Seven Months is actually a fit of anger, in a sexy sort of way, and is about as liberating as Portishead gets.

While Dummy might be the focal point of Portishead's short lived career, it is really a shame to stop there when such a good album is up for grabs for further listening. On one hand, the bands self titled sophomore album has some uninspired moments, specifically Half Day Closing and Only You, two easy picks for worst Portishead songs. The flipside is that there are many songs here that stand very tall and give the band more depth. It is a little more difficult, but it yields great rewards upon further exploration. Despite the fact that it is miles behind it's predecessor, this is an album that is worth attention for reasons other than the fact that Portishead had very little material for people to feast on.


review by: ginsu date: 2008-11-03 rating:
jinx
In the three years following Portishead's first album about 1 billion trillion bands ripped off the portishead sound... Or tried to.

Postishead reponded with this lame effort. I barely remember it. I think it had one mediocre song and a bunch of really bad ish. The singer decided to rip off Barbara Streisand instead of billy holiday. wtf?

I have yet to check the third album. even though it was released six months ago. this sophmore record is THAT BAD

1.5 stars.

(the best band to deliver that "portishead" sound was LAMB who mixed a beefy style of creative DnB with the style. Locust also had a dope mix by Boom Boom satalites that did a grunge rock take on the sound. you can also go back in time and peek Skinhead Oconner, Suzi Sioux and Cocteau Twins first album if you like P-head roots muzak)

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