Customer Reviews
superiority without a doubt ... - By: Rafael Lindsay, 17 Jul 2008 
harrowing, infectual & experimental sounds make this a far superior offering to the pedestrian dummy.thats no too say dummy is lazy or derivative it has some great tracks & a consistant theme but i think it never really climaxed like this self titled lp. cringeworthy certainly not gorgeous & expressive absolutely rarely groups have the integrety to produce music that attempts something new &in doing so pushes the boundaries for a greater experiencein their second helping i strongly reccomend this for anyone who is ready to emerce themselvesin the greatness this sublime album has to offer
raf!!
The Genius of the Portis' - By: T. Jones, 02 Nov 2006 Totally amazing, one of the greatest albums ever made. Dark, brooding, with awesome scratching, beautiful & unsettling singing and,in my opinion, superior to Dummy. Love driving at night or smoking at home to this absolute classic. You'd be a fool not to hear it.
Second album blues... - By: Mr. Robert Murphy, 11 Mar 2006 
If this had been Portishead's first album, everyone would be raving that it was the greatest thing that ever happenedin early nineties music. It wasn't & people aren't. And while there aren't quite the high points of Dummy - Like Sour Times, Roads & Glory Box, I think this second offering is more consistent than the debut. All Mine, Over, Only You are all fine songs. It's claustrophobic & classy, it's blue & brooding. I wish Beth Gibbon would sing more, she has quite an amazing voice. Portishead rock. Please can they release something again soon?
Trip-hop noir - By: E. A Solinas, 18 Jan 2006 Portishead created a unique soundin their debut "Dummy," combining smoky jazz & 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 & 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 upin songs like the distant "Over" & "Seven Months," which sounds strangely like fellow trip-hop artist Emiliana Torrini. Only the downtempo "Over" & softly poppy "Western Eyes" break from this cooler sound, sounding warm & unaltered. The rest of the album is a different story.
Somehow it adds to the noir atmosphere to have darker, colder sounds wovenin 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 & thick synth. It's surprisingly heady to listen to. Also cold & distant -- which seems appropriate, since the simple lyrics focus on loneliness, melancholy, sadness & 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 intonationsin "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.
eek - By: S. Barber, 31 Jan 2004 Until I heard this, I thought Dummy was the best triphop album I've ever heard. With this album, Portishead have taken all the dark energy & searing emotion from the previous work & amplified it to the point of agony. It's impossible to imagine how Portishead-Portishead could ever be improved upon; perhaps the band peaked too early. This is a classicin its genre, taking the listener on a intimate ghost-train ride through the darker side of the human psyche. My favourite track is Elysium. It plods along, dark, cynical & unstoppable, then falls into a gentle trough which lulls & relaxes the listener. When the main dirge & evisceral vocals kickin again, it makes me want to hidein the cupboard. I love this album. Only downside - the singer's Shirley Bassey impressions are a little shrill. Tweeters everywhere beware...
