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 enlarge | Artist: Portishead
Label: London / Umgd
Category: Music
List Price: $12.98
Buy New: $12.33
You Save: $0.65 (5%)
New (19) from $9.29
Rating:  144 reviews
Sales Rank: 106540
Media: LP Record
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 11.8 x 11.7 x 0.2
UPC: 731453918917
EAN: 0731453918917
ASIN: B000003R7G
Publication Date: 1997
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
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| Customer Reviews:
 very impressive sophomore release March 22, 2007
Portishead's second release comes as a surprise. my first listen to it i felt rather disappointed. beth gibbons' voice was distorted almost the whole time and a much more twisted use of sampling and scratching going on. during my initial listen i was running short on time and could only sample bits of the songs. i guess that is why my disappointment came through. "Dummy" is very much a singles based album that can fulfill the effect it desires through quick listenings. i still love the album and don't take that comment to be anything other than that. this second album is a collection of songs, it is meant to be listened to straight through. each song flows directly into another and gives a seamless tapestry and progression of the trip-hop sound. of course Barrow and crew give us a sampling of singles like "All Mine", "Humming" and "Only You", but seeing where these tracks fit in with the album makes these tunes seem all the more significant. after my first couple of listens (obviously with headphones on) i now "experience" this album rather than listen to it. when recommending portishead i still have to give the nod to "Dummy", but any avid fan of trip-hop needs to have this album in their collection. it makes you want more, but when.....
 extremely disappointing at first, now addicted August 15, 2006
1 out of 10 found this review helpful
It was like listening to the very few parts of Dummy I didn't like for an entire CD. Way too much gratuitous scratching, and screechy vocals for may taste. Extremely disappointing.
It's now perhaps six months after I wrote the paragraph above and I am completely addicted to this album. Cinematic trip goth at its very very best
 I feel so cold... April 12, 2006
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
There's nothing like Portishead and nothing like their 2nd album. Its darker, creepier, and more haunting than the first. The entire album has an overal similar sound which makes for a more themed and theatrical sonic experience. I like this better than the first album which had the obvious singles and dabblings in various spectrums of trip-hop which now resembles everyone from tricky to morcheeba. However on this 2nd release, Portishead holds their own, establishing their own trademarked sound: an eerie, slow-paced death-orchestra led by a sultry singer with a heart of black-gold. This music will get into your brain and eat away like bad acid. Exquisite production and smart use of turntables. From the intro of eerie high pitched twinklings over a heartbeat that lead into twangy strums of electric guitar and record scratching, to the last song which ends with the sampled vocals of an old bluesman pining about hookers and gin, this is a masterpiece recording. Goes well with a late-night martini and captures the dreary mood of a cool, misty morning in Autumn just after it has rained and the fog is still hanging in the air...
A very haunting and entertaining trip-hop album - genre fans will love it! December 30, 2005
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
Let it be known that this album is extremely dark and haunting (don't listen if you're depressed!). The album starts off with a 1-2-3 punch that pretty much trumps the rest of the album - the rest isn't terrible, but they aren't as easily accessible as the first three (they'll grow on you). It does make pretty good background music (on low volume), though. The singer definitely matches the style of music here, as I would claim that most people will like her (she's very haunting). Thankfully the lyrics are also pretty good and dark here - basically everything about the album contributes to its dark undertone. All in all it's a very creative and inspired trip-hop album that I think the first three songs make into a classic! Fans of this album should definitely check out their first album "Dummy" as well as Massive Attack's "Blue Lines" and especially "Mezzanine". Absolutely recommended!
Highlights include:
"Cowboys"
"All Mine"
"Undenied"
"Over"
"Humming" (parts of)
the rest are good, too
 Not Essential December 17, 2005
12 out of 23 found this review helpful
This is a much more challenging listen that "Dummy" but ultimately nowhere near as satisfying. The main problem is the mix - the sound on this is bone dry and Beth sounds like she's singing in another room. It's a pretty unique sound but very alienating and it hurts the songs. The other problem is that you just can't listen to this after having heard the "Roseland NYC Live" CD. The versions on that CD of the songs from this album are so superior to the versions here that it's not even funny. I heard NYC Live before I heard this and I think that's a big reason why I have never been able to get into this album. All in all, I agree with the other reviewer who said that "Dummy" and "Roseland NYC Live" complete the Portishead picture and this is really unnecessary if you have those two albums. Actually, NYC Live is probably their best release. I would recommend that to newcomers as ALL of the performances on that are improvements on their studio counterparts and it contains all of their best songs with the exception of "Numb".
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