Dummy

"Trip-hop"? "Downtempo"? Although it is a dark record, between Beth Gibbons' tortured voice, Geoff Barrows' beats, scratches and samples, and Adrian Utleys' jazzy guitar: this album is pure sex.

Don't believe me? Try it.

What can be said that already hasn't been said? I don't think there's much. This must have REALLY seemed ground-breaking at the time: Backbeats that sometimes recall hip-hop elements and some real soaring, soulful vocals from Beth Gibbons. There's not a single bad song on here, and it's most famous for the awesome "Sour Times," which sounds at times like a James Bond theme with certain elements. Then there's "Numb" which is probably my favorite song on the album, real soulful vocals there. You get more blues-rockin' moments like on the record's closer "Glory Box." There's occasional samples which rule and sound neat like everything else. If you haven't heard "Dummy" yet you are in for a real treat. Pretty much everyone who owns it can tell you that it's well worth the hype. It is beautiful and proves electronic music CAN BE full of emotion. Even today, it doesn't sound dated at all. I like the follow-up album too, but advise this as your start.

What can I say that hasn't been said in other reviews? Well, for me this is the one essential trip-hop album. But it goes way beyond being a very successful pop or trip-hop disc. What Portishead established with Dummy was the recognition of the diverse musical roots of the trip-hop movement, filtered through an intensely modernistic lens. Out in 1994, it sounds like it was released yesterday.

Let's briefly analyze "Glory Box," likely the most well-known track from this pervasively known disc. Glory Box begins with that unmistakeable descending bass line, which basically has the same resonance to 25-40 year olds that John Coltrane's "Tunji" or "Equinox" did to the baby Boomer generation. A repeating series of chords in F sharp, Glory Box is a gutbucket blues tune transposed to Gen X values, dripping with film noir nightclub atmosphere, the type of song that could be successfully played for any age group from Greatest Generation to Silent Generation, to Baby Boom to millennials. This song has that kind of universality. It's also a great instrumental blowing tune.

Moving on to another harmonically interesting tune, "Roads" has even more of the old jazz feel, with a roomy series of chord progressions in F Major. You can imagine an orchid in Beth Gibbons' hair as she sings the bridge. On this track and on this disc, Adrian Maben makes extremely tasteful use of the oft-abused wah pedal, and proves to be Gibbon's ideal running mate in this classic album.

It Could Be Sweet is an adult lullaby. Deeply felt and deeply moving.

The emotional range on this disc is significant. Not every song on Dummy is a gutwrenching heartbreaker, and they don't need to be. Tunes like "Wandering Star" and "Mysterons" are soundtracks to Gen X urban life with a measure of humor and dry observation. The entire disc is unmistakeable and as cohesive as Dark Side of the Moon was to an earlier generation. Like DSOTM (but not in sales), Dummy is a law unto itself and an inescapable disc of its times.

There's so much more I could say. Sitting through and learning some of these tunes by ear gave me a whole new appreciation for what Gibbons et. al. did on this disc. Some of the stuff on here stands up to anything written in the last 60-70 years or more. If there's one album to buy to represent the 90's, for me this would be the one, without hesitation.

And finally, after 14 years, Portishead will release another album! Astonishing.

This is almost the perfect album. I bought this recently having listened to it years ago and it was like finding an old classical watch or something. It moved me. The hits are great of course- 'Sour Times' and 'Glory Box'. Songs like this just want you to run out and open a lounge with a blue light or something! Then there is the absolute gem in "It's a Fire' with that wonderful bass running through as her voice weaves between the notes. This album is a beautiful moment in time.

First, this is a phenomenal album, it creates an amazing atmosphere that feels both new and familiar. However, I gotta say that I prefer the live album PNYC(the dvd is even better.) Aside from the wonder of seeing the band and orchestra deliver an amazingly on-point performance, the interplay between the musicians (as opposed to the loops on the album) makes the songs really come alive. Anyway, Dummy is a great album nonetheless, and if you are coming at Portishead from an electronic, hip-hop or dance angle, then you will probably prefer this to PNYC. But if you're more into jazz, rock or classical than I advise to check out PNYC first.