Portishead (album)

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Portishead
Studio album by Portishead
Released	September 30, 1997
Recorded	1996 - 1997
Genre	Trip Hop
Length	50:30
Label	Go! Discs/London
Producer	Portishead
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Robert Christgau (B-) link Pitchfork Media (8.2/10) link Slant Magazine link
Portishead chronology
Glory Times (1995) Portishead (1997) Roseland NYC Live (1998)

Portishead is the second album from the band of the same name, released in 1997 on GO! Beat Records. It presents darker, grainier sound than their previous record. It received less attention from the media but managed to reach #2 on the UK Album Chart and #21 on the Billboard 200 chart. It is the longest of the three albums.

Contents 1 Reception and influence 2 Track listing 3 See also 4 External links

[edit] Reception and influence

Professional reviews:

• Rolling Stone (10/2/97, p.56) - 3 Stars (out of 5) - "...the group easily re-establishes its mastery of the genre now known as trip-hop....Geoff Barrow and Adrian Utley have refined their sound to an instantly identifiable essence..."

• Entertainment Weekly (10/03/97, p.84) - "This sophomore spook-athon from chilly U.K. combo Portishead clanks across the attic, via Geoff Barrow's skeletal samples and funereal keyboards. Beth Gibbons' surgical-steel voices slices into her partner's scraps of musical meat, for an effect that's hypnotic, bloodless, and addictive." - Rating: A

• Vibe (11/97, p.152) - "Beth Gibbons shows off stark vocal mood swings as she croons and claws under a bitter moon. A 30-piece orchestra keeps you strung out on drama, while producers/bandmates Adrian Utley and Geoff Barrow snap out the beats."

• The Source (11/97, p.174) - "...crafted with care and eloquence, and somehow articulating the space that exists between the emotional and the physical....Portishead succeed with aplomb on their eponymously-titled follow-up album..."

• Musician (11/97, p.86) - "Gibbons' extraordinary voice has grown darker, nastier, and more spine-tingling, while the new songs vary from grim...to serene....Portishead looks over the cliff, then dives headlong into the abyss."

• Spin (1/98, p.86) - Ranked #6 on Spin's list of the "Top 20 Albums Of The Year."

• Q (1/98, p.114) - Included in Q Magazine's "50 Best Albums of 1997."

• Melody Maker (12/20-27/97, pp.66-67) - Ranked #18 on Melody Maker's list of 1997's "Albums Of The Year."

• Village Voice (2/24/98) - Ranked #14 in the Village Voice's 1997 Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll.

• NME (12/20-27/97, pp.78-79) - Ranked #32 in NME's 1997 Critics' Poll.

[edit] Track listing

Tracks written by Geoff Barrow, Beth Gibbons and Adrian Utley, except where noted.

1. "Cowboys" (Barrow, Gibbons) – 4:38
2. "All Mine" – 3:59
3. "Undenied" (Barrow, Gibbons) – 4:18
4. "Half Day Closing" – 3:49
5. "Over" – 4:00
6. "Humming" – 6:02
7. "Mourning Air" – 4:11
8. "Seven Months" – 4:15
9. "Only You" (Barrow, Gibbons, Utley, Thorne, Hardson, Stewart) – 4:59
10. "Elysium" – 5:54
11. "Western Eyes" – 3:57

• "All Mine" was later covered by Tom Jones and The Divine Comedy
• "Mourning Air" had previously appeared on The Help Album.
• "Only You" was later released in a promotional French language lyrics version

[edit] See also

• Portishead discography

[edit] External links

• Portishead Info

v • d • e Portishead Adrian Utley · Geoff Barrow · Beth Gibbons Studio albums Dummy · Portishead · Third Live albums Roseland NYC Live Compilations Glory Times Singles "Numb" · "Sour Times" · "Glory Box" · "All Mine" · "Over" · "Only You" · "Machine Gun"  · "The Rip" Related articles Discography