Portishead (album)

Infobox Album
Name = Portishead
Type = studio
Artist = Portishead


Released = September 30 1997
Recorded = 1996 - 1997
Genre = Trip Hop
Length = 50:30
Label = Go! Discs/London
Producer = Portishead
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:uaua6j7o71w0 link]
*Robert Christgau (B-) [http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?id=1092&name=Portishead link]
*Pitchfork Media (8.2/10) [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/20994-portishead link]
*Slant Magazine Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/music_review.asp?ID=1187 link]
*Rolling Stone Rating|3|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/portishead/albums/album/305468/review/5941236/portishead link]
Last album = "Glory Times"
(1995)
This album = "Portishead"
(1997)
Next album = "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 a 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 band's three albums.

Reception

"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.

Track listing

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

# "Cowboys" (Barrow, Gibbons) – 4:38
# "All Mine" – 3:59
# "Undenied" (Barrow, Gibbons) – 4:18
# "Half Day Closing" – 3:49
# "Over" – 4:00
# "Humming" – 6:02
# "Mourning Air" – 4:11
# "Seven Months" – 4:15
# "Only You" (Barrow, Gibbons, Utley, Thorne, Hardson, Stewart) – 4:59
# "Elysium" – 5:54
# "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

ee also

*Portishead discography

External links

* [http://wnet.suomi.net/kotisivu/heikki.hietala/portishead.htm/ Portishead Info]