Portishead Albums

Portishead is a band that came to prominence during the mid 90’s era of British Trip-Hop and came to define that genre, but they were more than that. Main songwriter Geoff Barrow creates songs that sets him apart from his contemporaries in the way that they constantly question human nature and hold us in suspension of disbelief. They fit into a genre by some people, but also exude examples of other types of music within and without rock music, truly cinematic and a perfect match of singer (the excellent and one of a kind Beth Gibbons) and sound sculptor, Barrow himself and producer Dave McDonald on the first two records. It is important to note the band’s heavy use of samples from old jazz and soul records, like many hip hop artists they loved Barrow and company mastered the art of incorporating other “found sounds” to make music. They have two pretty much perfect albums in my opinion, Dummy (1994) and Third (2008). Constantly looking for new sounds and avenues to make unique music with only three albums in the last thirty years, Portishead are not afraid to pull us all into the depths of their collective soul and carry us along for the ride.

Band Members:
Geoff Barrow (programming, keyboards, drums, string arrangements), Beth Gibbons (vocals), Adrian Utley (guitar, bass, keyboards, string arrangements), Dave McDonald (drums, programming)

Best Album:

Third or Dummy

Biggest influences:

Silver Apples, Bessie Smith, Suicide, Massive Attack, Neneh Cherry, Cowboy Junkies, Al Green, Sade  

1994

Dummy - 96%

Quickly appearing on the scene of music in the mid 90’s in Britain, the band emerged with its own take on the Trip-Hop scene (even though they hate being associated with it, like so many bands resist a label understandably). Beth Gibbons croons like the best soul singers before her, and the crisp electronic shaping sounds of Geoff Barrow sound like the future coming in to collide with he now. To their credit, each song is a take on their already established somber music and it never gets repetitive but continues to inspire to this day. Some of the songs sound great as standalones: “Sour Times” was the hit and serves as a perfect take on their film noir style story telling and deep inner yearning like few before them; “Wandering Star” tells the tale like a lullaby to an alien creature, albeit infused with cool hip-hop drum beats and DJ record scratches; “Glory Box” finishes the proceedings like the credits of a movie, bemoaning “Give me a reason to love you/ a reason to be a woman” making it the calling card for an entire generation; “Numb” is as hard as they rock, but the off kilter synth and terribleness of all of it feels as though the goal is to unsettle as well as sooth.

Then there is the sublime context at atmosphere of the album and the other songs glide us a long in a perfect order. “Biscuit” is the ultimate in mental depression, cringing towards the end “I’ll never fall in love again/ it’s all over.” With a rare male vocal. “Roads” has perhaps the most touching chorus, and is the next cinematic song next to “Sour Times” and matches that song for its beauty. Opener “Mysterions” pulls you immediately into the vortex, with a smooth sounding snare and a theremin to make things just that much more mysterious; “Pedestal” is the type of song those looking for a gem of an album track will love, dark and haunting as the rest and bit of a psychedelic touch. “Strangers” has the hardest hitting percussive attack, and its contrasted brilliantly by the most emotional vocals, it literally feels like someone pounding you further and further into the cement or what it may feel like to enter a quasar. The only other two songs I didn’t mention are still enjoyable, though not quite stand-outs I would also not skip them making the entire record a work of art worth listening to all the way through.

The music is simple, yet profound and gorgeous. They don’t really cater to high accessible expectations, but it all is very accessible and easy to enjoy. Meeting them on their own terms, Dummy comes across as a debut record by a band that knows exactly what it wants to say, in fact the sheer confidence of each song is sort of hard to believe. More than 30 years later, it still sounds timeless and marks Geoff Barrow as a genius modern rock n roll composer.

Best Songs: Strangers, Sour Times, Roads, Biscuit

Sidenote: I found out that “It’s a Fire” was not originally on UK/ Europe versions of this album, so I am boosting the score up even more! It was not a bad song but not a favorite of mine.

1997

Portishead - 72%

The second album by Portishead is easily the densest one, but that doesn’t mean its not filled with rewards of its own. Exploring the cinematic, spy-movie sound effect style of their sound more and more, they try new tricks that work a lot of the time. The horn section of “All Mine” screams James Bond soundtracks and why they have never been asked to do one is beyond me. “Seven Months” is a similar vein, the vocals of Gibbons slithering like a snake and making quite the impact. “Undenied” and “Over” plod along well with more and more sounding like a group sinking in quicksand and wanting you to hear about it. “Cowboys” gives the listener more of what they are used to, and groove along and the usual mid-tempo pace.

There a couple issues making this one not as good as the other albums though, mainly the first half is far superior to the first in terms of quality music, the album ends on two songs (“Elysium” and “Western Eyes”) which might be my least favorite they ever wrote. Also unlike the debut album, the songs do blur into each other more here and don’t have as distinct melodies and approaches, “Humming” and “Only You” being two examples as I always forget which song is which when relistening to the record. The ones that do are worth your time though, best of all “Half Day Closing” which matches the highs of the Dummy album, especially in terms of psychedelic wonderment. Willing to be experimental on a superficial level, the band will need to rethink its approach on the next one.

Best Songs: Half Day Closing, All Mine, Seven Months, Over

2008

Third -  97%

There is something truly ominous about the band’s third album, yet another revitalization of their sound and given that they use many of the same methods to construct their songs it must reflect a different kind of mood. The guitars and electronic percussion sound more of the future, and Beth Gibbons sings as if she has lost the will to even pretend to make sense. There exists is music from the future, and then there is music from a future so dark and drab that something must have happen for humanity to have lost all hope- this is the atmosphere of the world the band creates. Beth Gibbons had some hope in her voice on the first two albums and some of Geoff Barrows songs had glimmers of happiness, but no more.

“Silence” is quite the mysterious opener, telling the story of such a woman that barely had energy to rhyme while the drums are inhuman sounding as they plod along in an odd time signature behind her. “Nylon Smile” is brief but exudes an almost swooning voice in the chorus, while “Hunter” carries with it the film noir haziness of the debut, telling a slow motion song that gives the quality of true yearning like only Portishead can do with their minimal compositions. “Magic Doors” also brings back the pop element of the band (if you can call it that) and shows how effortlessly they could make an album of songs that are more catchy, thankfully having just this one is enough and it’s a great one. The minute and a half “Deep Waters”, an old-fashioned song that could have been heard 100 years prior in the early 1900s, and offers a small respite in the middle of the album.

About the truly great songs: “We Carry On” is pure Silver Apples influence, which is surprising but a nice addition to their cannon; in many ways this is the band’s new signature song and one most other bands would not dare to make. After Gibbons stops rambling incoherently about ‘the taste of life’, an other worldly guitar takes hold at the 2:30 mark that blows ever thing away. It’s probably the best song the band ever did even over anything on Dummy, the only competition is “Machine Gun” where electronic percussion takes promise giving it a different spin the Jimi Hendrix Band of Gypsys song of the same name. It's the most accessible song here, as it almost comes off as sweet in the chorus and that is balanced by a bizarre noise on the drums that demands your attention. At the ending there is what only could be referred to as a symphony of these virtual drum sounds, with a moving keyboard solo to end it all making it prophetic and powerful. “The Rip” whispers an ancient melody with sparse acoustics, before morphing into a moving sea of synthesizer repeating a melody over and over to get pleasantly lost in. “Small” does many things: it is funeral precession of robots in the future, it is a song within a song a la Talking Heads “No Compassion”, it is an amazing ghostly ballad that is the most claustrophobic song here. Closer “Threads” is supreme dread, the ultimate emotional breakdown of an album closer stating with this self-doubt there is no happy ending, something like the ending of Mulholland Drive put to music.

Only “Plastic” really comes off as perhaps too bleak, an exercise in the art of throwing your hands on all the keyboards and adding a drone that overpowers everything else in the chorus. But it’s easy to get lost in the aura of this album and if you give it time you may find you love every single song. In a way the final stretch of songs is better than the first one, perhaps it all should be re-ordered some but the songs themselves are all amazing. Personally, I’d move “We Carry on” and “Magic Doors” a bit up in the proceeds to have more of an accessible quality and flow to it. But who am I to say, just a lowly critic who is a giant fan of Third and consider it one of the great albums of all time. Whatever order you prefer this album is pure genius and singular, a killer return, and a complete reinvention of rock music. My vote for their best record, and one for the ages.

Best Songs: We Carry On, Machine gun, Threads, Magic Doors, The Rip