Dummy

If there's a better trip hop album out there, I haven't come across it. It's got three of my four favorite Portishead songs, "Sour Times," "Numb," and "Glory Box" (the fourth being "Only You"), although I suppose we could make it three out of five, since I prefer the Mudflap Mix version of "Glory Box." And it's not like "Wandering Star," "Pedestal," or "Biscuits" are slouches. No matter how you slice it, this is quality stuff. Gonna round up from 4.5.

Sublime from start to finish. One of my favourite albums of all time, so I was delighted to see it on the list. Sultry, atmospheric, and Intensely stylish. I fully recommend this.

-Didn’t write a BL- AL: I knew “Roads” and “Glory Box” off of this album but I was amazed that there were some tracks that even superseded how amazing those are, while I know the members of this band reject the term “trip-hop” I think the argument to be made that these guys founded the genre is pretty strong, and although their statement may be a rejection of the subsequent acts which were inspired by them you can’t help but admire how many artists declare portishead and specifically this record as an influence. For good reason too. The sounds this creates is unparalleled to anything else that was around at the time, and in the modern day due to the use of hardware and physical signal chains, the rise of DAWs has made so many of these beautifully nostalgic sounds very hard to recreate. Viva La Analogue Revolution FT: “Mysterons”, “Strangers”, “Roads”, “Pedestal”, “Glory Box” 5/5

Smooth.

Say no more, this is a beautiful and melancholic album full of ethereal vocals and absolutely tremendous trip hop beats. An absolute gem.

Bristol was already a hotbed for musical greatness by the time Dummy came out in 1994 and when the album's brilliance unfurled fast and rapidly, the city's stature and status amongst music historians was cemented forever. Nearly thirty years later, Dummy stands as Portishead's crowning achievement, a moment in time where everything aligned just right with the most accurate cinematic experiences put to music in quite some time. Perhaps the high point of the dreaded yet appropriate trip-hop term and Portishead can only get more beguiling from here.

This album was totally new to me and I loved it!

One of my favorite triphop releases.

Music here is close to being too minimalistic. Fortunately when music seems repetitive vocal can still carry song and mix of both achieves pretty psychodelic atmosphere. It is 4/5 right now but I suspect it can grow on me even more.

Fungus music. James Bond music, but infected by The Spores™ (imagine Daniel Craig, but with a giant fungus on his head, ala Toad from Mario). If there's ever a spy movie where the titular spy has to frolic through a mushroom cavern (The Gloomy Grotto), this would be the perfect album for background music. This album's beautiful in a similar way that mold is beautiful. Ever seen a cool piece of mold? This album's a really cool piece of mold. The Terrifying Toadstool of Tokyo shall consume us all. Five outta five.

So this is pretty extraordinary Constantly surprising in the soundscape and Beth Gibbons’ voice swings between mournful, sultry and explosive Also a really complete album in that it feels like a suite of songs that all build the mood and atmosphere

stuning!

Legit classic, and super important too for its impact on music history. Trip-hop wouldn’t be trip-hop without Portishead.

Very special album. Beth Gibbon's vocals exceptional. Love this.

Gold. 10/10 The perfect rainy day album.

4/5

4.5/5

Mysthical, dark, hypnotic, atmospheric and beautiful. Glory Box is the perfect ending of this magnificient trip hop album.

Love it

Amazing

I’ve loved this album for decades and I’ve gone back to it many many times over the years.. but this time round tried to listen to it as earnestly as possible to try to recapture the first few times I listened to it and man it still holds up. Beth Gibbon’s voice is ghostly beautiful, the production stunning and the songs consistently wonderful.

Solid

this album is very chill and trippy; it also has good sounddesign and sound effects, and miraculous voice of vocalist.

Oh wow, another one that I had all but forgotten about. This holds up amazingly well.

Plagiarised by so many, yet still sounding fresh & magical.

1995 Mercury Prize winner. 'Mysterons' is a bit eerie and ethereal, with seemingly bizarre instrumentation (I cannot lie - it reminds me of Scooby-Doo). Is that a theremin? I like the drums ostinato -- or what sounds like drums going rat...rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat. I couldn't really hear what the vocalist was saying but she has a great voice. The first track is right to my taste; from this, it seems like I will enjoy the rest of the album. 'Sour Times' continues to appeal, with influences that seem to be jazz, blues and even... western? It even reminds me of 'OK Computer' (nevertheless, that album came out a few years after 'Dummy'). Again, the polyphonic melody seems to contain ostinati. 'Strangers' starts with a bizarre noise that hints at bizarre recording, bizarre production or most likely both. I still have very little idea what this singer is actually saying, but that does not really matter. The idea of this being 'trip-hop'/'alternative hip-hop' comes in most prominently so far in this song compared to the previous two. Again, 'It Could be Sweet' sounds like an alternative hip-hop track. This album just keeps getting better! It's similar while remaining wildly different on each track. 'Wandering Star' sounds like it has been taken from the soundtrack to a sci-fi film. The looping drum ostinati continue, as does the singer's beautiful voice. The song seems to have influence from older rock, but remains thoroughly modern. 'Numb' sounds the most like a dance track on the entire album (but it is not). Is that the same vocalist? Cool abrupt ending! 'Roads' is noticeably slower than 'Numb'. The start sounds like a piano ballad, only the piano's part has been recorded and warped to sound nothing like a piano. Probably my favourite so far (or 'Wandering Star'), especially due to the sweeping strings that come in around halfway through! 'Pedestal' -- the voice sounds like it has been edited, unlike on the other tracks where (to me, at least) it sounds completely natural. 'Biscuit' has an excellent intro with brass instruments. Does this sample something? A man sounds like he's singing at one point; the production makes it sound like he's fifty metre away from the other instruments in a smoky bar, making me think that the vocals were not recorded for this song. That 'piano' sound from earlier reappears -- is it some kind of synthesiser? 'Glory Box' is the final song. That passed quickly! Again, it sounds like there is a change of vocalist -- she even sounds like Amy Winehouse -- but I'm pretty sure it's the same one. I like the loop of a crescendo in whatever that instrument is -- a violin? If I had to guess, I would say this was one of the singles released (I was correct!). Overall, the album deserved its acclaim, being a fantastic début -- great instrumentation, great production, great vocals, great genre (sounding like hip-hop at one point and contemporary classical at others).. The slow tempi fit the mood. It's also a nice length. My one complaint is that I could barely tell you five words that were said in any song except the last. 9.5/10.

Such a great record. It's always had a timeless feel to me; the mix of synthesizers both modern and classic, and the soulful jazz singing make it seem very anachronistic. I've played this album to death in the last 29 years, but I don't see myself getting tired of it anytime soon.

Still great. I dunno what to say. Nothing else sounds like this, and it's so smooth and so good. 4.5/5

It’s perfect: the James Bond esc tones and vibe to the whole album is orgasmic. Beth Gibbons sounds like the voice of a god speaking straight to the soul, I love this album so so so much. Ecstatic that I managed to get this sooooo early.

A regular before this came up in my project. I like the beats and the indecipherable lyrics because it doesn’t disrupt me when I’m working and is soothing. As far as a trip hop album goes, I think this is what I consider trip hop to be. I don’t know if I would be able to tell you any other albums. Groovy. Ethereal. Seductive. 5 of 5.

Lyssnat mycket på denna platta i mina dar. Finns inte en dålig låt. Kan bara betyda en sak, det förstår ni va?

Love it

Hold pretty solid

A masterpiece. Beats that the greats could rap on. Hard, smooth and sensual at the same time. Beth gibbons flawlessly sings over the glooming instrumentals. One of the best albums of all time.

PERFECTION

Just classic

Zelfs 2 keer geluisterd. Zo goed vond ik het.

The sound of share houses still sounds pretty great.

There a very few albums that sound exactly like the year they were released. 1994 sounded like Portishead. Every UK TV theme, every advert, every late night radio jingle sounded like Sour Times. An incredible album; it changed the way the 90’s sounded more so than the ones you think did.

Feels very Mazzy Star inspired, I really like this one. Some of these songs have come up in random artist/song radios but I wasn't actually familiar with the artist itself and I'm glad I am now!

Prima triphop. Leuk genre overigens. Ik vraag me af of er in 1998 ook nog goede triphop gereleased is. Volgens deze lijst niet namelijk.

This album is definitely a candidate for best album of the 90s. Portishead’s debut is a dark trip hop masterpiece that explores aspects of ambient and experimental music. While the music is expansive and exploratory, the vocals are haunting. Beth Gibbons is one of the standout vocalists of the era.

I have to admit I haven't listened to this whole album before. It's bloody good.

I was raised in Portishead, which means even if this album wasn't as good as it is, it would still get *five* big ones. A rock and hip hop fusion with blues and dub mixed in for good measure. That combination could get messy but Portishead give us a tour de force of moody and groovy melodies. On top of that, Beth's voice is something else. Once saw a couple of the band members perform at Portishead's town carnival when I was eight, didn't understand it at the time but knew something was different about them.

5 stars. What else? It's a timelessly beautiful piece of work.

Altijd leuk, van die aspirant-spionnenmuziek op een loungebedje. Relaxt, sfeervol, doet u mij maar meer van dit.

Portishead laat op Dummy een eigen geluid te horen. De emoties die in de zang en de basale muziek doorklinken zijn onderdeel van het verschil. Zonder de elektronische elementen zou je er bijna in verdrinken. Maar de veelal rustige beats brengen het perfect in balans. Dat creëert een plaat die de moeite waard is om met volle aandacht te beluisteren, maar ook prima werkt op de achtergrond. De zang schuurt af en toe een heel klein beetje. De instrumenten lijken soms gesampeld te zijn vanaf een plaat met een klein krasje en her en der wordt een kraakje toegevoegd. Allemaal net genoeg om opgemerkt te worden; nergens wordt het geforceerd. De zang kent veel kleine variaties binnen een nummer, maar ook op dit punt wordt er zelden geforceerd. Beth krijgt het zelfs voor elkaar om ingetogen uit te halen. Het gemiddelde niveau van de nummers is hoog. Maar verspreid over het album springen daar een aantal nummers nog eens bovenuit. Met moeite beperk ik mij tot drie: Sour Times, Numb en Glory Box.

Sfeervolle triphop, waarbij ik zelfs nog meer tracks (her)kende dan ik had gedacht. En wat is het dan lekker dat het beste nummer op het laatst pas komt.

Jedan od najdražih albuma

It had a really nice vibe, quite an interesting type of music

This is, without question, a sublime debut album. But so very, very sad. These are avant garde ambient moonscapes of a ferociously experimental nature. In other words, seriously spooky shit. A masterpiece, sad, jazzy and experimental soundscapes. One of the best triphop albums made. Period.

5/5, easy.

Moody spy music that makes you think about dancing while chilling at the house. Pretty perfect music, all said and done.

Fajne

4.5/5

Nice introduction to “trip hop” genre. I loved this one. Sour Times and Glory Box are the best songs on the album.

10/10

Brilliant album. Love almost everything about it. Put Bristol on the music map, for sure.

Played it a lot back in the day, excellent album. Comes to life especially in the evenings/nights.

"Third" is quite a bit better, but this is such an iconic trip hop album, hard to give anything other than 5 stars. for comparison: Dummy 9/10 Third 10/10

Excellent album from start to finish.

Strangely desolate album, yet with a warm heart. It won't get much better than this.

Five stars. Just one of those albums where every sound is so carefully crafted the whole thing appears hewn from a single block of marble. And textures is exactly the right word - the metallic dragging that haunts Sour Times, the theramin that recurs, and the glorious film music samples that litter the album. All to provide a compelling soundscape for Beth Gibbons voice. Great though Glory Box and Sour Times are, it's Roads that is the 10/5 track - a better idea of the contemporary torch song you will not find anywhere.

Fantastic record!

This is the record that I learned about down-tempo trip/hop. It changed the way I listened to music and I will forever love this record.

Once again, Wikipedia dropping knowledge bombs on me here: "The cover features a still from the band's own short film To Kill a Dead Man", how cool is that?! Almost as cool as the covert art for tool albums coming from guitarist Adam Jones' own art, cinema, and claymation. I listened to this entire album cover to cover without a hiccup and loved every second of it. Incredible focus music, the vibe is top tier.

Brilliant, wonderful, hypnotic, genius. Pretty much invented a genre (along with massive attack) An all time classic

masterpiece that helped define a genre

This band made some of my favorite songs, yet I never put on this record. This album encapsulates a lot of different moods, bleakness, fragility, despair, but also beauty. The sampling of all kinds of instruments and making their own sounds is brilliant It's got a lot of eerie/haunting soundscapes and moody passages. But the vocals of Beth have this almost angelic ring to it and it balances it nicely. Favorite lyrics: - Did you realise no one can see inside your view? Did you realise for why this sight belongs to you? - 'Cause the child rose as life. Tried to reveal what I could feel. Key tracks: Mysterons, Sour Times, Strangers, It Could Be Sweet, Wandering Star, It's A Fire, Numb, Roads, 9 out of 10

In a break from my routine I waited until the evening to listen to this. If you're listening to Portishead in the morning, you're probably still stoned. The little sample breaks are what give the album much of its charm, and save it from being too of its time. Strangers is a particular example of this. Lalo Schiffrin in Sour Times. Biscuit. Glory Box is obviously an absolute cracker. It's a Fire. Don't know this. It's not on the album. Very nice though. Unquestionably the best Portishead album, this is strongest for me when Beth is not overwhelmed by the trip hop beats. That said, Wandering Star pretty much marries these two elements most perfectly. Pedestal a close second. Anyone who enjoys her voice absolutely must listen to the later, absurdly good album she did with Rustin Man. Strong examples here though, It Could Be Sweet, Roads. Man. Roads. What. a. song. That's the song that doesn't immediately take me back to the years and evenings at uni where this album was ever present, because above any other song here I've carried it with me. One of my favourite ever songs. Just absolute bliss. Album probably getting a nostalgia 5.

Great album, loved it when it came out. Like all trip-hop I've revisited while doing this, not sure it stands up so well today. That snare on 'Mysterons' is abrasive and dates it somewhat. 'Roads' is still lovely though. Also, nice that b-side 'It's A Fire' has been included in the album - good wonky chords.

This slapped! I don't know how they managed to make it so eerie and yet so sexy and mellow, it was like an album of bond films. I loved it, especially glorybox.

Quite possibly the best-produced album of all time. The beats are crisp as all heck but with a ghostly murkiness and the vocals are enchanting

This is definitely my jam, and it really is a classic album. There's a lot of big hits in here, but the whole album is solid. Lots of interesting jams and production. Definitely one of the big trip-hop albums / touchpoints. 'Roads' takes the best song award - what an emotional punch that has.

Portishead is the right kind of weird. It's unusual, but still melodic and interesting. Mysterons and Sour Times are very good. I really like this album. More than when I was in high school.

One of the best records of the 90s. I got a reputation at halls in university as that twat who played this album too loud every night. But I was right too, people should have been grateful. Sour Times best song, just.

Aww hell yeah. Almost 200 albums ago (203) I got my first Portishead album and wrote how much I loved it. I said I would be going through their other albums and I did so I was already familiar with this album. I've really come to love this band a lot. I love me some trip hop.

I’ve listened to this album several times since discovering it in college. Love the gothic atmosphere and Beth Gibbons eerie vocals. I’m gonna steal Bailey’s line about Radiohead… because this album is also “HaUntiNgLy BeAutIFuL”. Excited for the other 2 Portishead albums to inevitably come up in this list

Great album

First time listening to Portishead, it’s my kinda music! Very chill, low key, but beautiful.

I have not anticipated an album appearing on this list more than this one and I wasn’t disappointed in the least. I want to take a bath in Beth Gibbons’ voice. This is the soundtrack to the Twin Peaks cocktail party I never knew I wanted to have.

Well I came to triphop late, but did I fall for Bristol scene hate, and nothing hit me in the feels more than this album. Roads still hits me in the chops within seconds. Absolute classic.

Wonderful.

Masterpiece, unlike anything else of its time

brilliant

A friend, an early Dummy proselytiser, listened to my copy of the album once. I'd bought it on CD in 1996 or 97, I guess, from the cheap CD shop across the way from Reckless Records. I always assumed there was something slightly dodge about their sources. They were cheap. Not as cheap as Cheapo Records up the road, but, you know, they had new stuff. And I didn't peel the skin off my cuticles while rifling through their stacks. And I didn't leave covered in dust and sneezing. I did love Cheapo Records by the way, I must say. Anyway, my suspicions were confirmed when my friend, who had been tootling about with a spliff and a kebab and only God knows what else, very almost had a heart attack when the "It's A Fire" loop kicked in. Turns out I had (and still have) a Japanese import – for some unfathomable reason, the UK pressings didn't, include this absolute epic. God, I'm old. First encounter with Portishead was when Multitrack 3 on BBC World Service played the hell out of "Sour Times" *before* it won the (ahem) Mercury Communications Music Prize. (Anyone remember Mercury mobiles? Free calls all evening and weekend? My cousin had won. Used to go all the way to deepest Sarf London to rinse that thing...) Is it me or was the Mercury Prize much earlier in the year then? Have a vague recollection of it being in February. Must check. That, I think, was (at least in the years that I actively paid attention) the strongest shortlist – and thus the most deserving winner.

After all of the hip-hop albums I've gotten that incorporate and/or straight up are trip-hop, it's crazy that it was pioneered by in English electronic band. The vibes of this album were immaculate and it's a fire and glory box were the most immaculate songs. Loved this album.

Beautiful. If I was on the fence before about liking trip hop, this sealed the deal.

One of my all time favourite album!! Just perfect in every sense

Trip hop that still holds up nearly 30 years later

The title and cover art on this is just haunting, isn't it? I get a perfect illustration of what the music will sound like visually. Dummy is tied to the times. If I had heard this for the first time today, I don't think I'd understand it as well. However, I spent the better part of six months listening to this CD on repeat in the early 90's and it is amazing.

One of my favorite albums of all time. I think it's pretty perfect. Somehow I left this off my VP essential album recommendations list, an error I will now rectify. I used to think I liked trip-hop. Then, over the course of 430 albums, we've listened to Röyksopp, Massive Attack, Tricky, and a handful of things that dabbled into the genre briefly but without consistency. It turns out maybe I don't like trip-hop, I just like Portishead. Or maybe Portishead, and "Dummy" in particular, just nailed the genre so well that everything else pales in comparison. The album flows sublimely from one track to the next, creating one of the most enveloping, haunting, sultry, and mesmerizing musical experiences I've had.

The whole album is a vibe best enjoyed after dark. It’s lonely and yet makes me feel like I am not alone. It’s hauntingly, achingly ethereal but also tinged with a sour regret you can’t quite stop thinking about. Glory Box is a standout for me but the whole album is perfection.

This album, or really Portishead, is one of a kind. I have never heard anything else like them. The bands that are listed as being similar and/or adjacent don’t come close to them. And this album started it all. I don’t know what I like better, the music or Beth Gibbons’s vocals. Mysterons is of particular musical note between the militaristic drumming and the scratching. Her voice is ethereal. This album reminds me of Twin Peaks: The Return. TPTR had scenes throughout at The Roadhouse, a bar on the southern side of town where bands often play. As is the case with everything in Twin Falls, Washington, mystery and oddity are the backdrop to the goings on at The Roadhouse. The album would fit right in as a performance at The Roadhouse…in a great way. Side bar alert!!! I discovered Chromatics through their performance of Shadow at the end of Part 2. Great song, check out the video https://youtu.be/IGUboLZx3Tk. Check out Chromatics too (Kill For Love is a great place to start). You know who else performed in TPTR? Of course not, but I’ll tell you anyway. I didn’t realize they were on the show until today. I found them separately after watching the show. The answer? Au Revoir Simone, also a great listen (Move In Spectrums is a great place to start).

Finalmente estou em condições de aproveitar a potência da sonoridade das camadas do vocal, samples e guitarras.

Beth Gibbons is one of the most iconic vocalists in music. Powerful and spooky, chilling the audience to the spine with her range and intensity. All of Portishead's albums are fantastic with unique and memorable tracks that blow you away, but their debut has their most recognizable tracks, including "Roads" and "Glory Box". All tracks are remarkable, characterized by perfect mixing, a creative use of samples, and production techniques that contribute to a complete and coherent listen. We start off with the industrial synth-heavy "Mysterons" that sounds like a stroll through a haunted factory. "Sour Times" is a favorite, with a catchy chorus, strong R&B influences and incorporating 70s spy music samples (resembling surf rock), feeling intense and disarrayed. "Strangers" sounds like vocal jazz layered underneath heavy industrial drones and filters. There are so many production techniques and introduced samples that are added exactly once or twice (like the Disney-sounding classical sample or that chamber echo) that add to the completeness of diversity of the song. There's so much happening in each song that it encourages replayability and makes each second valuable. "Biscuit" is another samplepaedic song, with a million things to focus on, from the slowed down (almost vaporwave-esque) vocal sample, the staticy background, the record scratches, the lifeless hollow drum beats, and what sounds like a distant parade recording at the end. "It Could Be Sweet" is one of the most aesthetically pleasing songs. I love the cool vibe of the samples, and it has possibly my favorite of Gibbons's soothing vocals. "It's a Fire" also provides a nice break with its gospel-sounding organ and relaxing vocals. "Wandering Star" moves us back into the gothic vibes, surely an inspiration to the likes of Evanescence. This is the first song I've heard where record scratches actually contribute to the spooky imagery rather than for its own sake. Absolutely love the instrumental finish, especially that closing organ sample. What I love about the album is that they rarely reuse their tricks. A similar feeling song, "Numb" is instead characterized by its eery vibrato and frantic lyrics. Meanwhile, "Roads" is somber and nostalgic. I find "Glory Box" to be a fitting closer, with a memorable and enticing hook sending shivers, and a catchy and powerful chorus. Her vocals are strong and sexy here. There's so much I love about this song. The hazy bluesy guitar gets its solo but continues despite Gibbons singing again, then disappears without warning only to start up randomly again later, fizzling in and out, screeching one more time with Gibbons's echo. The next 20 seconds absolutely blow me away, abruptly shifting to a super psychedelic and unsettling segment of abrasive beats and echoey vocals, before moving back to the core song and ending the album. I so wish it could just go on longer.

Really enjoyed

It’s like the gorillaz mixed with radio head

I know this album well. It's majestic.

Excellent album.

Stand-outs: "It's A Fire," "Roads"

One of the 50 most beautiful albums ever and absolutely the best trip hop record of all time (this is not an opinion). Such a wonderful experience!

Love this album. Such a great sound and atmosphere to this album up there with my all time’s favourites. Absolute masterpiece up there with the greatest debut albums.

This album took a while to grow on me honestly, but now I can't imagine why there was any reason I had mixed feelings. It's a bit depressing, but those beats just freakin' KICK. And great lyrics. Yup, love this one.

Sublime. Must check out Beak> properly.

One of the best albums of the 90s for me. Relentlessly brilliant track after track and sounds like it could have been made now.

Wonderfully evocative album. Reminiscent of after club "back to mine's" in the early to mid 90s. Absolute classic.

This album holds a special place in my heart, and I'm immediately transported back to 16 years old and all the yearning and heart aches of that time. I could basically list the whole album as standout tracks, but I'm going to restrain myself: - Mysterons - Glory Box - Roads Honestly I don't think this sounds aged at all...or maybe it because Bristol bands are reigniting these sounds at the moment as part of the 90's and Y2K revival. either way, I'M HERE FOR IT.

I love it. This album is a Gem!!

Ethereal, driving, brilliant, haunting.

Amazing album, absolutely love it. For me, one of the very best so far out of these 1001. Even though I usually dislike both hip-hop and the majority of electronica, mellow trip-hop just hits a lot of my sweet spots. This album is fantastic at everything it sets out to be. It's mellow, dark, sad, interesting, beautiful, adventurous, relaxing, touching, stimulating and more. Roads in particular has long been on my 'liked songs' list.

Stórkostleg plata, mikil mystique, seiðandi rödd, nostalgía.

Banger

The album that got me into Trip Hop. A sublime, complex, chilled out collection of atmospheric songs with haunting vocals Stand out tracks - Mysterons - Sour Times - Roads - Glory Box

Love this album. Sultry, moody music that makes me feel like I’m sitting in the corner booth in a darkened bar with live music playing and dim lighting reflecting off of dark red curtains hung around the bar.

They hit something pretty special with this one.

One of THE great albums. Loved it at the time and I still love it now,. The voice, the sparse arrangements, the mood. There is a lot in here, from the heavy dub of Numb to the lounge stylings of It Could Be Sweet, but it is all so well put together, and no element overstays its welcome to keep the listener on their toes. Wonderful.

I'm not sure which I love the most here - the sparse, atmospheric beats, or Beth Gibbons' haunted vocals. I could listen t both in isolation; put them together and you have a really, really great album. It sounds like autumn with the swirling moog building up in the background. One of the great debuts.

Oh, este disco es una maravilla. 10/10. 5 estrellas. Un 7.

Classic, one of my favorites

Brilliant from start to finish. What an incredible atmosphere the band creates…

Great mellow album

Great album. Perfect from beginning to end.

How have I never heard this before? It's great. Very atmospheric. I really like it.

issa mastahpeez

Seminal trip hop album. Bought it not really knowing what to expect and what a pleasant surprise it was!

Like it. Always liked Portishead

Cheating a bit by saying I have this one, as what I own is actually the Live at Rosemount (?) recording. One of the few live albums that I love, and might even be better than this one, from what I hear. Regardless, phenomenal vocal performance and hypnotic bass beats make Portishead un incontournable du movement and an instant time machine to adolescence. I HAVE THIS ON VINYL!

Loved it, great to hear it again

Cool.

Very good

Well it's just lovely. Unlike everything since, it has a grounding in old soul melody, which gives everything a wintry pop feel. It's gorgeous. Don't get me wrong, it's still very depressing in all the best ways. It's just misery you can sing along to - something which, despite two more great albums, they never achieve again. The best tracks are the obvious ones (Numb, Sour Times, Glory Box) but everything in between is solid too. Lovely broken beats, swooping orchestras and gorgeous vocals.

Awesome album, perfect late-night listening!

Now we're cooking. Quite simply one of the greatest albums ever produced. Transports you to another world and leaves you there. Totally unique when it was released (was it really that long ago?) I have never stopped playing this album. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

28 years later and this album still holds up. Fantastically atmospheric and moody, with an ever present throbbing running through the whole album. 90s electronica is such a fantastic treasure trove

I did a list of my top 10 albums of all time. This was not on it. What an oversight. Dummy has always taken me somewhere special. I think it always will.

Great sound

amazing best ever

This album is no1 in my list.

Easy.

Really enjoyed the mellow vibes

+++

If this is electronic music, then I guess I'm starting to admire it. Portishead is definitely tops in this genre. What makes it great is the combination of electronic beats and authentic instrumentation. Plus the lead vocals are haunting and captivating. Sour Times is my jam, but Glory Box is permanently in the rotation now!

A solid gold epic of an album

I heard this album before and I really like Portishead exectly. I like how everyday sounds integrate into music and make beautiful album. 5\5

Aiiiiiii, dakle ovo je vrh trip-hopa, ako nikad ovaj album nisi slušao u mračnoj atmosferi...ne znam šta čekaš? Ili onako općenito...Toliko dobrih, odličnih stvari, iako mnogim ljudima nije u top 3 ma skoro ni u top 5 sa albuma, meni je It Could Be Sweet najdražće. Nije mi savršen album, ne mog reć, ali je blizu i stoga ovoliko zvjezdica.

Wow, loved the lofi jazz feel here. You can see this band influenced phantogram a lot which is one of my faves.

I could listen to this album everyday. This puts in in this super chill mood and every track is magical.

9.5/10

Incredible debut and easily a favourite. Long time listener, first time reviewer.

Excellent album, définitivement à réécouter. Nice vibe smooth, très sensuel mais dark à la fois. Je comprends pourquoi c'est un critical acclaim

classique

In my opinion, this album is the very definition of trip hop. I love the noir atmosphere that this album gives, I love Beth Gibbons's hypnotic vocals, I love the texture of the drums and the guitars and the beats, it's just a perfect album for me through and through.

One of my all time favorites. Album generator really hitting me with peaks and valleys. Genius album here. Music, mood, lyrics. Perfect.

I love this album. Perfectly sad and awesome at the same time

FIVE STARS An all-time classic and a personal favorite of mine. As is usually the case with those five-stars albums, I won't write a full-blown review about this particular record, because others have already written wonderful stuff about it and there's not much I can add that I feel could be relevant and interesting. It's just a gem. Go and listen to it a.s.a.p. Number of albums left to review or just listen to:  more than 900, I've temporarily lost count here Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens:  approximately a half so far (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: a quarter Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more important): the last quarter

Классный альбом. Качает шикарно. Люблю рэперские штучки, типа виниловых закручиваний. Офигенно. И девушка поёт здорово.

Game-changer. Had never heard anything like this when it first came out. The musical equivalent of what I imagine drinking too much cough syrup feels like. Puts the "trip" in trip-hop. Haunting and sad but also sexy AF.

Brilliant album. Hauntingly atmospheric and truly unique. Easy five stars but…. ….I couldn’t really tell you what any of the songs go like.

One of the greatest.

🔥

Great cool 90s techno/ambient tunes. One of my all-time favorite background music albums

masterpiece

Neither heard, nor heard of, Portishead until it popped up here. Really, really enjoyed it. Melodic & lyrically (& trip hoppy...). Added all three albums to collection.

Outstanding

Of course, Its a defining album of our generation

A wonderful album.

This band was starting out in Bristol (England) while I was at university there. But somehow I didn’t hear about them until after I had left, some time shortly after this album came out. This, plus massive attack became my staple and around that time and I still listen to this music. Great, innovative, original band. Love it.!

This album had an otherworldly sound when I first heard it. Upon listening again, it didn't awe me to the extent it did the first time in 1994, but it holds up really well and remains a great top-to-bottom album. I actually never thought they matched it with subsequent releases, (admittedly they didn't want to be pigeon-holed) but they really brought trip-hop to prominence along with Massive Attack.

Love this album

I remember hearing Sour Times for the first time. Nothing sounded like this then. Nothing sounds like it now. I've never listened to this whole album and I was missing out. btw Wandering Star is amazing, had to listen to it twice in a row.

An album that hasn’t aged a bit since its release! A true classic!

It’s always amazing to here such a vibe, consistent throughout a piece of work like this, that encapsulates an entire time period and genre.

Maravilloso

I've played this album till it was worn and grey back in the 90's. Trip Hop at its finest. There's not a bad song on this album.

Love everything about this album

Masterpiece

Absolutely iconic. I love that, in addition to some crate digging, they recorded their own music to sample and loop. Just brilliant. I'm a sucker for the downtempo beats and the general moodiness.

Welcome to trip-hop. I think you can have sex to any of these songs to be honest. Already know this one very well, I like almost every song on it. Definitely a Portishead fan, the way they can weave a seductively dark vibe is top. Beth is a great singer as well and I love her vocal style. I came to this pretty late unfortunately, didn't hear it until my mid 20s, but I probably wouldn't have liked it as a teenager unfortunately. Only track that isn't as good as the rest is "It's A Fire", apparently it wasn't on the original UK release and I see why, not bad just not in the same caliber. Hard to pick a favorite track, but it might be Wandering Star. I really like Mysterons, It Could Be Sweet, Roads, Glory Box as well. Overall, Dummy may still be their best work.

Incredible. One of my favorite albums on the list so far. Way ahead of their time.

Impossiblycool used to play it in the kitchen I worked in and everyone hated it which made me love it more. Great to hear it again back to a time and place.....

This isn't quite tailor-made for me, but it's in an intimate class of albums produced with absolute mastery of the sampling and composition skillsets. The atmosphere Portishead conjures is pervasive, but there are clear bits and pieces to love. Give it two tracks: That's what it took for me, and Mysterons had me considering that the hype was entirely misplaced.

Great music

The beginning of something great. Not only that, but haunting vocals that really accompany the melody quite well.

Love

Cool synth pop album!

😵‍💫

Por favor activen el 6 como puntuación, por que un 5 es poco para este disco. Increíble de arriba a abajo. Todas y cada una de las canciones me parecen buenas y el conjunto aún mejor.

Love it, one of my favorite from college

Another album I really should have already listened to but just haven't Not too far removed from a lot of the lo-fi stuff I seem to end up listening to these days while working Glory Box was already in a few playlists, but have added album to collection Stand out track: Sour Times

Lovely album!

Know it well!

love the way it feels throughout the whole album !! 10/10

Trip Hop is one of my favorite genres and this is a great album.

This is truly one of the greats. I remember the first time I heard it.

One of the best.

Trip Hoptastic! Still a regular on my playlist to revitalise my hazy 90s memories.

Gives me goosebumps in the best possible way. A perfect northern-hemisphere October listen.

Timeless, popular for good reason. Every song is a different flavor of their alluring, melancholic sound.

Absolutely beautiful, great production, vibes.

Classical trip-hop album. Perfect lo-fi samples and like slow motion sound. Like it so much.

Solid gold

Mellow

Classic and amazing album, great starting point.

VIBES

I tried to listen to this with a critical ear, as it is one of my 'go-to' albums when I want something calming but not wishy-washy to listen to, but I couldn't. I love it too much to allow myself to associate any shortcomings with it!

This is an amazing album. I remember when it came out, it absolutely blew me away. It was so unique, it defied categorization. 5 stars.

Top notch Portishead

4.5

nice easy listening, really liked the xx themese to this, on my list of good albumn

De los mejores albumes de trip hop de la historia

Einfach großartiger Klassiker.

loved it! had no idea it existed so Im very happy.

С первого трека же зацепил. Не знаю, может внутри своего поджанра (как его наречь там, трип-хоп) звук весьма обыденный, но на незамыленное ухо звучит отлично. Минималистичные, но оригинальные и аранжировки вступают в идеальный синтез с мелодичными, звонкими, во некотором образе прогрессивными вокальными партиями. Интересный подбор инструментов, при этом все на своих местах. Лучшее применение скрэтчинга, что я слышал когда-либо (если это вообще он). Доминанта эстетики – это женский вокал. Без него бы вышло мало чего, а без всего остального что-то бы, да вышло. Мотив куплетов Sour Times напоминает Scissorlips у Rishloo. В Strangers появляется какой-то душный аккомпанемент. It Could Be Sweet довольно скучная, даже по вокальной партии. Возможно, будь короче, не успевала бы надоесть. Далее идут крепкие, порой очень годные треки. Biscuit под конец снова немного душит. А Glory Box – охуенный, балджёный трек. Думаю, три проходных трека можно простить, особенно когда перевешиваются лютой годнотой. Думаю, вернусь к исполнителю. Хотя и не могу запомнить название. Ещё участники говорят, мол их творчество «не поддаётся категоризации», такие вскукареки тоже не одобряем. Но альбом хороший.

5 or be exiled for crimes against Bristol!!

Yeah a great album, best Portishead Album (not that I have listened to many) but this one I know very well

similar to grimes, crystal castles, the xx and metric

The best!

Nice music

“It Could Be Sweet” is Ape Escape core

Good album!

un tremendo 5 le doy a este trio ingles. 1.música catalogada como trip-hop que es perfecta para andar echando el toque diría facebook. 2.como esta madre no me dio álbum para el fin aproveche para escuchar sus otros 2 y también están bien sensuales. El segundo es mas lento estilo cabaret moderno y el tercero ya es otro trip de sonidos maravilloso. saludos jovenazos buen lunes inicio de semanita

Is this Portishead?

There is zero (0) chance that I'll be objective reviewing this. Looooved this album during my uni days, and have loved Portishead ever since. Such a moody, smokey sound. Fave track - "Glory Box" maybe? Could easily be any of 5 or 6 others though...

Haunting and beautiful. Another one I knew quite well before this project

This was so great! A mix of new age and 80s-90s techno sprinkled in.

Fanatastic.

Casi podría decir que está en mi top 3. Puto discazo de la puta madre. Roads a todo volumen con unos audifonos de medio pelo es la puta mamada, el bajito del final tururu rurururu tururú putamadre :')

Duh

Never listened to the full album before and thats a shame because its awesome!

Aye, that's a banger.

Incredible debut album. Glory Box is sublime

Great classic

amazing i love triphop also ps my mom says that this album sounds like james bond :)

Fuck yeah, this is one of my fav albums

i love this album!

90's mellow

Saved? ✅ Would listen again? ✅ Would recommend to anyone? ✅ Would buy on Vinyl? ✅

had lots of fun with this, if my genre preferences shift over time I could see myself giving it a 5 in the future

Not too familiar with this artist, but Sour Times and Glory Box did receive significant airplay at the time of release. An atmospheric, interesting blend.

First: I'm a huge Portishead fan But then: I always liked Portisheads 2nd album better than Dummy. Sure this one has 3-4 killer tracks and was revolutionary at the time. But it doesn't work as an album, some songs are quite "rough" and some are just fillers and/or don't fit in musically. Still: Beth Gibbons voice, Utleys guitar and Barrows sampling are superb.

Lovely weird sounds

Day 23. Although I have never been and am still totally not into electronic music. I hate most hiphop, rap and dance music, but this different. Portishead is one of the few exceptions. This sounds so good. I had this on a tape around 1996. Have the second album on cd, but not this one. I must have listened this a lot as every track was very recognizable with my memory. I love the sultry atmosphere and singing of Beth Gibbons with the moody beats and sounds. It is said that it is the greatest music to make love. Was doubting to 4 or 5 stars but looking at my other 4s and 5s so far I keep it with 4.

Traveling -rated 4 stars temporarily based on an earlier listen

Has a very whimsical feel to it

bizarre eerie haunting weird artsy

#397/1001. What a nostalgia trip-hop this was. Sounds like mid nineties, good to remember there were other genres than grunge and hiphop. Haven't really needed them in my life after that period (perhaps not even then), but still soothing.

Mary. Need to listen again, but this was such a pleasure to listen to. Clearly pushing the needle for '94

“Head” bands, ranked (though honestly, all of them are pretty solid at worst): 1. Radiohead 2. Motörhead 3. Talking Heads 4. The Lemonheads 5. Portishead

Original jazz-inflected trip-hop with some interesting sounds and samples and catchy grooves.

Very nice, me enjoyed. Something I'd put on when I need to concentrate and the lyrics kind of just seep into the instrumentals.

Really liked this! So layered and nice to listen to. Sounds ahead of its time to me kinda. Saved.

I knew I had heard of Portishead and I kept waiting for the song to that I knew to hit. I was loving the album until that point and then Roads hit and I was transported back to the 90s. What a great song. What a great album. Her vocals are just :chef's kiss: Would definitely listen again. In fact I've listened to Roads at least 3x today.

Honestly a pretty great album, with pleasant and soft down tempo beats. The vocals are soothing, making this a solid trip-hop entry with some iconic songs.

Literally had no idea this band existed till now. Band members all played such an intricate part in creating this style of music. Song were all hauntingly good. Felt like I really was coming down for an acid high.

Hot hot hot

Fantastically cool and chill

Trippy and hoppy and all its own atmospherics

Oh yes, very nice. Took me a while to warm to old mates in my youth but I was a silly boy. Third also goes hard and I know next to nothing about the one in the middle. That guy who gave this a resounding review of 'Bad' and then apparently quit this project is my hero.

quite different

Listening session: june 18th/19th, while sittimg in the train Listened to before: heard a few songs before Thoughts: this album is a genre of its own which is really nice, but not something that I’m always in the mood for. Glory Box is iconic for a reason though Favourite tracks: Sour Times, Roads & Glory Box

Good album. It’s not quite my style overall but I did enjoy it. Hovering between a 3.5 and 4 for me. Going to upvote it because I think it deserves it here. Ambient guitars and soft female vocal that has a melancholy vibe. I missed this band originally in the 90’s. I’d check out more stuff from them.

goated Trip Hop Album

4/5

really love the instrumentals here and fw the lead vocals even though the lyrics usually didn't resonate with me. the ambiance the former two things were able to create makes for very good "i am a hot and very cool woman" listening. feeling like rouge the bat in dry lagoon. fav: glory box

I'd listened to it before

absolute 90s melancholia! some parts get boring but all in all i enjoyed it

Нуарно, джеймсбондово, все песни довольно похожи, но выделяются очев Glory Box(песня из рекламы = классика), и оч крутая Roads.

Bon et que des Souvenirs

A solid album I’ve enjoyed for a long time

fun and different vibe to this, would listen again

This album has the vibe of the that era with glory box being the highlight of all the tracks

Moby Moby moby

I love this album. It's highly nostalgic without feeling like it belongs to a particular time. Great vibes, some exceptional songs. V much enjoyed revisiting this.

Elektro-Rock mit toller Stimmer. Spannend zu hören 4/5

"Mysterons" je hud opener. A je to theremin? (Ha, je!) "Sour Times" je tok dobr. Pa "Strangers". "Glory Box" je pa itak ikoničen Ma, cel album je hud, ful chill.

Damn good album. One of those bands I've heard of but never actively listened to. As it turns out, I've absolutely heard "Sour Times". Going to stick this one into active rotation.

Very cool album. It's like Bjork and Lorde but without any super good climaxes for my liking. Still a great time

Twisted

Beth's vocals go so well with the atmospheric instrumentals.

Very good album. Highlights in Sour Times and Glory Box, the rest also strong.

Such a densely packed album

NO LO ESCUCHO

did not clock that this was the album art for this one what else to say, basically invented trip hop still maybe the best trip hop 💥glory box 💥sour times 💥wandering star 💥roads

Really enjoyed this. Dark, broody, ambient lofi beats with suave, echoey vocals floating over the top. Funnily I first heard Gibbons in Kendrick’s Mother I Sober and loved those vocals, so it’s neat to hear her in this context.

I’m not depressed enough to listen to this rn but I’m sure if I was it would be amazing

I like the vocals and the production. Consistent throughout the whole album and I will definitely be saving these songs to playlists. 8/10

trip-hop är alltid skoj!

A record id heard once before and liked. In the beginning I was not quite as in it, but it really picked up for me at the end. Felt like it was getting more varied.

already did

I had no clue who this band was, but really really enjoyed the album. Easy 4 star.

I love albums with unique, consistent sounds like this. The whole thing just sounds so cool. The beats are really solid and the dreamy vocals fit over them perfectly.

Listen this on a cloudy day. 10/10

4/5

Great trip hop album, never heard of it before, sounds pretty dope

Classy classic.

I knew I'd heard of Portishead before, but wasn't super familiar with them. When I pulled the album up on Spotify, I saw that I already had "Sour Times" saved to my favorites, so clearly I had heard it before. That song was their biggest U.S. hit and I think it was probably a staple on alternative radio at a time when I listened to alternative radio non-stop. I love Portishead's sound. The music on this album seems like it should be a soundtrack to a television show like "Twin Peaks" or "The X-Files". Very melancholy, with a cool almost spooky vibe. Definitely music that would be played in the background at a hip coffeehouse. No complaints on this one!

Gave me a reason to love trip hop.

SO GOOD

I was exactly the right age for this album when it came out, and I even live near Portishead and it was *everywhere*. Playing in every party, every bar, mentioned in every conversation. And it is a very good record with a totally unique sound, somehow hollow and lush all at once from the mix of sampling and live playing. But I could never quite get on board with the absolute adoration it inspired. Some of the tracks sound like they're just about to kick it up a gear and go hard, but then don't. Some of the tracks lean too hard on lounge jazz for inspiration. The remainder are, indeed, brilliant, but there's just a bit too much suspect material for top marks.