Dummy

Dummy Straight off the bat this is obviously a 5, one of those albums I knew through school and uni osmosis, although I didn’t really become properly familiar with it until much later, getting into it fully after Third was released. Mysterons, Sour Times and Glory Box obviously stand out and I think it's great how they bookend the album, but it really works so well as a wholly coherent album, with consistent elements and styles running throughout the songs, creating a beautifully atmospheric record. The touchpoints are clear; 60s cinema, hip hop inspired beats and sampling, Massive Attack style atmospherics, but what really elevates it is Adrian Utley’s spidery guitars and Beth Gibbon’s enigmatic and arresting vocals. It still sounds fresh and exciting, even though it’s been aped and ripped off many times, and there’s nothing in a similar vein that comes close to touching the recondite heaviness of the atmospheres they create, while also being as emotionally affecting as something like It Could Be Sweet. As I say I love the whole, but to pick out a couple of songs; I love the hints at Western soundtracks on Wandering Star, with the harmonica and twangy guitar interwoven with scratching. The Swelling organs and strings on It’s A Fire are gorgeous, and I love the underwateriness on Numb. Roads is another great track, the slow march of the percussion with the guitars and the strings is fantastic. Great album, easy 5. 👤👤👤👤👤 Playlist submission: Obvious, but Sour Times

Classic album. Classic discography really, including that live album. Dummy was a gateway album that moved me from hip hop to other genres when I was younger. Still sounds so good to this day. It’s in my crate of records labeled ‘grab in case of emergency’ Easy 5 stars

This is what I came for. That album is indisputably a classic.

Fire album

Portishead's first album Dummy combines crushing hip-hop beats and hip-hop-like sampling with soft, mellow and lonesome female vocals, with jazzy moments sprinkled around. It's surprisingly a huge success of combing quite different sounds together. "Numb" and "Biscuit" seem to foreshadow a bit of the oppressive, noisy, wickedness that the self-titled album has, which they'd release a couple years later on from this one. If I had to pick one song that captures the album feel entirely I think it would be "Wandering Star," it has the shaky, vulnerable vocals with this ominous motif that repeats ad nauseum. Highlight Song/s: "Mysterons", "Sour Times", "Strangers", "Wandering Stars", "Roads" and "Biscuit"

It’s good but nothing really stands out as great for me.

I really like this very multi-purpose i feel like i would enjoy listening to this while walking/studying/in car etc

This Trip-Hop album feels like sitting alone in a dimly lit room late at night, with rain tapping against the windows and the distant sounds of the city filtering through the walls. Portishead create an atmosphere of quiet unease, combining slow, heavy beats with dusty samples, eerie melodies and Beth Gibbons's haunting voice. Everything feels intimate yet strangely distant, as though the music is revealing something personal without ever letting me get close enough to understand it. The consistent mood is captivating, although its slow pace and melancholic tone also makes the experience feel rather subdued.

A lot of these feel like they should be James Bond themes. I listened to this on a cloudy dreary day which felt appropriate, it's excellent stare-out-the-window music (compliment). Very cool sound.

I'm familiar with Portishead and this album and currently have 7 songs liked by them and all of them are on this album. "Glory Box" and "Sour Times" are 2 classic songs on this one. But all the rest of this is great. The vibe of the music, the voice of singer Beth Gibbons - it all still sounds great and fresh 32 years later. The bass on some of these songs makes my speakers do weirdly excessive vibrations - "Pedestal", "It's a Fire" and "Wandering Star" seem to do this the most. This happened in my car and at home. Not sure why I hadn't clicked like on 4 of these songs before today but I have corrected that mistake. This is a perfect album. Liked songs on Spotify: 11/11 (Perfect album) Rating: 5/5

Following up a decent trip hop album with THE trip hop album. Quintessential.

Welcome to Trip-Hop

achei divertido na época deve ter sido maluco escutar um treco desse

Pretty vibey but I don't see myself coming back to it.

Eerie feeling the whole time but in a good way

classic

Super chill start to finish. Didn’t help much in my goal to get an energetic start to my day, but did put me in a peaceful zone. I do think my discovery of the trip hop genre, along with grime, was one of the biggest plusses of this multi-year adventure.

The original lo fi hip hop to study by

I LOVED this album back in the day. It still slaps.

Fun 90s electronic Brit rock - a few weird songs, and a lot of similarity across the songs, but overall enjoyable

PEAK TRIP HOP Mysterons→10/10 Sour Times→10/10 Strangers→10/10 It Could Be Sweet→10/10 Wandering Star→10/10 It's a Fire→9.5/10 Numb→10/10 Roads→10/10 Pedestal→10/10 Biscuit→10/10 Glory Box→10/10 best→ Glory Box worst→ It's a Fire overrated→ None underrated→ Strangers overall→ 100/100 MUST HEAR Man, this is just perfect. The whole album feels like a jazz show at a small live house on the outskirts of a mechanical city. The cold industrial beats and Beth Gibbons‘ ruthless yet graceful voice create an amazing chemical reaction. It still sounds super cool even now, but I bet people who heard it back in the day must have been blown away.

Not terrible but I really need to be in the mood for this. Just an overall really depressing sound that had its purpose, but not enjoyable 9/10 times. 2/5

I wanted to adore this one because the production is right up my alley. However I find her voice challenging. Maybe that's controversial. I'm conflicted about this one to put it simply

Not usually a triphop fan, as I find it a little dull. This was so sexy it convinced me otherwise. I’d definitely have to be in the right mood to listen to it, but when that mood strikes it’s brilliant

easy 5 this is one i will never tire of

Just boring drum loops, half-arsed synth and lame vocals. This is not for me at all.

This album is amazing. I mean, Portishead is amazing in general, but this album specifically was formative for me, whatever that says about me personally.

Hot take: Good album

ok music but I don't like EDM

Like it a lot, but I think you have to be in the mood for it.

3/5. Surprised I enjoyed this listening while on train to Edinburgh the day after being high. Good chill vibes.

Hyvää musaa töihin. Muuten vähän tylsä

I get how this is considered a seminal trip hop album even if the artists don’t like that name. Artfully created. Needs more movement for my taste.

Really liked the vibe at first, reminded me of Björk, very 90s. Unlike Björk I got bored of it pretty quickly.

It's a classic, it's not always for me I'm not huge into trip hop but it's influence is immense

She is me and I am her

tried listening several different times today but could never get into it. not my style.

Brilliant

Hmmmmm weird Sounds like 90s music that would play at the emo club in the matrix. Wayyy too much shiny leather. Its not bad at all, I just dont care.

Wow, I was truly impressed by this. I saw "electronic" and was worried. I feel like it was a mellow Garbage. Would recommend!

Is scratching and sampling really much?

Fenomenale

Total Masterpiece.

Funky, dank, jazz

Love the hip hop beats. The vocals are a bit discordant at times, but overall a good vibe.

Like it

Какое-то время назад я уже слушал этот альбом, и тогда мне показалось, что музыка в нём крутая, а вокал немного неподходящий. В целом, моё мнение не сильно изменилось, хоть мне и удалось получить кайф, просто голос вокалистки красивый и только про хоп, и совсем не про трип, мне так кажется. Начало и конец альбома очень крутые, но то, что посередине как будто бы немного затянуто. Лучшая песня: Mysterons

Unique not my type of unique

Definitely situational on vibe, but still a very ok electronic album

This was disappointing to be honest. I’ve been curious about this band for a while based on a couple of tracks I’ve heard over the years, but listening to the whole album had me checking how much time was left in each track, how many tracks were left on the album… I guess this genre is just not for me, as I had a similar experience with Massive Attack several years ago. Specific tracks of theirs I like, but after a couple in a row, I get bored. I can appreciate the sonic details, the mood and atmosphere, the production… it's interesting but there’s something missing that keeps me from fully enjoying the music. I’ve liked Tricky’s solo material more though, so I don’t know. Regarding this album, the standout tracks are good, but the rest are not very engaging. I'd probably give the album 2 as an album, but I'm putting it up to 3 in recognition of the high points. Essential listening: no desert island disc: no

I totally missed the trip hop era starting in the 90s. Last night while thinking about how pointless life was and what little value I possessed as the shitass meatbag I am, I went for a drive down 275 to waste some useless time. Listened to this. It rounded the edges. Chilled me right tf out.

Spacey

Cozy, alive and a little bit of weirdness too

I've never really sat down and listened to Portishead before. What an incredible album. Its haunting, moody, atmospheric, cinematic. Beth Gibbons vocals make it impossible to not pay attention and connect with. The production on this album is incredible. To me its like if you took The Roots replaced Black Thought with Lana Del Rey. My favorite songs on the album were Sour Times, Biscuit, and Glory Box. Not a single "meh" song on this entire album. 5 stars.

It's a fine album, but I feel like I'm missing something because that's where my feelings start and end on this. Not bad, but not an album I'm desperate to return to.

I definitely tend to get longwinded when we're dealing with an album as important as this one. I'll try to avoid that this time and just say "Strangers" is just about the greatest achievement in the pursuit of recorded sound, and the rest of the album is not too far behind.

Glory Box <3

ezt eddig nem hallgattam, mostantol fogom.

Jok a zajok.

Egyedi, uncsi, másfél albumnál rajovok, hogy parovkarataev szindrómás, nincs több száma, csak egy végtelen Portishead szám, több albumon keresztül.

8/10, tényleg meg kell hallgatni

Sour Times

Szoval azt hiszem ez olyan zene, amirol jobban szeretek olvasni, mint hallgatni. De masodik hallgatasra pl egesz sok minden tetszik, kicsit meg kell kuzdeni erte. Az enekhanggal azert nem vagyok kibekulve mindenhol. 7/10 Fav: It's a fire, Roads (jo ezt ismertem), Biscuits, Glory box

In Library

While it is definitely unique sounding, it just felt a little bit too monotonous for me. 2/5

First time I heard Dummy as a teenager it was like a door to a different musical world had been opened.

At the beginning I felt like I have already heard this type of music, then I heard the last song, and I knew where did I heard it from, good album, it's the type of shi, like 90s that feels like for a spy movie or a matrix lmao

PORTISGOAT MMMM HAPS

Super album que je connaissais déjà, un no-skip. 5/5

1994 Trip hop El mejor album de Portishead?

bangers all across the board here

Not for me

bleeee

Best in class

Probably deserves a three or higher im just going through something musically

I thought I was going to enjoy this more than I did. I felt it was a bit boring with nothing much to say. I can understand why glory box is the standout track from this. Apart from that was quite underwhelmed. I think for the time it was interesting to be mainstream album and doing something like this but I can tell why they didn’t really have much else that was as well known.

Still not for me this trip-hop. Really feel like I should like it more than I do but it's just not happening. It's just fine.

Great debut album

A banger - a stone cold banger. Classy throughout. Favourite track: Glory Box

A ubiquitous album in the mid 90s, for that ‘end of the night’ crowd and with incredible crossover appeal. I knew this album front to back well before I owned it and it’s been an ever present album in my life since. > > Many have tried to copy it since but there’s a harshness, tension and unease in these songs that couldn’t be replicated and that keeps them fascinating and timeless even 30 years later. > > Was so glad I got to finally see them live at Glastonbury in 2013 and as it happens I’m seeing Beth Gibbons live in Lyon next month. ... I've seen her twice now! The album samples _Weather Report_ who were my previous album in the challenge, although a lot of the samples on the album were actually written and performed by Portishead , then pressed to vinyl, before they mistreated the vinyl to give it a classic vinyl crackle before re-sampling them.

Un álbum que me ha dejado obsesionado últimamente, las atmósferas estilo Bond que logra son asombrosas y la voz es única.

4 1/2

I have not listened to much trip-hop, and am usually not a fan of slower music, but albums like this are helping me come around. I love the drama and suspense that comes with using a slow pace most of the time.

I honestly thought I wouldn’t like Dummy by Portishead, but it ended up being pretty nice. It’s a really calm and atmospheric album that’s easy to get lost in. The production has this dark, dreamy feeling without being too overwhelming. Beth Gibbons’ voice was probably my favorite part—it’s soft, soothing, and a little haunting. Even when the songs feel sad, there’s something comforting about them. I liked how the album doesn’t try too hard and just lets the mood carry everything. Some tracks stood out more to me than others, but overall it was a very consistent listen. It has a really distinct 90s trip-hop sound that still feels pretty fresh. I wouldn’t say it completely blew me away, but I definitely enjoyed it more than I expected. It’s the kind of album I could see myself putting on late at night. Definitely worth a listen if you want something chill and atmospheric.

Hipnotičan album. Jedna od najboljih vokalistica u historiji muzike i divno posložene pjesme koje joj daju odličnu bazu. Sour Times sam odslušala milijardu puta u životu i mogla bih toliko još hiljadu puta da mi nikad ne dosadi, sad kad sam dvaput u danu preslušala čitav album mislim da je tako i sa svim drugim.

Dummy is one of the first albums I can remember ever noticing. I was probably six, flicking through a crate of records in a living room in Barnsley. I couldn’t quite make out what I was looking at (and I must have looked at it a thousand times); however much that image unnerved me, it intrigued me doubly so. Thirty years later I don’t think I’ve ever been able to consider Dummy, or even just glance at it, without that memory surfacing. Even if only for a split second I’m in the corner of that room, hemmed in by striped forest and mint green wallpaper, attention solely on the possibility of the sounds in front on me. I must have spent a lot of time bored in that room. I suppose you don’t quickly forget being forgotten. For an album with a sound that settles over everything like a heavy, chalky dust, that memory’s perseverance feels fitting. Dummy is an echo preserved in amber, the feeling of Déjà vu captured and tamed, a communicable sigh that stops human history in its tracks. It is apathy made appealing; defeat’s defiant double. Beauty a thread from unravelling. Dummy is mysteries that stay unsolved; lost to memory, lost causes. But it’s also being able to go back to that room with no answers to the other questions that the six year old might have had, and to enjoy listening to the record alongside him all the same.

VERY '90s. Not bad. Electro-sample jazz. Probably wouldn't listen to again unless I needed some '90s soundtrack music. Glad to finally hear the music behind the Portishead name. ... Whole album sounds the same. Getting a little tiresome by the last track.

This is a very cool, sexy, complex, moody and beautiful album. I listened to this all morning, smouldering away in the background!

One of my favourite albums of all time!

3.5/5 it’s a very popular album online but I’ve never really gotten behind it. It’s groovy and atmospheric and the production value is high but I think it’s just okay as far as dream pop/trip hop goes. I much prefer their last album “third” to this one.

Moody Quirky experimental …. Glory Box is the only real “hit” on here. Sounds dated versus timeless…. Contrived… unlike fine wine more like milk—hasn’t aged well.

I liked the female voice and the percussion. It was nice moody music

I liked it a lot but a little samey. 3.49

Можно даже не слушать, автоматически залетает 5. Легенды что своего времени, что настоящего. Мои любимые Radiohead построили свое звучание именно на этой группе поэтому тут даже обсуждать не надо. Шикарная электронно-роковая музыка которая звучит эксцентрично даже в наше время

wandering star is tough

The kinda music that makes me wish I smoked cigarettes

Love

so sehr hasse ich mein Leben auch wieder nicht

Depressiv und eintönig dabei, Gesang mal hervorstechend gut, mal schief, einzelne Lichtblicke

this was a cool album, really reminded of the moody music of my teen years