Portishead (album)

Portishead
Studio album by
Portishead
Released29 September 1997
Recorded1996–1997
Studio
Genre
Length50:30
Label
Producer
  • Portishead
  • Dave McDonald
Portishead chronology
Glory Times
(1995) 		Portishead
(1997) 		Roseland NYC Live
(1998)
Singles from Portishead
  1. "All Mine"
    Released: 8 September 1997
  2. "Over"
    Released: 10 November 1997
  3. "Only You"
    Released: 2 March 1998

Portishead is the second studio album by the English electronic music group Portishead, released on 29 September 1997 by Go! Discs.[1]

Music

With Portishead, the band chose to eschew sampling other records, which had been a defining feature of their debut album Dummy. Instead, they created original pieces which they wove into the songs, resulting in a more textured sound. The only song to employ samples was "Only You", which incorporates elements of Ken Thorne's Inspector Clouseau score and The Pharcyde's "She Said".[2] "Western Eyes" is listed as sampling "Hookers & Gin" by the Sean Atkins Experience in the album's liner notes. In reality, this song does not exist; like most of the samples on the album, it was created by the band.[3]

Artwork

The album cover is a still image from the music video of the song "All Mine".

Release

Released in September 1997, the album reached No. 2 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 21 on the Billboard 200.[4][5]

On 3 December 2008, Universal Music Japan re-released Dummy and Portishead as a limited SHM-CD version.[citation needed]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
Entertainment WeeklyA[7]
The Guardian[8]
Los Angeles Times[9]
NME8/10[10]
Pitchfork8.2/10[11]
Q[12]
Rolling Stone[13]
Spin9/10[14]
The Village VoiceB−[15]

Portishead received critical acclaim upon its release. In a rave review for Q, Andrew Harrison said that the album showed Portishead sounding "less and less like a conflation of influences, and more and more like themselves", finding the music "almost cinematic" and the lyrics "more rounded" in perspective than on Dummy.[12] Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian credited the band for rendering their debut album's sound "even more haunting" on Portishead.[8] Commenting on the textures of the music, Barry Walters wrote in Spin that the group had created a "gothic", "deadly" and "trippy" atmosphere and gotten "darker, deeper, and more disturbing."[14] AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine stated that while "on the surface, Portishead isn't all that dissimilar from Dummy", the "darker and more adventurous" quality of the music becomes apparent over repeated listens, adding that "the sonics ... would make it an impressive follow-up, but what seals its success is the remarkable songwriting."[6]

Year-end lists

Publication Accolade Year Rank
Melody Maker Albums of the Year 1997 18[16]
NME 1997 Critics' Poll 1997 32[17]
Q 50 Best Albums of 1997 1997 (*)[18]
Spin Top 20 Albums of the Year 1997 6[19]
The Village Voice 1997 Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll 1997 14[20]

(*) designates unordered lists.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Geoff Barrow, Beth Gibbons and Adrian Utley, except where noted

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
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"
4:59
10."Elysium" 5:54
11."Western Eyes" 3:57

Credits

All songs produced by Geoff Barrow, Adrian Utley, Beth Gibbons and Dave McDonald.

Portishead

  • Beth Gibbons – vocals
  • Adrian Utley – guitar (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 7–10), bass (tracks 2, 4, 5, 7, 9), synthesizer (tracks 4, 6), Rhodes piano (track 9), piano (track 11)
  • Geoff Barrow – drums (tracks 4, 5, 9), turntables, programming, samples

Additional musicians

  • Clive Deamer – drums (tracks 1, 6, 7, 11), addidional drums (track 3)
  • Shaun Atkins – additional vocals (tracks 1, 11)
  • John Baggot – organ (track 9), piano (track 10)
  • Andy Hague – horns (track 2)
  • Ben Waghorn – horns (track 2)
  • John Cornick – horns (track 2), trombone (track 7)
  • S. Cooper – violin (track 4)

Charts

Certifications and sales

Certifications and sales for Portishead
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[42] Gold 35,000^
Belgium (BEA)[43] Gold 25,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[44] Gold 50,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[45] Platinum 15,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[46] Gold 25,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[47] Platinum 300,000^
United States — 635,000[48]
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[49] Platinum 1,000,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ "BPI".
  2. ^ "Portishead at coverinfo.de". Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  3. ^ Facts about Western Eyes Archived 13 June 2002 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ a b "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Portishead Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  6. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Portishead – Portishead". AllMusic. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  7. ^ Lanham, Tom (3 October 1997). "Portishead". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 30 September 2022. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  8. ^ a b Sullivan, Caroline (3 October 1997). "Dread again". The Guardian.
  9. ^ Hochman, Steve (21 September 1997). "Portishead, 'Portishead,' Go! Beat/London". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  10. ^ Williams, Simon (27 September 1997). "Eerie Go! Eerie Go!". NME. p. 57. Archived from the original on 6 October 2000. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  11. ^ Schreiber, Ryan (October 1997). "Portishead: Portishead". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 2 November 2005. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  12. ^ a b Harrison, Andrew (October 1997). "Sensitive". Q. No. 133. Archived from the original on 10 December 2000. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  13. ^ Vincentelli, Elisabeth (2 October 1997). "Portishead". Rolling Stone. No. 770. p. 56. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  14. ^ a b Walters, Barry (November 1997). "Portishead: Portishead". Spin. Vol. 13, no. 8. p. 142. ISSN 0886-3032. Retrieved 24 February 2015 – via Google Books.
  15. ^ Christgau, Robert (27 January 1998). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  16. ^ "MM Albums of the Year 1997". Melody Maker. 20–27 December 1997. pp. 66–67.
  17. ^ "Ladies and Gentlemen... We Have a Winner". NME. 20–27 December 1997. pp. 78–79.
  18. ^ "The 50 Best Albums of 1997". Q. No. 136. January 1998. p. 114.
  19. ^ "Top 20 Albums of the Year". Spin. Vol. 14, no. 1. January 1998. pp. 86–87. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  20. ^ "The 1997 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll". The Village Voice. 24 February 1998. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
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  32. ^ "Top National Sellers" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 14, no. 46. 15 November 1997. p. 27. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
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  48. ^ Pareles, Jon (13 April 2008). "After a Decade Away, Portishead Returns". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2 May 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  49. ^ "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 2007". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 23 July 2015.