| Portishead | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Portishead |
| Cover: | Portishead - Portishead.png |
| Released: | 29 September 1997 |
| Recorded: | 1996–1997 |
| Studio: |
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| Genre: | Trip hop, neo-psychedelia |
| Length: | 50:30 |
| Producer: |
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| Prev Title: | Glory Times |
| Prev Year: | 1995 |
| Next Title: | Roseland NYC Live |
| Next Year: | 1998 |
Portishead is the self-titled second studio album by the English electronic music group Portishead, released on 29 September 1997 by Go! Discs.[1] The album cover is a still image from the music video of the song "All Mine".
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]
Released in September 1997, the album reached 2 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 21 on the Billboard 200.
On 3 December 2008, Universal Music Japan re-released Dummy and Portishead as a limited SHM-CD version.
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. Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian credited the band for rendering their debut album's sound "even more haunting" on Portishead. 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." 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."
| Publication | Accolade | Year | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Melody Maker | Albums of the Year | 1997 | 18[4] | |
| NME | 1997 Critics' Poll | 1997 | 32[5] | |
| Q | 50 Best Albums of 1997 | 1997 | (*)[6] | |
| Spin | Top 20 Albums of the Year | 1997 | 6[7] | |
| The Village Voice | 1997 Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll | 1997 | 14[8] |
(*) designates unordered lists.
All songs produced by Geoff Barrow, Adrian Utley, Beth Gibbons and Dave McDonald.
| Peak position | |
| Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[9] | 6 |
|---|---|
| European Albums (Music & Media)[10] | 4 |
| Greek Albums (IFPI)[11] | 5 |
| Irish Albums (IFPI) | 3 |
| Portuguese Albums (AFP) | 7 |
| Position | ||
| European Albums (Music & Media)[12] | 45 | |
|---|---|---|
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[13] | 43 | |
| UK Albums (OCC)[14] | 69 |
| Position | ||
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[15] | 32 |
|---|