Dummy | 
 enlarge | Artist: Portishead
Label: Universal / Island
Category: Music
List Price: £8.99
Buy New: £1.94
You Save: £7.05 (78%)
New (38) Used (23) Collectible (4) from £1.69
Rating:  43 reviews
Sales Rank: 266
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Running Time: 45 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.4 x 4.9 x 0.4
UPC: 042282852229
EAN: 0042282852229
ASIN: B00004WL7O
Release Date: June 18, 1999
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Unwanted Xmas gift...unopened..
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| Tracks:
| • | Mysterons | | • | Sour times | | • | Strangers | | • | It could be sweet | | • | Wandering star | | • | Numb | | • | Roads | | • | Pedestal | | • | Biscuit | | • | Glory box |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review
The collaboration of studio whiz Geoff Barrow and singer Beth Gibbons, Dummy was made at the same time as a short film noir called To Kill a Dead Man, and the same approach--gloomy, tormented, and wildly melodramatic--permeates the album. "Sour Times" (the hit in which Gibbons cries, again and again, "Nobody loves me, it's true") and the more cryptic "Glory Box" are the linchpins of the album, defining its sound: dark flashes of old soul and film music, dehumanised electronic bleeps, Gibbons emoting like she's consumed by shame, and a bass-and-beat pulse derived from the slow bump and grind of the Bristol scene that spawned Barrow's old collaborators, Massive Attack. --Douglas Wolk
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| Customer Reviews: Read 38 more reviews...
 uncertain good or great December 12, 2008
Rafael Lindsay (nottingham, england)
i was massively excited to come across portishead upon my unexpected intro into trip hop, i downloaded a couple of tracks one being sour times and i thought it was great i thought if the rest of the album sounds like this i'm gonna absolutely love it! well i'm uncertain i've heard it about 5 times now maybe more and my opinion has changed repeatedly. before listening to the album i was expecting a dark yet beautifully enticing piece of carefully crafted art, and after the first listen i had to convince myself i liked it despite feeling underwhelmed i obviously gave it another go and it grew on my a little third attempt and i thought hum yeah this is a good album just not great but then i think i was expecting an o.k. computer like experience where i was blown away on every track. now glory box is a fantastic song and i'm listening to it now, as is roads and i really like mysterons, pedestal and biscuit i'm somewhat indifferent to the rest some i like some i don't mind. admittedly there isn't a bad track on the album but i had great expectations and although some of them were satisfied others went unfulfilled so after all that i think i'd give it 8.5 out of 10 which translated would probably be somewhere between good and great so a very good album which i think deserves a place in my album collection and probably deserves one in yours :)
Call me a dummy but..... October 13, 2008
Mr. D. A. Howard (Blackburn UK)
I've heard this record for the first time today,(been on another planet!) and the first thing that struck me about it was how the vocal is so similar to my favourite female singer, the little known (in this country}, HEATHER NOVA. I'm not a fan of much electronic music, and I was particularly irritated by the 'vinyl scratching' that appears in several of the songs, however mainly because of the vocal and the songs that don't involve the scratch I know i'm going to really like this album. If you dont know HEATHER NOVA, do me (and yourself)a favour and go have a listen. If you love Beth Gibbons vocal with 'trip hop' music, you will be blown away by HEATHER NOVA with a live band. I suggest 'oyster' as the first album to try, or 'storm' if you prefer a more mellow sound.
 Style Over Substance October 9, 2008
A. Mee (Kildare, Ireland)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
The reference points are obvious: King Tubby, Cocteau Twins, Massive Attack and film noir soundtracks. Back in the '90s Portishead were unfathomably cool and fashionable, and did much to popularise trip-hop. Portishead repackaged soul and jazz music, and sold it to critics who had no real interest in those genres. Tellingly, the album received the prestigious Mercury Music prize in 1995, confirming its status among indie rock critics as that years' most highly regarded novelty record.
For all of Portishead's apparent cynicism, it would be easy to overlook if not for their irritatingly pretentious singer. Beth Gibbons is no Billie Holiday or Ella Fitzgerald, nor does her singing stand up to comparisons with Liz Fraser or Shara Nelson. She has a frail, wispy voice a fact which is not disguised by her ridiculous affected singing style. Gibbons makes the mistake of confusing unrelenting bleakness with emotional depth and Portishead's music only seems even more shallow as a result.
As it stands Dummy is a textured, well produced album so to give it a one star rating would be churlish. However, it's also a shallow, over-stylised album which has dated badly. The slo-mo hip hop beats and film noir pastiches that defined Portishead's sound became embarrassing clichés remarkably quickly. Indeed it was only the novelty of hearing two such disparate styles juxtaposed that made the album stand out at the time. In a word: forgettable.
 90's Trip hop at it's best September 25, 2008
L. Roberts (UK, Kent)
I had heard the name 'Portishead' floating around electronica forums on the net but had never acted on the actions of other people's critic of their music. However, I came onto amazon and found a nearly all 5 star review from all the reviews so I just had to buy as a vivid fan on trip hop style music.
From first glance, you can hear how much Massive Attach have been influenced by this gritty, smooth jazzy 90's trip hop feel, it feels like a 45 minute drug that intises you into a olbivion of funk and future feel.
Trip hop has never really sounded so innovative and fresh even in the new millenium. The more recent trip hop artists like tycho and bonobo take on more of an electronica influence on trip hop, and as much as I feel that style, this laid back jazzy, guitar influenced style really hits top marks.
The lyrical use is no exception, Again zero 7 taking major influences from the vocal use in the slow trip hop beat.
A stand out track for me is 9, it's sublime feel, or crackling beats and small samples that make you feel pretty much amazing, the use of builds etc. These are all prime examples of exquisite trip hop/down tempo bliss.
You can kinda imagine listening to this when travelling through London on a rainy, dingy night - watching the crime and drugs, it's a beautiful sensation but with a grimey undertone.
As a huge fan of everything electronica, this is a fantastic representation of what trip hop IS and should BE.
I however, feel that people would also enjoy this if they just like to sit back and enjoy the small things in life in music.
I can pretty much see this album being a huge influence on me and my musical desire.
Hugely recommended.
Simply brilliant July 21, 2008
RoboScorpion (Sussex, UK)
Hmmm, how does one sum up this album in just a few words? Dark, mysterious, melodic, industrial, melancholic, desolate - any or all of these apply. Others have already waxed lyrical about the 'feel' of the album, but I think you really have to listen to it - all of it. Maybe even a few times, as it took a few listens for me to really 'get it'.
As soon as I did 'get it' I totally loved it, and it remains one of the most frequently played albums in my collection even after nearly 15 years.
Never bettered or even equalled by Portishead since in my opinion.
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