During 1991 the band Portishead was born. Three years later their debut album, "Dummy" was released. This is the topic of discussion today. An album that is difficult to categorize, but for the sake of categorization we shall call it experimental trip-hop. At the same time there will most likely be those who consider it to be drug music, which is understandable considering the spacy, atmospheric feel to the work as a whole. Alas, it can also be appreciated as a wonderfully creative work of art.
Upon pressing the play button on your cd player (or those new fangled mp3 player iPods) the listener is greeted by the first track, "Mysterons" with a calming wave of echoed keyboard notes. Then, within ten seconds a turntable comes in. Needless to say, this album is very interesting. The music throughout the disc is all very calm and soothing, which makes it a strong recommendation for night time listening. Even though there is this calmness, there are also quite a few catchy songs such as "Sour Times" and what may be their most popular song, "Roads."
Lyrically it isn't bad, but at the same time it's difficult to say how good they are. The vocal style of singer Beth Gibbons is guaranteed to enchant anybody listening to her. Because of this it is sometimes difficult to focus only on the lyrics rather than her soothing voice. This only adds to the wonderful, calm atmosphere of the album. This is truely a debut worthy of praise, and should be acknowledged by anyone interested in well written, relaxing music.
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