The Album Review Club - Week #134 - (page 1701) - Dummy - Portishead

First of all, point of order (cuz our OP brought it up): U2 sold their souls from the opening riff of "I Will Follow", lifted blatantly from PiL, long before they did Joshua Tree. And I LIKE U2 -- even still. And for a while I REALLY liked them -- I've probably seen them more than any other band live. But they've been sell-outs from day one. I don't even think of them as Irish; I think of them as Catholic. Try to tell me "Gloria" wasn't written for a 70,000 seat football stadium -- and that was from only their second record! Now The Stunning -- I'll think of THEM as Irish.

That out of the way, I found this record quite bright and pleasant, maybe a tad slight, slow in spots, and not quite crunchy enough for my taste, but a good listen anyhow. They're better when they're moving then when they slow down IMO, but I typically like up-tempo so that's just me -- their slow stuff is attractive enough, it's just not music I typically listen to. Among their faster songs, I heard The Feelies in here, which I mentioned, as well as a bit of Gin Blossoms and Smithereens and Lemonheads once in awhile -- all bands I've enjoyed. I also liked the addition of the brass and accordion and harmonica -- they don't overwhelm, or clutter the tunes -- they differentiate and accentuate them. The big winners here are the arrangements and production -- they're crisp and clear and interesting.

I heard the BOC rip right away on "Brewing Up A Storm" but that doesn't diminish anything -- that's a GREAT tune, and I bet it smokes on stage. That will go on rotation for me! The Johnny Cash chug-along "Got To Get Away" is another fun one. "The Girl With The Curl" has a good riff as well, but I really loved the specificity of the lyrics -- I seem to cotton to songs about SPECIFIC women for some reason, described in detail (cf. "Jane Said" by Jane's Addiction, "Heroin Girl" by Everclear, and Husker Du's "Books About UFOs" among many others). Likewise, "Town For Sale" was another one with a laundry list of little and particular observations -- a lot of nouns. This song really works for me, with the simplicity of the percussion matching the pace of town life and the keys and guitar the hum of activity, as if remembering what it used to be like. This is really a thoughtful, poignant piece of work. There were other bits and pieces I enjoyed too -- like the line "If I have to take a poison/It might as well be yours" from "A Delicate Web" (I didn't realize it was live until the end), and that rootsy lilt of "Roll and Tumble."

I can see how they'd be a good -- really good, actually -- band to see live in a club or at a small festival, but not in a stadium (like U2), though I read they opened for Dylan, so I wonder how they sounded in a cavernous place. There's nothing big or declamatory or pretentious about their music, which is a plus, but they don't have U2's hooks either. 6/10 from me, leaning 7 not 5 -- I think an all up-tempo, riff-oriented record would get a higher score.
 
FogBlueInSanFran said:
First of all, point of order (cuz our OP brought it up): U2 sold their souls from the opening riff of "I Will Follow", lifted blatantly from PiL, long before they did Joshua Tree. And I LIKE U2 -- even still. And for a while I REALLY liked them -- I've probably seen them more than any other band live. But they've been sell-outs from day one. I don't even think of them as Irish; I think of them as Catholic. Try to tell me "Gloria" wasn't written for a 70,000 seat football stadium -- and that was from only their second record! Now The Stunning -- I'll think of THEM as Irish.

That out of the way, I found this record quite bright and pleasant, maybe a tad slight, slow in spots, and not quite crunchy enough for my taste, but a good listen anyhow. They're better when they're moving then when they slow down IMO, but I typically like up-tempo so that's just me -- their slow stuff is attractive enough, it's just not music I typically listen to. Among their faster songs, I heard The Feelies in here, which I mentioned, as well as a bit of Gin Blossoms and Smithereens and Lemonheads once in awhile -- all bands I've enjoyed. I also liked the addition of the brass and accordion and harmonica -- they don't overwhelm, or clutter the tunes -- they differentiate and accentuate them. The big winners here are the arrangements and production -- they're crisp and clear and interesting.

I heard the BOC rip right away on "Brewing Up A Storm" but that doesn't diminish anything -- that's a GREAT tune, and I bet it smokes on stage. That will go on rotation for me! The Johnny Cash chug-along "Got To Get Away" is another fun one. "The Girl With The Curl" has a good riff as well, but I really loved the specificity of the lyrics -- I seem to cotton to songs about SPECIFIC women for some reason, described in detail (cf. "Jane Said" by Jane's Addiction, "Heroin Girl" by Everclear, and Husker Du's "Books About UFOs" among many others). Likewise, "Town For Sale" was another one with a laundry list of little and particular observations -- a lot of nouns. This song really works for me, with the simplicity of the percussion matching the pace of town life and the keys and guitar the hum of activity, as if remembering what it used to be like. This is really a thoughtful, poignant piece of work. There were other bits and pieces I enjoyed too -- like the line "If I have to take a poison/It might as well be yours" from "A Delicate Web" (I didn't realize it was live until the end), and that rootsy lilt of "Roll and Tumble."

I can see how they'd be a good -- really good, actually -- band to see live in a club or at a small festival, but not in a stadium (like U2), though I read they opened for Dylan, so I wonder how they sounded in a cavernous place. There's nothing big or declamatory or pretentious about their music, which is a plus, but they don't have U2's hooks either. 6/10 from me, leaning 7 not 5 -- I think an all up-tempo, riff-oriented record would get a higher score.
Click to expand...

great review and pretty much sums up where I am with it , although I do warm to the slower tunes on here. Few more days of listening and not bored of it at all.
 
FogBlueInSanFran said:
First of all, point of order (cuz our OP brought it up): U2 sold their souls from the opening riff of "I Will Follow", lifted blatantly from PiL, long before they did Joshua Tree. And I LIKE U2 -- even still. And for a while I REALLY liked them -- I've probably seen them more than any other band live. But they've been sell-outs from day one. I don't even think of them as Irish; I think of them as Catholic. Try to tell me "Gloria" wasn't written for a 70,000 seat football stadium -- and that was from only their second record! Now The Stunning -- I'll think of THEM as Irish.

That out of the way, I found this record quite bright and pleasant, maybe a tad slight, slow in spots, and not quite crunchy enough for my taste, but a good listen anyhow. They're better when they're moving then when they slow down IMO, but I typically like up-tempo so that's just me -- their slow stuff is attractive enough, it's just not music I typically listen to. Among their faster songs, I heard The Feelies in here, which I mentioned, as well as a bit of Gin Blossoms and Smithereens and Lemonheads once in awhile -- all bands I've enjoyed. I also liked the addition of the brass and accordion and harmonica -- they don't overwhelm, or clutter the tunes -- they differentiate and accentuate them. The big winners here are the arrangements and production -- they're crisp and clear and interesting.

I heard the BOC rip right away on "Brewing Up A Storm" but that doesn't diminish anything -- that's a GREAT tune, and I bet it smokes on stage. That will go on rotation for me! The Johnny Cash chug-along "Got To Get Away" is another fun one. "The Girl With The Curl" has a good riff as well, but I really loved the specificity of the lyrics -- I seem to cotton to songs about SPECIFIC women for some reason, described in detail (cf. "Jane Said" by Jane's Addiction, "Heroin Girl" by Everclear, and Husker Du's "Books About UFOs" among many others). Likewise, "Town For Sale" was another one with a laundry list of little and particular observations -- a lot of nouns. This song really works for me, with the simplicity of the percussion matching the pace of town life and the keys and guitar the hum of activity, as if remembering what it used to be like. This is really a thoughtful, poignant piece of work. There were other bits and pieces I enjoyed too -- like the line "If I have to take a poison/It might as well be yours" from "A Delicate Web" (I didn't realize it was live until the end), and that rootsy lilt of "Roll and Tumble."

I can see how they'd be a good -- really good, actually -- band to see live in a club or at a small festival, but not in a stadium (like U2), though I read they opened for Dylan, so I wonder how they sounded in a cavernous place. There's nothing big or declamatory or pretentious about their music, which is a plus, but they don't have U2's hooks either. 6/10 from me, leaning 7 not 5 -- I think an all up-tempo, riff-oriented record would get a higher score.
Click to expand...
Nice review.

I didn't really hear The Smithereens in there, but what an album Smithereens 11 is - "A Girl Like You" was one of my favourite songs from the early 90s (I bought the album the year after it came it).
 
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