Twenty years ago today, August 22, a trio from Bristol, England called Portishead released its debut album Dummy. With its dark yet sultry atmosphere, soulful vocals, and hip-hop beats, the album would perfect the burgeoning trip-hop genre and go on to influence artists such as Radiohead and Kanye West. To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of this incredible album, here's a ranking of its ten songs.
10. Numb
Dummy is one of the few albums that I would consider perfect, so none of its ten songs is the obvious "worst" one. If I were to hear "Numb" on Drake's next album, I'd probably consider it a highlight, with its brilliant haunted house organ and ringing snare beat, but when placed on a once-in-a-decade album such as Dummy, it can seem like one of the lesser tracks.
9. Glory Box
My favorite part of album closer "Glory Box" isn't the melody, or beat, or string samples, but the fact that it fades both in and out, which makes it seem like a hidden track that we've accidentally stumbled upon and weren't supposed to hear. The music itself is incredibly cool as well, largely due to the fact that it relies heavily on a sample of Isaac Hayes' "Ike's Rap II," which was also used for Tricky's "Hell is Round the Corner" just a few months later on his album Maxinquaye.
8. It Could Be Sweet
The only song from Dummy that could have conceivably fit into the Top 40 back in the mid-90s, "It Could Be Sweet" is by far the album's lightest track. Backed by a stuttering drum machine beat, some subdued electric piano, and occasionally punctuated by a ghostly horn sample, it sounds like a home-recorded demo for an R&B song that was rejected by every major label.
7. Roads
If Dummy had a ballad, it would probably be "Roads," perhaps the album's most dramatic track. Though it remains pretty minimal for the first minute-and-a-half or so, with just a shimmering Rhodes piano, steady drumbeat, and fragile vocals, the drama is amped up considerably with the addition of strings and sparse wah-guitar.
6. Pedestal
Portishead considered itself a hip-hop band more than anything else and "Pedestal" is the one song from Dummy that would sound most at home on an underground hip-hop record from the '90s, with an eerie bassline that sounds like something off of Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) or Dr. Octagonecologyst.
5. Sour Times
Portishead first rose to prominence with the short film To Kill A Dead Man, a spy thriller that they wrote, starred in, and composed the music for. Continuing this theme of "spy music" is "Sour Times," which samples music composed by Lalo Schifrin for Mission: Impossible, and went on to become the band's most popular song.
4. Biscuit
For whatever reason, "Biscuit" was the first Portishead song I ever heard (I must have accidentally played it on my iPod before hearing the entire album), and I was immediately hooked in by this weird hip-hop/soul/alternative hybrid that I had never heard anywhere else before. With its leisurely pace, killer Rhodes piano line, and creepy pitched-down vocal sample, I immediately knew I need to hear more of this band.
3. Mysterons
The opening track to Dummy is also one of its strangest. With a simple two-chord arpeggio, a fluttering drumbeat, and a haunting theremin line, "Mysterons" introduces the album on a particularly unsettling note, letting the listeners know that the next 45 minutes are going to get pretty weird.
2. Strangers
"Strangers" might not have the album's best hook or coolest sample, but when that massive beat comes in, it feels as if it's trying to break into my rib cage and tear my heart out. The single best moment on all of Dummy comes at around 1:13 of "Strangers," when there's that quick "3, 2, 1..." break before the beat comes roaring back in.
1. Wandering Star
"Wandering Star" might be the simplest song on Dummy, but that doesn't keep it from becoming the album's most powerful, as well as one of the greatest songs of the '90s. With just three chords played in a throbbing, totally un-syncopated rhythm, Portishead is able to wring so much mystery, terror, and despair, aided by the album's best melody and lyrics from Beth Gibbons.
What's your favorite song from Dummy? What did I get wrong? Let us know in the comments section!
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