Portishead is the second studio album by English electronic music band Portishead, released on 16 September 1997 by Go! Discs. 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 weaved 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" and The Pharcyde's "She Said". "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.
received critical acclaim upon its release. Spin praised the record and noted that the band created a "gothic", "deadly" and "trippy" atmosphere. Commenting on the textures of the music, music journalist Barry Walters observed that the group got "darker, deeper and more disturbing" in comparison to their previous effort Dummy.
TRACKLIST:
A1 Cowboys
A2 All Mine
B1 Undenied
B2 Half Day Closing
B3 Over
C1 Humming
C2 Mourning Air
C3 Seven Months
D1 Only You
D2 Elysium
D3 Western Eyes