Portishead & The Enigmatic Heartache of ”Glory Box” | New British Canon

Portishead did not want to be pop stars, they didn’t do interviews, rarely wanted to play live, they didn’t play the game. Yet their debut album, Dummy, quickly became one of the best selling albums of 1995, but not everyone understood what the Bristolian combo were trying to achieve. They stood in stark contrast to the contemporaneous Britpop moment, moody, modern and a supremely British take on American Hip Hop. On tracks like "Sour Times" and "Roads," they were beyond merely background music. The contrast between Geoff Barrow’s retrofuturist beats and Beth Gibbons’ conflicted vocals is best shown on the atmospheric heartache of their third single. This is New British Canon and this is the story of “Glory Box.”

#Portishead #TripHop #MusicDocumentary

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00:00 Introduction
01:02 The Origins of Portishead
05:48 The Creation of Dummy
09:52 The Process Behind "Glory Box"
13:55 The Impact of Portishead & Dummy

Soundtrack:
Jesse Gallagher - The Inner Sound
B-Side - Pen Unubis

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[matthews]

Dummy was easily one of the best albums of the 90s.

[jdgonzo]

i was bullied at school for liking Portishead and Bjork!! Used to have their band names written on my pencil case!! I'm still proud of my 14 year old self... :)

[nikfiendluvr]

My dad gifted my his cd copy of Dummy when I was about 14/15 (I was also just coming out of an emo phase). He said about the album "this one's depressing, you'd like it". I instantly fell in love.

[dadwax]

Portishead - Roads in Roseland NYC from 1997 is one of the best live performances ever recorded

[davidrobinson]

It’s because Beth didn’t give up smoking and didn’t have lessons that makes her one on the greatest voices ever.

[theant]

Roads was always my favourite Portishead song. The opening makes me shiver every time.

[d_inkz]

This band helped me cry out the crap during some dark times.

[crescentfreshsongs]

Portishead blew my mind when I discovered them (and trip hop in general). I had never heard anything like it.

[catloverkitten]

I’m so impressed that they physically scratched up their own vinyl and then looped it. Who does that?

[alexisc]

That feeling of, "I know that beat, how did they get it to go on like that?" is such a magical thing for those who love the art of sampling. And then Portishead, on top of their game, sampled themselves. LOVE IT.

[PoorMuttski]

the press thought "Glory Box" was about wanting traditional marriage? had they heard the song? it is obviously about a woman who is tired of faking "traditional" relationships and wants someone who will appreciate her and will work for the relationship. She says right in the refrain, "Give me a reason to love you."
I love this song for that, too. too much Pop music is about whining about your crappy relationship and just accepting abuse because of "love". its nice to hear a song where someone says, "fuck this. It's YOUR turn to work for it."

[MichaelThomas-begq]

Dummy is one of the greatest and one of the most meaningful albums of all time... simple as that.

[darkonedbc]

One of the best albums I'll listen to start to finish

[ghostrider]

This album has a special place in my life. When I was in the US Navy, 94-98....i had recently just reported to my boat, and was qualifying and îlearning about the Los Angeles class fast attack submarine while underway. 24 hours on, 6 off is pretty much what you have to do when youre a newbie on board. Needless to say, when I retired to sleep, I slept. And Dummy is what lulled me to sleep. I shared my rack with a fully armed Mark24 torpedo. I hugged it when the really sad songs came on. I think Im in the unique position to say that Portishead's Dummy sounds amazing at 700 ft underwater. I love the entire album. Its a masterpiece.

[davidellis]

Along with Massive Attack, Portishead delivered the best music of the 90's. I just picked up Dummy on a vinyl reissue & it sounds Massive !

[NathanWind]

This channel has consistently great taste in subject matter. I always learn something, despite being a fan of just about every band featured.

[veeforvendetta]

So many people didn’t get their music and probably still don’t. It was deliberate, raw, unique, bleak, cinematic brilliance.

[veerchasm]

They aren’t underrated, they are BRILLIANT and probably the best thing to survive the 90’s

[KarlBoltzmann]

Well made. Portishead are timeless. I must have listened to Dummy front to back at least a hundred times.