Customer Reviews

Glory Times

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Portishead only has two (soon to be three) full-length albums to their name, as well as a live album. Not so easily accessible is "Glory Times," a two-disc collection of alternate takes on two of the best songs on their debut. After this, it's hard to hear "Dummy" quite the same way again.

The first disc is taken up by three "Sour Times" mixes and two instrumentals. It opens with the gently jazzy "Sour Sour Times," before veering to the poignantly funky "Lot More," and the scratchy, raw "Airbus Reconstruction." The instrumentals are even more impressive: the ominous, stately "Sheared Times," and "Theme from 'To Kill A Dead Man," which has piano and electronica building up to a soaring string solo.

The second disc, on the other hand, has four mixes of "Glory Box," plus another instrumental. It opens with a basic edit and goes on to the guitar-heavy, fuzzy "Glory Box (Mudflap Mix)," and the playfully wistful "Toy Box." The instrumental is "Sheared Box," a mess of murky electronica that slowly pulls itself into something resembling melody.

"Scorn" is perhaps the star of both discs here -- one of the remixes of "Glory Box," but not the relatively cheerful one on "Dummy." It has a slow, dark melody, with Beth Gibbons slowly intoning, "Gonna give my heart away,/Leave it to the other girls to play,/For I've been a temptress too long." She sounds pretty evil here.

"Glory Times" is not a place to start checking out Portishead. New potential fans: Try one of their full-length albums, or even their live album. Not this one.

Anyone who does will end up being frustrated by the limited material. Instead, this is for fans of Portishead who really, really enjoyed "Dummy" and want to check out anything Portishead has done. And, I might add, are willing to hear the same melodies over and over, albeit in different forms.

Beth Gibbons does it all here, ranging from scratchy garage-rock vocals to the eerie she-devil voice of "Scorn." She gets a bit buried in "Airbus Construction," where it sounds like a scratchy-voiced man is trying to sing over her. But most of the time, she just adds the necessary note of wistfulness to the songs, whatever the mix is.

"Glory Times" is a good accompaniment to "Dummy," but only if the listener is already a fan. An excellent listen for fans of Portishead.

I just got this CD because I LOVE Portishead, and I had to have it! And so do you if you're a P-head fan. All the remixes are great! My favorites are Airbus Reconstruction, the Theme from To Kill a Dead Man, and Toy Box. Especially TKADM. Oh my God, the first time I heard that song, chills crept up my spine. It's so eerie and beautiful, it just captivates you. I recomend listening to it at night before you go to sleep. And see the short film if you can.

I've burned a hole through my "Dummy" and "Portishead" cd's, so it was nice to hear several alternative takes of two of my favorite tracks. However, the list price is rather steep for the amount of music (less than one regular cd, despite the fact that they put it on two), and you really have to be in the right mood to listen to the same lyrics and chord progressions over and over. Overall, the live album is much more satisfying.

"Glory Box" and "Sour Times" are classic songs and if you can't get enough of them, then you would love Portishead's different interpretations of them. "Airbus Reconstruction" is a grungy rock version of "Sour Times" and I wasn't surprised because Portishead member and producer, Geoff Barrow, has stated that he admired Nirvana. "Lot More" is a grimier urban "Sour Times" while "Sour Sour Times" has an acid jazz feel. "Scorn" takes the Isaac Hayes sample and the dark beat from the part at the end where Beth sings "This is the beginning of forever and ever" and reverses them in the song, so that the Isaac Hayes sample is the break and the dark beat is the main music (You'll understand if you hear it). "Toy Box", "Sheared Box" and Theme from "To Kill A Dead Man" are instrumentals that don't sound anything like "Glory Box" and "Sour Times" but they are good nevertheless. Also, if you don't have Portishead's "Dummy", you're music collection is missing out. "Dummy" is a classic.

This compiles slightly altered versions of the SOUR TIMES and GLORY BOX singles. All in all, it's a good deal-- some funky, scratchy Sour Times remixes from the first disc, and on the second an AMAZING, evil and chilling remix of Glory Box ("Scorn") that manages to completely transform the lyrics and emphasize the dark undercurrents of the original song.

My only complaint is that the theme from "To Kill a Dead Man" is included, a great atmospheric film-noir piece, yet for some reason "A Tribute to Monk and Canatella" is not, which is from the same Sour Times/Numb mini-EP. I'd just buy that, and the Glory Box single.

As far as I know, this is not an "official" release by this band, but, I couldn't love it more. If you're not one of those people that HAS to have everything they've ever done, just stick to their major releases, you'll be just fine. This set doesn't really have any new material so to speak, it's a ton of remixes. But, as I said, I love it. Each and every track gives a new representation of two of their classics. If you breathe Portishead, you'll love this album... if you listen to them only occasionally, don't even bother, you'll most likely be let down.

Not worth for only one decent remix. All the others is a waste of my time.

I found this interesting but not as enjoyable a listening experience as any of their other CD's. This CD sounds like a bunch of trial versions of songs rather than a polished finished product.

I love this band. Always have. Just wish there was more. I would give this another star, but, that is reserved for "Dummy". Oh, i'm sure the drummer is insane. Nobody can keep a beat like that, unless you are insane.

I really liked this CD and if you are a hardcore Portishead fan than you need these 2 CD's. BETH GIBBONS ROCKS!