Customer Reviews

Pnyc

5 star:		(78)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Normally I wouldn't post a review for an album that has over twenty perfectly credible reviews already, but I'm afraid something must be clarified: the songs on the PNYC live album are not "as good as" the album versions, as so many reviewers have said, but are in fact 30-70% BETTER than their studio counterparts (percentage varies for specific tracks). This mainly has to do with the intensity of the vocals. Maybe it's a natural side-effect of the live performance, maybe it's only a difference in volume, but to put it bluntly, it's hard to believe Beth Gibbons isn't singing with a sock over her face on "Dummy" and "Portishead" after hearing the insane amount of overtone, undertone, and just plain tone that come through on this recording. Whatever was sacrificed of Portishead's usual spooky, distant atmosphere by removing the muffler from Gibbons' voice is more than made up for by the emotion and clarity here. If you buy only one Portishead album this year (though i'd recommend two or three), this *is* the one to get.

Some people like this CD, some people didn't. I, personally thought it was one of the best albums I've ever heard. It doesn't really sound live at all, except when the audience cheers,(And when they messed up Roads by clapping all through it.) All of the songs sound as if something has been added to give them more depth. Beth's voice sounds even more beautiful than on the original recordings. If you're new to Portishead and you can't decide on what album to get, buy this one. It has songs from both Dummy and Portishead on it and they sound fabulous. This CD remains my favorite even though I've listened to it thousands of times.

First off, for a live album, the recording is outstanding. It's clear, balanced, and the acoustics are excellent. Obviously it's not on par with the ultra-produced "Dummy", but you have no right to expect better from a live performance.

Beth Gibbons's voice is much more fragile here. At the right emotional moments this can aid a song, but at other times you're trying to will her to hold a note she's straining for, such as in "Humming." There are, however, songs where she seems to be in her comfort zone, like "All Mine." But on the whole, the standard set in the studio albums just isn't reachable.

I was hoping the orchestra would be more prominently featured. The songs that make use of it definitely benefit, and you'll enjoy the horns in "All Mine" and the strings in "Only You." "Strangers" is the track where it really hits you, and I so dearly wish they had cut the electronic sounds from it entirely so I could fully enjoy it. The more popular songs don't fare as well. "Sour Times" should be skipped. It was an experiment, and I understand why they wanted to try it, but they never should have recorded it. It's barely recognizable in the bad sort of way.

The audience... I will never forgive them. They mostly stay out of it, but what they did to "Roads" was just criminal. The band had a beautiful set prepared for "Roads," and these escaped mental patients turned it into a clap-along. Yes, "Roads," one of the loneliest songs you can imagine, a clap-along. To this day my enjoyment of the studio recording is lessened due to the experience. Those people should have been sterilized immediately. If the preservation of beauty matters to you, skip that track, always.

I am not a fan of live albums, but I would say that Roseland is among the more worthwhile of them. Some of these songs are really enlarged in this context, and the rest are at least different enough to make the experience new. But definitely get the studio albums first.

I remember listening to this album when it first came out, and it's aged pretty well, but for the turn-table bits. Those are an acquired taste. Overall, the Roseland recording improves on almost every song in their catalog -- an exceedingly rare feat for any band. The best you can usually expect is a clean recording, but Portishead goes much further by "re-imagining" each song with orchestral backing. And the results are such that you might find yourself mesmerized by songs that never did much for you before. And they don't screw up the songs that were already good, except perhaps for "Sour Times."

Unfortunately, the most beautiful song, "Roads," is marred by an enthusiastic audience clap-along. All throughout the album, you'll note that the audience is a surprisingly muted presence for a live album (muted in the mix phase, not in the raw audio, it sounds like). But they come out in cheerful force... to the aid of the most haunting and lonesome Portishead song I've ever heard. The incongruity doesn't recede with repeated listens, either. At least the band manages to drown these yahoos out during the peaks.

It makes me wonder if they had the audience on separate mikes and could release a version that doesn't include that part. Wishful thinking, though. If there was a chance that Portishead was still around and putting out more stuff, it wouldn't irk me so much. But this is all we got -- three albums, one of which is this live "greatest hits" recording. In other words, not much. (I don't count Glory Times because it's a remix album, and barely one at that.)

You probably know the score with live albums. If the sound is bearable without needing to be under the influence of mind-bending substances, if the recording is decent, if the group was up to par without resorting to peculiar versions of their own songs without making them better, if the audience isn't screaming stuff reminiscent of the Jerry Springer show, and if the Hell's Angels arent involved in a brawl during the show (see Iggy Pop's classic 70s live album) then you might (emphasis on 'might') have a half decent album in your hands.

This is totally, undisputably and unquestionanly NOT the case here. Because, this live album is so good it actually comes across better than Portihead's studio albums!

Stunning as this might sound for a live recording it is nevertheless the truth. The reasons why this is true are intriguing. To start with, this the blending of a live classical orchestra and an electronic band. Which, of course, could've been another recipe for disaster (has been in countless of cases before with other more 'organic' bands) but it didnt. What in fact happened was that this concert demonstrated that the mix of classic and electronic music is one that can work wonderfully without harming the charm of the overall atmosphere.

Furthermore, Portishead actually perform versions of their now well-known songs that are actually trippier than the originals. There's tons of psychedelia here to be had, and come to think of it, i wouldnt be able to name another album where a classical orchestra is involved where i could mention 'psychedelia'in the same sentence.
This is of course extra-rewarding. Portishead's songs when they are good they are brilliant. Some of them here, and especially the slightly less than brilliant ones are transformed to re-worked masterpieces.
I havent had the chance to see Portishead live yet, but If I'd see anything that comes remotely close to this performance I'd consider myself extremely lucky.
For the time being I'll stick with this.

It seems like it might not work at first, but Portishead's "Live: Roseland NYC" album is probably the most stunning and most original live electronica album. And the string orchestra enhances their songs in unexpected ways.

If Portishead's second album sounded like a creepy soundtrack to a Halloween horror movie, the string ensemble take the scary crescendos to a whole new level. Beth Gibbons sings a crooning alto similar to the James Bond singer Shirley Bassey. In the song "Cowboys," the orchestra resounds with a wave of dissonance that escalates to a frightening peak with the electric guitars amplifying the dark tension. Combine that with the squeeky turntable scratches, and the band sounds like a deadly mix of James Bond mystery with electric mayhem.

And believe it or not, there are plenty of smooth and sassy James Bond-style orchestrations. The blaring trumpets and strings in "All Mine" turns the copa cabana song into a smoky, jazzy scene, with guitars to electrify the atmosphere.

Even though the live set begins with songs from their less popular second album, there are still plenty of fantastic mixes of songs from their debut album to spare. The high-pitched screeches of the violins in "Mysterons" transform the electronica song into a soundtrack from an Alfred Hitchcock horror film. "Glory Box" sounds even sassier and sexier with actual strings to back up Gibbons' voice and the funky DJ scratcher. And if Portishead fans thought "Sour Times" sounded cool, just wait until they hear the adrenaline-filled crescendo of strings, organs, drums, guitars and DJ scratches, combined with Gibbons' wailing at the end.

And the band has an especially tender moment in the song "Roads," where the spacy jazz wah-wahs and the strings soften their set with a gorgeous faze of romanticism. Beth Gibbons' softening voice near the end make this ballad reach a wonderful intimate level like no other.

But the strings are the most entrancing in the hip-hop beat-oriented jam "Strangers." The beats, combined with the snazzy horns and strings, make this Portishead exciting and electrifying. It's a great way to end an awesome concert of hip-hop, Halloween rock and orchestral splendor. It also shows Portishead in their prime, with an artistic taste like no other electronica band in the world.

Impressive is the first word that ocurrs to me now that i'm sitting in front of my pc writing a review for this album, trying to describe it. Beautyfull just might be the second.

Listen to the whole album and you won't help but being amazed at the enourmous quality of these young british musicians. When one listens to their studio albums (both excelent by the way) the idea of them performing their songs live as good as they originally recorded them seems very improbable. The complexity of the songs seem impossible to accurately reproduce them before a live audience. However, Portishead demonstrates that such notion couldn't be farther from the true. In short: they perform extremely well in concert. In fact, some of their songs actually sound better live, mainly because of the intense vocals by Beth Gibbons.

The performance by the band is almost flawless, and the string arrangements sound fantastic. The essence of the Portishead albums remains even in concert: dense, moody, hipnotic, whatever you want to call it. "Glory box" is hipnotic as ever and the performance is excelent. "Sour times" is probably the song that is most modified, but the version is splendid also: a bit darker, a bit heavier, a bit more powerfull, and Gibbon's really puts her heart and soul into the song. Every times she screams "'cause nobody loves me, not like you do" i get the chills. "Half a day closing" is also one of the best songs in the album, as well as the powerfull "All mine". However, at least for my taste, the real gem of the album comes almost at the end, with the fantastic interpretation of "Roads". The song is not one of my favourites on the "Dummy" album, but the song really comes alive in this album. The emotion that Gibbons puts in this song is almost unbearable. Put the song in your stereo with maximum volume, close the doors in your room, put out the lights,close your eyes and you will be truly transported into anohter dimension.

True:it's very odd that such a young band already releases a live album. But when you listen to it, you just gotta be grateful that they did. The album's fantastic, and i dare say it's one of the best live recordings of the past decade. Really, it's very highly recomendable.

Most live albums pretty much lose the feel of the original studio albums -- sometimes they sound tinny and distant. No such sound here. "Live: Roseland NYC" has not only an orchestra, but the jazzy trip-hop of Portishead's two albums, and the beautiful voice of Beth Gibbons. No wonder it was so good.

Portishead hit the big time with their sophomore album "Dummy," an exquisite blend of smoky jazz and subtle trip-hop. Which, admittedly, sounds like the wrong kind of music to play live, but it works wonderfully here. Portishead includes an almost equal mix of songs from their two albums -- six from "Portishead," five from "Dummy."

And surprisingly, the songs sound like simple redos of the mysterious, melancholy songs from Portishead's too-short career, not stage banter and stripped-down versions of lush songs. It's more than a little unusual to have a band's third album be a live one, but in this case it seems perfectly acceptable.

Backed by an entire orchestra, horns and some wicked turntables, the band plays remarkable versions of their songs. "All Mine" is even more beautiful and haunting than in the album, and "Sour Times" is even more breathtaking than it was originally. Most of the others are faithful renditions, given a powerful new twist with the strings and horns -- only a couple feel less cohesive in a live setting.

Frontwoman Beth Gibbons is known as having a lovely pop voice, and she is in excellent form here. A lot of singers are exposed in live performances as having less-than-stellar vocals, but Gibbons' performance demonstrates what a beautiful voice she has.

"Live: Roseland NYC" is a demonstration of what a good live album should be, showcasing one of trip-hop's best bands. Definitely worth checking out, both as as an accompaniment to Portishead's studio albums, and as a good listen itself.

This is a masterpiece of contemporary music. PNYC is a very complex album, full of arrangements that goes to deep obsesive levels. No matter what kind of music do you really like. Everyone who cares about music should hear this album, and watch the dvd concert...many, many times. Pity i can't give them more than 5 stars.

I love electronica, I like orchestral music. In this release they have the perfect union. Even my friends who have a hard time listening to electronic/ambient music really, really like this release. If you are a serious music aficionado you must own this. This is a stunning piece of work that will spin on and on in all types of players and in all kinds of places.