Riffiter listeners rate Dummy 4.3/5 from 67 ratings.

What is the highest-rated track on Dummy?

It Could Be Sweet, rated 4.9/5 by 9 listeners on Riffiter.

When was Dummy released?

Dummy was released in 1994 on London Records.

How many tracks are on Dummy?

Dummy has 11 tracks, with a runtime of 49 minutes.

Dummy is catalogued under Trip Hop, Electronic, Acid Jazz.

Dummy runs at a median tempo of 120 BPM across its tracks, most often in A minor, measured from audio analysis.

What albums are similar to Dummy?

Listeners of Dummy also rate Mezzanine by Massive Attack, Maxinquaye by Tricky, Heligoland by Massive Attack.

Dummy was produced by Adrian Utley and Portishead. Adrian Utley produced all of them.

Who wrote the songs on Dummy?

Dummy was written by Beth Gibbons, Geoff Barrow, Adrian Utley and Henry Brooks, among 8 credited in total. Beth Gibbons wrote 5 of them.

Album · 1994

Dummy

by Portishead

Dummy is a 1994 trip hop album by Portishead. It runs 11 tracks across 49 minutes on London Records. Riffiter listeners rate it 4.3/5 from 67 ratings.

prod.

Adrian Utley

Portishead 25connections

Trip Hop · Electronic · Acid Jazz

Best albums of 1994→

#2 in Best albums of 1994 · #1 in Best trip hop albums

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4.3 /5
67 ratings: 90 /100
9 critics: 11
Tracks: 49 min
Runtime: 120 bpm
Tempo: A minor
Key

Ratings

67 ratings · avg 4.3

0.5★5★

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Reviews

2 reviews

5.0
@section Nov 2, 202634 plays
What a vibe. What an era. I was working at Newbury Comics when this was released. It would get played daily. How lucky was I to have a crew that fell in love with this with me.
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5.0
Riffiter Jun 7, 2026
The blueprint for two decades of late-night sadness: Dummy slowed hip-hop breaks to a crawl, draped them in spy-film strings, and let Beth Gibbons sing like a torch singer trapped in vinyl crackle. "Glory Box" and "Sour Times" defined trip-hop, then transcended the term. Few debuts have invented an atmosphere this completely.
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31 people have played it start to finish

3 people are spinning it this week

People who scrobbled it: 4.8★ (7) · Everyone else: 4.6★ (18)

Critics

9 publications

Scores collected from the English Wikipedia ratings box (CC BY-SA). Ratings belong to the publications; follow a link to read the review.

Dummy album cover

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Tracklist

11 tracks · 49 min

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Videos

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top 5 · 8 rated tracks

According to Riffiter listeners, the best track on Dummy is It Could Be Sweet — rated 4.9/5 by 9 listeners.

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About

Dummy is the debut album of the Bristol-based group Portishead. Released in August 22, 1994 on Go! Discs, the album earned critical acclaim, winning the 1995 Mercury Music Prize. It is often credited with popularizing the trip-hop genre and is frequently cited in lists of the best albums of the 1990s. Although it achieved modest chart success overseas, it peaked at #2 on the UK Album Chart and saw two of its three singles reach #13. The album was certified gold in 1997 and has sold two million copies in Europe. As of September 2011, the album was certified double-platinum in the United Kingdom and has sold as of September 2011 825,000 copies. Building on the promise of their earlier EP, Numb, it helped to cement the reputation of Bristol as the capital of Trip hop, a nascent genre which was then often referred to simply as "the Bristol sound". The cover is a still of vocalist Beth Gibbons from the short film that the band created-To Kill a Dead Man-which originally got them signed due to their self composed soundtrack.

In addition to the already released "Numb", the album spawned two further singles: the UK #13 hit "Glory Box" and "Sour Times", which reached the same position, on re-release in 1995. On 3 December 2008, Universal Music Japan released Dummy and Portishead as limited SHM-CD versions.

In brief

Is Dummy good?: Riffiter listeners rate Dummy 4.3/5 from 67 ratings.
What is the highest-rated track on Dummy?: It Could Be Sweet, rated 4.9/5 by 9 listeners on Riffiter.
When was Dummy released?: Dummy was released in 1994 on London Records.
How many tracks are on Dummy?: Dummy has 11 tracks, with a runtime of 49 minutes.
What genre is Dummy?: Dummy is catalogued under Trip Hop, Electronic, Acid Jazz.
What BPM is Dummy?: Dummy runs at a median tempo of 120 BPM across its tracks, most often in A minor, measured from audio analysis.
What albums are similar to Dummy?: Listeners of Dummy also rate Mezzanine by Massive Attack, Maxinquaye by Tricky, Heligoland by Massive Attack.
Who produced Dummy?: Dummy was produced by Adrian Utley and Portishead. Adrian Utley produced all of them.
Who wrote the songs on Dummy?: Dummy was written by Beth Gibbons, Geoff Barrow, Adrian Utley and Henry Brooks, among 8 credited in total. Beth Gibbons wrote 5 of them.

Credits

Produced by: Adrian Utley Portishead
Written by: Geoff Barrow Isaac Hayes Lalo Schifrin Wayne ShorterBeth Gibbons
+3 moreShow fewer
Adrian UtleyHenry BrooksOtis Turner
Engineered by: Dave McDonald
Played by: Adrian Utley Geoff BarrowClive DeamerGary BaldwinNeil Solman
+3 moreShow fewer
Andy HagueDave McDonaldStrings Unlimited
Vocals by: Beth Gibbons