Portishead

Portishead is darker and drier than Dummy, the trip-hop pioneers sampling their own fake records to build something even more paranoid than their debut. Where Dummy had a certain lushness, this one is all tension and space, the sound of a band refusing to repeat themselves even when repetition would have sold. It ranks at eighty-three because it's less immediately seductive than Dummy, but it's arguably the braver record, and it rewards the patience.