Glory Box

"Glory Box"
Single by Portishead
from the album Dummy
B-side
  • "Toy Box"
  • "Scorn"
  • "Sheared Box"
Released26 September 1994 (1994-09-26)
GenreTrip hop
Length5:06
LabelGo! Beat
Songwriters
Producers
Portishead singles chronology
"Sour Times"
(1994)		 "Glory Box"
(1994)		 "All Mine"
(1997)
Music video
"Glory Box" on YouTube

"Glory Box" is a song by the English electronic band Portishead, released by Go! Beat as the third and final single from their debut album, Dummy (1994). It is built on a sample of "Ike's Rap II" by Isaac Hayes and was produced by the band with Adrian Utley. It peaked at number 13 on the UK Singles Chart, the band's first top-20 hit in the UK, and reached the top 10 in Iceland and the top 20 in France and Ireland. The music video was directed by Alexander Hemming.

Background and release

"Glory Box" was released as a single on 26 September 1994, against the band's wishes. Geoff Barrow later told Pitchfork, "We had a row with the record company because we didn't want to release it because it felt too commercial", adding, "We lost the argument really. But we bought houses!"

Composition and lyrics

The song's main theme is a sample of Hayes's 1971 recording "Ike's Rap II", taken from a copy of the record that had been warped by the sun. Utley plays a guitar line that Paste described as "Hendrix-tinted", with Barrow using the whammy bar to bend it increasingly out of tune towards the end of the track.

The lyrics are sung from the perspective of a woman frustrated with love and ready to give up on her relationship; the title, a term for a hope chest, does not appear in them. According to Smooth Radio, the song's plea to be treated fairly was misread by some listeners as a call for a return to traditional gender roles. Beth Gibbons was frustrated by such readings, telling The Independent in 1994 that "half the reason you write them is that you're feeling misunderstood and frustrated with life in general". In the same interview, she said that success could leave an artist lonelier than before, because "you've turned the whole thing into a product". Writer RJ Wheaton notes that Gibbons described the song as being about women being taken for granted.

Critical reception

In his weekly UK chart commentary, James Masterton said that "Glory Box" "is definitely one of the more gloriously slinky indie records released in ages". A reviewer from Music & Media commented: "Put the violin of the late Papa John Creach on top of it, and you get the Jefferson Airplane for the '90s. Based on a sample from Isaac Hayes's Isaac Moods it's 'suspense dance'." Maria Jimenez from the magazine's Short Grooves column wrote: "This bluesy, emotional and hypnotic number is set to a very mellow, minimalistic and spacious hip hop musical backdrop. Potent vocals reminiscent of Cowboy Junkies and intense guitar energy and dub bass amplify the power of 'Glory Box.'"

Andy Beevers from Music Week gave it a score of four out of five, describing it as "another highly original and atmospheric song that is probably too downbeat and leftfield for daytime radioplay, but will still sell well". In a separate review, Music Week named it one of the "stand-out" tracks from the album and "one of the high spots of 1994". Andy Richardson from NME felt that it "makes your heart beat even slower and it's got a good groove." David Sinclair from The Times wrote, "This is a strange, shimmering affair, which mixes a scratchy hip-hop rhythm track, descending bass line (a la Python Lee Jackson's 'In a Broken Dream'), wailing blues guitar and the icily seductive vocals of Beth Gibbons into a highly addictive concoction."

Music video

The music video for "Glory Box" was directed by Alexander Hemming, who had previously directed the video for "Sour Times", and produced by Lizzie Ross for Fat Fish Films. It was released on 14 November 1994. Set in the 1950s, it shows Gibbons performing as a jazz singer at a club, watched by office workers who attend as couples and between whom sexual tension builds. Apart from the band, the entire cast appears in drag.

Legacy

Slant Magazine ranked the song number 21 on its 2011 list of "The 100 Best Singles of the 1990s", praising Gibbons's lyrics and vocal performance and calling it "a post-feminist anthem from the hungry, seedy depths of lust".

Track listings

  1. "Glory Box" (edit)
  2. "Toy Box"
  3. "Scorn"
  4. "Sheared Box"
  1. "Glory Box" (edit)
  2. "Toy Box"
A1. "Glory Box" – 5:06
A2. "Scorn" – 6:04
A3. "Sheared Box" – 3:30
B1. "Strangers" – 3:55
B2. "Wandering Star" – 4:51

Personnel

Portishead

Samples

Charts

Certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
New Zealand (RMNZ) Platinum 30,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI) Platinum 600,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
United Kingdom 26 September 1994
  • 12-inch vinyl
  • CD
  • cassette
 Go! Beat
United States 3 April 1995 Alternative radio
Australia 24 April 1995
  • CD
  • cassette

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Single Releases" (PDF). Music Week. 24 September 1994. p. 25. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
  2. ↑ Nyre, Lars (2009). Sound Media: From Live Journalism to Music Recording. Routledge. p. 57. ISBN 978-1135253776.
  3. ↑ "ASCAP entry for song". ASCAP.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Eames, Tom (10 June 2022). "The Story of... 'Glory Box' by Portishead". Smooth Radio. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  5. ↑ Dawson, Madelyn (22 August 2024). "Move Over and Give Us Some Room: Portishead's Dummy at 30". Paste. Archived from the original on 27 September 2024. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  6. 1 2 Thompson, Ben (11 December 1994). "Rock: The reluctant débutante". The Independent. Archived from the original on 20 April 2024. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
  7. ↑ Wheaton, RJ (2011). Portishead's Dummy. 33⅓. Bloomsbury. p. 210.
  8. ↑ Masterton, James (15 January 1995). "Week Ending January 21st 1995". Chart Watch UK. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  9. ↑ "New Releases: Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 12, no. 3. 21 January 1995. p. 11. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  10. ↑ Jimenez, Maria (8 October 1994). "Short Grooves" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 11, no. 41. p. 11. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  11. ↑ Beevers, Andy (24 September 1994). "Market Preview: Dance" (PDF). Music Week. p. 16. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  12. ↑ "Reviews: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 24 December 1994. p. 26. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
  13. ↑ Richardson, Andy (7 January 1995). "Singles". NME. p. 37. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  14. ↑ Sinclair, David (5 November 1994). "Pop Singles; Recordings". The Times.
  15. ↑ "Promos in Production" (PDF). Music Week. 5 November 1994. p. 10. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  16. ↑ "The 100 Best Singles of the 1990s". Slant Magazine. 9 January 2011. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  17. ↑ Glory Box (UK CD single liner notes). Go! Beat. 1995. GODCD 120, 857 767-2.
  18. ↑ Glory Box (UK 12-inch single sleeve). Go! Beat. 1995. GODX 120, 857 767-1.
  19. ↑ Glory Box (Australian CD single liner notes). Go! Beat, Polydor Records. 1995. 8577672.
  20. ↑ Glory Box (UK cassette single sleeve). Go! Beat. 1995. GODMC 120, 857 766-4.
  21. ↑ Glory Box (European CD single liner notes). Go! Beat. 1995. 857 770-2.
  22. ↑ Glory Box (US 12-inch single vinyl disc). Go! Beat, London Records, FFRR Records. 1995. 422 850 127-1.
  23. ↑ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 221.
  24. ↑ "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart – Week Ending 04 Jun 1995". ARIA. Retrieved 2 June 2016 – via Imgur.
  25. ↑ "Portishead – Glory Box" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  26. ↑ "Rock/Alternative. Volume 61, Issue 19 (1995-06-11)". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  27. ↑ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 12, no. 5. 4 February 1995. p. 36. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  28. ↑ "EHR Top 40" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 12, no. 7. 18 February 1995. p. 33. Retrieved 7 December 2025.
  29. ↑ "Portishead – Glory Box" (in French). Le classement de singles. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  30. ↑ "Íslenski Listinn Topp 40 (18.2 '95 – 25.2 '95)". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 18 February 1995. p. 24. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  31. ↑ "Portishead | IRMA". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  32. ↑ "Israeli Charts". 31 January 1995. Archived from the original on 26 June 2026. Retrieved 11 September 2026. Search "Glory Box" for Israeli chart history.
  33. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 11, 1995" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  34. ↑ "Portishead – Glory Box" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  35. ↑ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart on 21/1/1995 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  36. ↑ "Official Singles Chart on 14/1/1995 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  37. ↑ "The RM Club Chart" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). 24 September 1994. p. 8. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
  38. ↑ "Alternative Top 50" (PDF). Radio & Records. No. 1095. 19 May 1995. p. 73. Retrieved 2 September 2026.
  39. ↑ "Árslistinn 1995". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 2 January 1996. p. 25. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  40. ↑ "New Zealand single certifications – Portishead – Glory Box". Radioscope. Retrieved 22 August 2024. Type Glory Box in the "Search:" field and press Enter.
  41. ↑ "British single certifications – Portishead – Glory Box". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 26 June 2024. Select singles in the Formats field. Type Glory Box Portishead in the "Search:" field.
  42. ↑ "April New Music Releases". Radio & Records. No. 1087. 24 March 1995. p. 63.
  43. ↑ "New Releases – Product Available from : 24/04/95: Singles". The ARIA Report. No. 271. 23 April 1995. p. 20.