Third Reviews

• Third

  
  By A5F1A9MI4BLFA on 2008-04-29
  "We really wanted to sound like ourselves but not sound like ourselves. It was always going to be difficult." - Geoff Barrow, Pitchfork Media interview, Apr. 7, 2008.
  
  Geoff Barrow and the rest of Portishead had every reason in the world to feel this way. When Dummy debuted in 1994, it didn't sound like anything else and wasn't even expected to sell 50,000 copies. It's hard to believe in this day and age, but Dummy's dark, torchy pop punctuated with hip-hop beats and swimming in a sea of bass had never before been co-opted by anyone--not even Massive Attack, who had approached trip-hop from more of a dance perspective. It blew up, sparking a trip-hop genesis in alt-rock circles looking for a viable (and similarly angst-ridden) alternative to grunge, especially in the States. Now, of course, Dummy's sound is everywhere, from the umpteen upstart trip-hop bands that subsequently appeared to spy films, cocktail parties and massage therapy commercials. So we would be forgiven for not being bowled over by Dummy today, and Portishead would be forgiven for wanting to distance themselves from it.
  
  When last we heard from Portishead, it seemed as though they were packing it in for good, leaving us with a slightly less fresh self-titled album in 1997 and a live recording at Manhattan's Roseland Ballroom in 1998 before retreating into the shadows. Always something of an enigma and quite shy of the press, it was left to us to assume that Portishead was frustrated with how their crown jewel had been assimilated and watered-down, and that they were too daunted by the challenge that Barrow mentioned above to record a third album: How do you sound like yourself and not sound like yourself? All of which makes Third--a record that wasn't even supposed to exist--such a cryptically dazzling triumph. Third is no Dummy: It's much bleaker, makes precious few references to pop, and attains a level of creepiness that Dummy's strangest song, "Wandering Star," only suggested. Yet one listen to Third is all it takes to realize that nobody else is making music quite like this, and this is how Portishead still sound like themselves. In fact, hearing Third in 2008 may clue us into what it was like to hear Dummy in 1994.
  
  Counterintuitive as it may seem, the first thing to do when approaching Third is to forget about trip-hop and all the associations it carries. Barrow's drums stay far, far away from a hip-hop swagger; rather than providing a backbone, these diverse rhythms teeter on edge with the rest of the music and add another ominous layer to the mix. "Plastic" uses amped, clipped drum rolls that send the song screeching to a halt about a dozen times, and "We Carry On" is driven by a scary tom-led tribal stomp (Morcheeba this isn't). Barrow doesn't cop out by adding bassy undercurrents for cheap mystery; instead, he punches up the compression and keeps the sound trebly and brittle, giving the impression that everything is flying right at you even when the songs stand still. Third may be stubbornly unsexy, but that doesn't mean it's not alluring. Indeed, it wields an odd magnetic power that draws the listener ever further into its disorienting abyss, even when all of the elements jump bluntly out of the speakers.
  
  By the same token, Third's allure doesn't make it an easy listen, and it can be particularly heady when experienced in one straight pass. The sequencing feels all wrong, moving up and down and up again in the most unsettling of ways. After the distorted anti-song "Silence" kicks the record off, Portishead dips into the heavily narcotized haunted house of "Hunter," where Beth Gibbons' vocals drift sleepily and hypnotically through the arrangement. "We Carry On" is followed by the 90-second respite "Deep Water," which sounds like Gibbons fronting the Ink Spots over a ukulele melody, before being gunned down by the incessant staccato rapid-firing of "Machine Gun." Through it all, Gibbons sings like an innocent bystander; divorced from and frightened by the music around her, she becomes our stand-in for its unfamiliar territory. She contributes little to the record compositionally and melodically, but remove her and obliterate a sizable chunk of Third's emotional punch.
  
  The members of Portishead are noted experimentalists, but they don't just make cool sounds for fun. The backward-looped guitar on "Nylon Smile," the warped ascending scales on "Hunter," and the many other weird noises that crop up on Third contain an element of caution like aural barbed wire: As unpleasant as they may be, they're there to keep us from venturing somewhere truly dangerous. The creepy Portuguese television program that begins "Silence" seems appropriate, since listening to Third can feel as though we're tuning into a channel that we're not meant to know about or watch. I imagine that trip-hop in its nascent form--Massive Attack's Mezzanine, Tricky's Maxinquaye, and yes, Portishead's Dummy--was originally meant to invoke this sort of forbidden underworld, but that somewhere down the road the plot got lost, and its darkness and foreboding turned into something more manageable, fashionable and marketable. By rescuing trip-hop from a fate of Banana Republic soundtracks and putting their extremely personal stamp on a tired genre, Portishead have re-established themselves not simply as masters of their craft, but as reinventors of it.
  
  

• You will enjoy this album if you get over trip hop.

  
  By AXL41TWQ1CX2D on 2008-05-13
  I really love this new portishead. I am kind of glad that it took them more than 10 years to put out this album. If it were to come out any earlier, I would probably hated it simply because its not trip hop. You know that sound: hip hop beats, lush/cinematic string arrangement, turntable scratches, old film score samples. That was the sound that most people love but that sound have reached it peak in 1998. This is now, portishead have moved on and they offer something new that is really good. Its not a difficult album at all if you give it a listen. The album is melodic, beth still have a great voice and some songs I find a certain groove to them. The album is dark but its catchy. They are still an interesting band. Leave trip hop back in '98 and enjoy portishead now.
  
  

• NO "DUMMY"...

  
  By A1ZOJRCK06R28S on 2008-05-10
  ...I've waited a good solid week of listening to the new Portishead "Third" before diving into the review. That's to say, its been almost a non-stop solid listen for me...while I'm finding it be a rather difficult task to eject from the CD player...hasn't been since the release of Radiohead's "Kida" that I've found anything quite as artistically embracing and sensually orgasmic as "Third."
  
  Nah! "Third" is no "Dummy" nor it is a replication of the self-titled release...this is a band that is too intellect to do the same thing twice and too far removed from the media to give a toss, as admitted by Geoff Barrow in a recent SG interview. For those who were expecting a "dance" album--toss that one out!!!
  
  No, Portishead is not a dance-music making band! As "Dummy" might have helped to define "trip-hop"--it had its gleeful soulful moments, enriched with periodically sampling. Happy music?!? When has Portishead ever put out a bouncy Celion Dion whimsy of inspirational "white" fluff for the masses?
  
  But, it's not all about the gloom on "Third," as the seductive-pulp sounding ballad "Hunter" sedates the listener with the lines: "...and if should fall will you hold me? Will you pass me?"--a brilliant love song. Likewise, "Nylon Smile" carries on writing the same sweet-heart letter that cries: "I don't know what I've done to deserve you/and don't know what I'll do without you..." "The Rip" on the other hand is a rather vibrant colorful mellow humming, creating a visual sensation like staring into a kaleidescope and slowly turning the dial as the tempo gradually glides into a colorful rose-pedal of colors--perhaps the most "upbeat" blissful moment of the album.
  
  "Third" is by far the most studio-experimental release that Portishead has created YET. "Machine Gun" splices two electronic drums together, creating a fired-ammunition trigger-happy effect. "Plastic" is a hard-grinding mix, recalling the claustrophobic thump of "Elysium, with a choppier, looser feel with its quick surged-cuts. "Silence" is fast-drive raid of panic nightmare rage--the song is cut just before it fades (classic!).
  
  Removing themselves from the electronica dark-wave feel of the previous two studio albums, on "Third," the band introduces its first few acoustic guitar intros on "the Rip" and "Small," while "Deep Water" stands naked of any electronic effects with its barber-shop croon.
  
  Both "Small" and "Threads" are the climax gems of "Third." "Small" begins as an angelic melody layered with Beth Gibbon's ethereal ice-breaking vocals which suddenly morphs into a spiraling swerve of galactic swaying guitars and early Pink-Floyd-like thumping organs. "Threads" is the most haunting of any of delicate delights featured on this 49 minute-long orgasm with its droning hallow-sound guitar riff accompanied with the constant high-pitch "squeal" in the back ground, induced by the chill of hypno-voodoo beats--producing a entangling effect of euphoria. The song ends like a heavy moan of a Tibetan chant and slowly fades--what a brilliant place for the last song!
  
  No, "Third" is not a dance album, it's not another "Dummy," nor it is all "happy"--it's the avante-garde masterpiece of the 2000's. On "Third" Portishead is solid proof that the band is less about producing music and more about creating the art. Ten years was well worth the wait for this magnificent stereophonic high!
  
  

• Portishead's Third - At Long Last, They're Back!

  
  By A17BUUBOU0598B on 2008-04-29
  Third
  
  The last few years have been really good to me in terms of new music that I can listen to, but no group has been able to fill the void left by the absence of Portishead for way too long. That's why, like so many fans, I have been salivating over this album ever since I heard they were working on it. In fact I've been playing the Dummy and Portishead albums almost continuously over the past 3 days before I got a hold of this. :)
  
  Well, I listened to teasers and clips and then when I got my paws on my copy of Third I listened to it over and over. I am very happy to be hearing Portishead again. Sure, if I was forced to compare, I would have to say that `Dummy' still has no equal among their three studio albums and their other stuff too. Still, this album is more experimental but isn't as far off as I thought it was going to be based upon the initial reviews I read. This album is a winner for me. It only took 4 listens for it to really grow on me. At least now I know that they are working on more stuff, and I have no doubt that they will continue to produce great music as long as they keep making new stuff.
  
  They put out several teaser tracks over the past year that ended up making it on the album. `Machine Gun' is one of those tracks, and it will undoubtedly be one of the first singles. It just has a lot of mainstream appeal relative to other stuff on the album. Something about that constant machine gun background that fits so well. I'm surprised that some have singled out this song as being their least favorite, but I expect to hear this song commercialized and played often. The lyrics are another story, and you can be the judge as to the deeper meanings of this and other tracks. ;-)
  
  But my favorite tracks are `Nylon Smile,' `Plastic' and `Magic Doors.' `Nylon Smile' kind of feels like the Portishead we know and love. `Plastic' takes advantage of that amazing voice that Beth Gibbons is famous for. Not everybody likes it, but everybody has to take notice when they hear it! And `Magic Doors' is just an awesome all-around song that in my mind joins the best of the new tone of this album with the best of old-school Portishead.
  
  But as a whole this album is a new direction. Tracks like `Hunter' and `Threads' take the slow melancholy we have come to expect from Portishead and expand upon it. And tracks like `Silence,' `Nylon Smile' and `We Carry On' add a faster urgent beat that makes them more club friendly.
  
  `Deep Water' and `Small' add the most food for thought to this album. Each of those songs is a mood piece that really takes the melancholy this group is known for to new depths.
  
  All around the tracks seem to have put the Vocals more in the background than previous albums, which for me is a shame. You still hear her voice come through, it's just with more effects and distance to soften it.
  
  Even though they are very different groups, listening to this album has really reminded me of Radiohead's progression over time from albums like OK Computer to Kid A and In Rainbows. This is not nearly as drastic a transition as Radiohead made from their earlier albums. Yet we still see the progression of a band moving more and more into new and more experimental directions. In a sense the melodic quality of the vocals have been toned down on this album just as they were on those others. The rhythm and soundstage have been moved even more to the forefront on `Third.'
  
  I for one am happy with this and I will look forward to whatever Portishead produces next.
  
  Enjoy!
  
  
  

• Back (?) to black

  
  By A28PJ3MLQ5IEFK on 2008-05-02
  Short version: if you wanted "Dummy II" then just skip this release.
  
  Third moves Portishead in a more mechanical and industrial direction. The songs are distinctly more edgy, tight, and thoroughly claustrophobic with repetition. I see this as a good thing, your mileage may vary. Sure it may be more dissonant but it's a poppy, "In Rainbows" kind of dissonance. (As opposed to the more difficult "free jazz" dissonance. That stuff _really_ burns while going down.)
  
  Portishead have always made cinematic music and Third is no different. Songs like "Silence" and "Nylon Smile" would feel right at home in a David Lynch dream sequence; both take advantage of stylistic reptition to feature a nice anti-climax / pull-out that leaves the listener (insert your fetish here).
  
  Repitition seems to be the theme of Third. "The Rip", for example, opens with a banjo-fied riff that fuels the quiet desperation beneath Beth Gibbons' vocals. The same three notes are repeated throughout, building and building the song to.. the same three notes, echoed on a keyboard. The song is a brilliant study in dynamics and it's not until the last 45 seconds that a melodic counterpoint is established. The sensation is that of being able to finally scratch an itch after hours and hours of being tied to a butterfly swing. Ah, sweet relief!
  
  Some experiments do fall flat, however. "Deep Water" begins with a ukelele and you're practically falling over yourself to hear Stephin Merritt crooning. But instead you're treated to what sounds like Darth Vader on backing vocals. "Machine Gun", meanwhile, sounds like a NIN collaboration (I see this as a bad thing, your mileage may vary) that leads to one of those cheesy arena rock moment when you wave a lighter in the air.
  
  If Dummy was a great CD, then Third is merely good. Quite frankly, I'm mystified by the reviewers are dismissing Third as discomfiting and dark. Uh, wasn't that the whole point of Portishead? No, you're not going to listen to is at the beach. You're not going to listen to it on the way to work (unless you really hate your job). Heck, you may not listen to it more than three times a month. Nevertheless, I remain confident that there will be days when Third will perfectly fit my mood.
  
  
  
• A Haunting, Claustrophobic Vision! A Perfect Comeback!
  By A388ZDFVK72VCA on 2008-04-29
  A 10-year hiatus is enough to make even the most optimistic fan doubtful. Portishead decided to stop making music together back in the late nineties, so it's hard to believe that there were many people out there holding out hope for a comeback by the time the band started to reemerge in 2005. But now, basically 11 years after their last studio album was released, the trip hop pioneers have been gracious enough to give us another fantastic album; whether we were expecting it or not.
  
  From the very beginning, long time fans will notice that Third has a very different feel from their previous two albums. The album begins with a seemingly insignificant soundbite of a man speaking in Portuguese. He speaks of the Wiccan "Rule of Three," which is similar to the "golden rule" in Christianity or Karma in Eastern religions. Essentially it means that any energy put out by a person will be returned to him, be it good or bad. The lyrics of the song reflect this cyclical idea. Beth moans in the song's chorus, "Did you know when you lost?/ Did you know when I wanted?/ Did you know what I lost?/ Did you know what I wanted?" It is a haunting way to reintroduce yourself to the world, but in many ways its sets the tone for Third.
  
  On "Hunter," a neo-noir masterpiece, Beth's vocals float hauntingly over acoustic guitars and a jazz kit. In the chorus, Beth coldly questions, "And if I should fall/ would you hold me?/ Would you pass me by?" The song breaks down several times with a jarring 4-note synth line that serves to add to the song's already frightening nature. "Nylon Smile" is more in line with Portishead of old, with a very cool reverse-synth line that carries throughout the song's 3 1/2 minutes. Beth sings of self-doubt and her need to change into someone that she can stand. She sings, "I struggle with myself/ hoping I might change a little/ hoping that I might be/ someone I want to be." It's a beautiful song despite its depressing subject matter.
  
  "The Rip" is a personal favorite of mine, being the first song on the album that got stuck in my head. In the song's first half, Beth sings, "Wild white horses/ they will take me away/ and the tenderness I feel/ will send the dark underneath/ Will I follow?" over a simple acoustic guitar and what sounds like an oboe in the distance. Those lyrics are gorgeous, people. Also gorgeous is then the acoustic guitar that is soon replaced with a moog-ish synth sound. It's one of the album's cooler moments and I can't get enough of it! It's followed by "Plastic," a less poppy, darker affair. Its chorus is complemented by bombastic drums and a thick electronic buzz-saw of a bass. The production here is incredible, taking seemingly incompatible parts and making them sound fluid and natural.
  
  "We Carry On" takes a bass-heavy, industrial beat and carries it throughout its length, adding in sketchy guitars and minimalist drums as it progresses. It's one of Third's most memorable songs, if only for its persistence. Where other songs tend to be somewhat reluctant, this one charges out of the gate and never lets up, forcing the listener to perk up and listen intently. "Deep Water" is the album's only "upper." Featuring nothing but a ukulele and vocals, it is a hopeful song about overcoming adversity. Beth sings in a childlike whimper, "I'm drifting in deep waters/ alone with my self doubting again/ try not to struggle this time/ for I will weather the storm." It's one of my favorite songs on Third, mostly because it's a glimmer of hope in an album that is as bleak as they come.
  
  "Machine Gun," the album's first single, features a commanding drum loop and Beth's haunting vocals almost exclusively. Beth is left to harmonize with herself, and the end result is truly affecting. Still, the song can get a bit repetitive by the time the haunted house synths come in at the 4-minute mark. It's a decent song, to be sure, but there is better on Third. Case in point: "Small," the album's longest and most chilling track. It starts out softly, with Beth crooning, "If I remember the night that we met/ tasted a wine that I'll never forget/ open the doorway and saw through the light / motions of movement, and I felt alive." It slowly builds, adding an upright bass and harmonies before busting out with one of the album's trip-hoppiest chord progressions. After several minutes of uptempo grooves, the instrumentation once again drops out, leaving only the bass and vocals.
  
  "Magic Doors" gives the albums one of its catchier tunes, and it's one of the few that I can even picture myself singing along to. It features Third's most upfront arrangement, with lush instrumentation throughout, including, a steady drum beat, synths, a piano, and bass. It's a great song, and a wonderful change of pace. The band slows things back down for the closer, however, and it's simply stunning! "Threads" is a song that is brilliantly arranged, with nothing feeling excessive or lacking. It changes pace unpredictably, and features Beth's best vocal performance on the album - possibly ever! The moment comes at about the 4:05 mark when Beth begins singing with every ounce of her being. To be honest, the first time I listened to Third, I wasn't that impressed with Beth's vocals. I felt like she spent too much time trying to sound like a floaty witch, even when the music didn't require it. But this one moment completely negated my concerns, and made me realize just what she was trying to accomplish with her vocal stylings.
  
  If Third could be described in a single word, that word would be "claustrophobic." From the very beginning to it's amazing conclusion, Third is an album that exudes hopelessness and despair. Listening to it, I can't help but close my eyes and picture the band playing inside of a tiny cell, desperately longing to be free. There are glimpses of hope - beams of light shining through a tiny cell window - but the overall mood that is conveyed with Third is incredibly bleak. As such, many of the more radio-friendly sides of Portishead have been shed to make way for a sound that is much more raw, more emotional and real. Whether this album is even definable as "trip hop" is debatable. I have heard the term "torture chamber pop," applied too, which is definitely headed in the right direction. As it stands though, Third is a difficult album to define, and Portishead should be credited with that. It is an album whose technical merits are outdone only by the emotional shadow that it casts on its listener. It is unlike anything I've ever had the pleasure of hearing, and it is a journey that absolutely needs to be experienced!
  
  Key Tracks:
  1. "Hunter"
  2. "The Rip"
  3. "Deep Water"
  4. "Magic Doors"
  5. "Threads"
  
  9 out of 10 Star
  
  
• Brilliant
  By A2ICKE6A3MJMM5 on 2008-05-11
  I won't lie to you. This album isn't going to be everybody's cup of tea. There is a *lot* going on here, and if you prefer your music to be simple and straight-forward, it will seem like an impenetrable mush to you. But for those who enjoy complex music, this is a joy to the ears, with there always being something new to pull out of the mix.
  
  As for the music itself, it's hard to describe. Best way I can describe it is "creepy industrial electronica shoe-gazer dance emo". Except it's not. What it is... well, it's Portishead (shrug).
  
  
  
• dark, complete, and perfect.
  By A33WJNRVWC6KB8 on 2008-07-28
  You ever find those albums by artists you respect that prove to you they're geniuses at work? Those albums that, while you're listening, stop you from doing, or even thinking about, anything else? This is that album. It's haunting, arresting, at times beautiful, other times creepy, and ALWAYS courageously out there. This album has balls. You'd think, after 12 years, they'd just get back together and do something for the money, and I'm so pleased to share that this is not the case.
  
  To put it simply, if you liked Portishead back then, and you feel that your musical taste was somewhat effected by their previous work, you will love this evolution. 'Dummy' and 'Portishead' are timeless in their own right, and 'Third' just takes it leaps and bounds further.
  
  Jeez, I usually have SOMEthing bad to say about new music these days, but not here. This is why I felt the need to review this one, because if I could influence just one more person to buy it and experience it, then I've done my part as a big music nerd/junkie. :) ENJOY!
  
  
• Third
  By A2TAPL67U2A5HM on 2009-09-05
  Third being Portishead 3rd studio album and their 2008 album was an album that I had been waiting to listen to for a long time and when I did I was very disappointed. Most of the tracks sound like demo versions or tracks that were discarded on earlier albums. The sound is muffled and the lyrics make no sense at all. The booklet is very sparse with no lyrics and no listing of whom played what. Many critics liked this album, however, I must admit that this was a major letdown. 2/5.
  
  
• Gorgeously Dark Album
  By A1J09R7DJUUY9F on 2008-05-10
  Upon first listening, I heard great music that I wasn't expecting, so I was a little disappointed. I loved the dark beats from the first two. While this one has a few songs that are reminiscent of the original works, this collection is vastly different, yet still remains sounding just like Portishead.
  
  Once I gave it the all important second spin, the spin without preconceived expectations of sound, I fell in love with this album. It is a stunning piece of work.
  
  To those of you who are complaining and saying that you can't see how anyone can listen to it more than once, I call you out and say that is your problem. You HAVE to listen to it more than once. This isn't active listening; rather, it is the CD you put on when reading a book, relaxing at the beach/pool, or just sitting on the couch staring at the ceiling with the candles lit all around you. So once you change your expectations, you should love this gem. If not, then that is just pure difference of taste.
  
  But this is just a great record!
  
  
• a modern psychedelic masterpiece
  By AQYNCLJJ3PGT5 on 2008-05-01
  if you are expecting more of the same as what they've done on their previous albums you might end up disappointed with this one. Third is definitely a different direction for Portishead, but i don't think that is a bad thing. though they might have alienated some of their long time fans with this release, i think they will actually gain some new ones in the process.
  
  i've been a fan of the band from the start, but ihonestly didn't have very high expectations for this album. coming back after 10 or so years to drop another masterpiece album just seemed so unlikely to me. but on first listen, Third was the absolute most refreshing album i have heard in years. i hear elements of Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd freak psyche, the Krautrock electronic groove of bands like Silver Apples, a little Industrial and a minimal amount of the usual Trip Hop flavor that we are used to hearing from Portishead.
  
  even if you've never expressed any interest in Portishead before, i encourage anyone who is into Psychedelic music to give this album a good listen.
  
  cheers!
  
  
• Powerful vocals, meager instrumentation.
  By A4VH04TA14CPE on 2008-12-26
  Popular music thrives on melodrama, especially when it's expressed by a vocalist like Beth Gibbons. The stylized, hyper-magnified fragility of her performances is the biggest strength of Portishead's Third. In "Nylon Smile," she pleads, "I don't know what I've done to deserve you, and I don't know what I'll do without you," and her voice veritably quivers with hurt, you can easily imagine her as a poor wounded bird, plaintively lamenting her cruel fate. In many songs, she dwells with similar helplessness and sensitivity on feelings like, "hoping I might change a little, hoping that I might be someone I want to be," "tormented inside life, wounded and afraid," and "I'm just emotionally undone, I can't deny I can't be someone else."
  
  That's the predominant tone of Third, but Gibbons also does a magnificently calm, distanced tone in "Machine Gun," and becomes a bit warmer in "Deep Water" and "The Rip." Eventually, the melodrama feels more like the style of an old silent film, or a story by Stefan Zweig, than like typical nineties-style angst. Gibbons' vocal style has always recalled old torch songs, and she has lost none of her touch in the eleven years that passed since the last Portishead album. If anything, she's spookier, more mysterious now.
  
  However, the music on Third is obsessively, insistently rudimentary, even for a minimalist decade like the 2000s. It's not "repetitive" in the sense that, say, Ladytron are repetitive. Third is full of surprises and changes: the abrupt ending of "Silence," a fast keyboard line suddenly interrupting the slow pace of "Hunter," a loud crescendo in "Small," glitchy effects in "Plastic." But these surprises have no musical content whatsoever. The keyboard line in "Hunter" plays a very simple scale, up and down; the crescendo in "Small" is a one-note keyboard line. Many songs prominently feature a shrill drone -- not a "droning keyboard line," as one might write about a post-punk album, but a plain, unadorned beeping sound, either continuous or repeated. "Silence" begins with one (around 0:30). So does "Magic Doors." So does "We Carry On." These are not small, insignificant details; they actually form the musical core of the album. Things get a little more exciting with the rare appearance of a distorted electric guitar, at the end of "Silence" and "Small," but there, too, it plays basic chords, covered in reverb.
  
  The issue is laid out starkly in "Machine Gun." The drum track is lifted from New Order's "Blue Monday." Okay, fine: steal from the best, everything old is new again, and so on. But New Order's song had about a dozen different unforgettable hooks apart from the drum track. "Machine Gun" not only has no other hooks, it has no other music, except for a short keyboard line (heavily reminiscent of nineties MOD music) in the end. But for most of its duration, Gibbons sings over just this drum track. To add variation, they produce the drum track in two ways -- a cold "industrial" sound and a louder, clanging pot-beating sound. They alternate. The end. If not for the striking, cold clarity of Gibbons' voice, there would be nothing to discuss.
  
  Not that it's all bad, but the good parts generally occur when the music doesn't try to call attention to itself, and retreats into the background ("Hunter," "Threads," "Deep Water"). Occasionally it is used to sort of gently guide the tone of Gibbons' vocal performance. The best such moment is on "The Rip," perhaps the best song on the album, where a slight increase in tempo leads to a warm, dreamy climax. When the music is at the forefront, however, it can be quite frustrating to listen to.
  
  This style can be traced back to Radiohead's Kid A, particularly "The National Anthem," which also simulated musical techniques using essentially non-musical stand-in sounds. Occasionally there are hints of Bjork's Homogenic (the drum track in "Plastic" would have felt at home there), except without the pop moments. Overall, though, the sound of Third is closer to Volta, another musical simulacrum, featuring a wide array of instruments (diligently noted by reviewers) that failed to play anything of any interest at all.
  
  The minimalism of Third is anticlimactic. Exactly like Kid A, the careful pace and the jarring sound suggest an album that requires careful attention and repeated listening, but in the end, the music reveals much less than it promises. It remains to listen to Third for Gibbons' often-amazing vocals, and treat the music as an occasionally pleasant backdrop.
  
  
• Stick with it, kids..
  By A3MA61NPNHGY9Y on 2008-07-25
  Okay, I pre-ordered this one and was going to review it almost instantly... I'm so very glad I didn't. At first, with the (Portugese?) opening and off-center bass, you realize that there's no way this is going to sound like their previous stuff (in ways both good and potentially bad), but go with it - the more attention you give it, the more you can hear. The way certain songs don't seem to flow into the next one seems to be offset by the way other songs do - almost like a suite of sorts later in the album that seems almost perfectly suited for (no idea if I can say this on Amazon or not, but I'm copying this and re-pasting it just in case I get censored) as music for taking "medicine" to.
  
  Paying attention to the sounds pays off - I swear to (insert deity of choice here) that the first round of percussion on "Machine Gun" sounds in a way softer than the rest of it, on "Small", half of the keyboard (if that's what it is) strokes sound deliberately fudged, "The Rip" is, hands down, one of the most, if not the most beautiful song that they've ever done (I'd press "repeat" 2 or 3 times each time I played the CD when I first got it, and seems, as well, almost tailor-made for a KCRW late morning playlist) and, going back to "Machine Gun", the sounds at the end are bugging me because I can't figure out what obscure late 70's/early 80's movie they remind me of... but in a good way - like there was this movie that I wrote off because I couldn't quite grasp all of the themes at the time I saw it.
  
  I guess that's probably the best analogy for the album in general as well - don't dismiss it and it will grow on you like most albums you end up never wanting to live without.
  
  But then, since both of my boom-generation parents like Portishead, it might be genetic as well.
  
  
• Great Album!
  By A39QSGPO8YRHIN on 2008-07-25
  only one thing to say remember to play this album as a 45 not a 33 sounds silly but thats how they set it up...
  
  
• A nice and refreshing listen.
  By A3SI83LHXQCVS2 on 2008-07-21
  2008 could not have possibly been a better time for me to hear a new Portishead album. My fandom is probably bigger than it's ever been before and the fact that it does not repeat the classic formula via crowd pleasing makes it all the more engaging a listen. And the album doesn't even sound that un-Portishead in the first place. It's possibly not the strongest album they've released yet but there's plenty of quality material to be found here.
  
  And it's not like the songs themselves sound individually the same either. You get "We Carry On," possibly their most dancefloor ready song ever. And then it follows right up with the lo-fi field recording sound of "Deep Water" and the fantastic drum-machine centered "Machine Gun," which fits the violent theme of the lyrics just perfectly. It's one of their greatest songs and total brilliance. Also, some of these songs end where they seem like they wouldn't or shouldn't. You expect Gibbons to sing more on "Nylon Smile" or the music to continue on "Silence" at first instead of their abrupt endings.
  
  This record is something truly creative and worth investing in if you have any taste for the group. I mean, 11 years really has paid off here! Sure I'd like those traditional trip-hop songs but I think in the end that "Third" is more rewarding than that ever could have been.
  
  
• Give it a Listen & Make Up Your Own Mind
  By A1B613HSFC5WQX on 2008-07-15
  No this isn't a repeat of their first album, but it more than stands on its own, and imparts a beauty of sound that's rarely heard. I'm not trying to set a standard so I'll stop here.
  
  
• Genius, 4.5 stars.
  By A3LPD7NTGFH7V4 on 2008-06-20
  I have been a Portishead fan from the very beginning. I can still remember exactly where I was and what I was doing the moment I heard Dummy for the first time. Such is the power of their music and the impact it has left on me.
  
  When I heard Portishead was releasing their first studio release in 11 years I was excited and a part of me was hoping it would be more Dummy-esque. Another part of me was glad that it isn't. Had they did another Dummy it would have been good, no doubt, but for me it would have come across as artistically lazy and creatively constipated.
  
  Instead Portishead delivers a hard, gritty, and abrasive sound on 3 and it works, it works real well. Some of their signature elements are still here : Beth's haunting, mournful vocals; that eerie Theremin sound; their bleak lyrics; and the occasional beat that harkens back to Dummy. Other signature elements are missing: the samples and scratching; the trip-hop beats; the film noir soundtrack feel. These missing elements are replaced with relentlessly staccato drumbeats, percussion that sounds like helicopters, high pitched tones, live drums and rock guitar.
  
  The standout tracks for me are "Silence", "Nylon Smile", "The Rip", "Plastic" and "Threads" because they maintain that old Portishead feel infused with a gritty breath of fresh air. Although all of the tracks are pretty good except "Deep Water" which is this weird Hawaiian luau song that doesn't really fit in but it does calm you down a bit before the sonic assault of "Machine Gun". The most notably different tracks are "Small" which goes off on a two minute psychedelic tangent that Jefferson Airplane would be proud of and "Machine Gun" with its sonic assault of abrasive, unrelenting beats.
  
  Before purchasing the disc, I burned a copy off a friend who had an advance copy. In my haste to have this delicious morsel of music in my hands, I accidentally burned the tracks in reverse order starting with "Threads" and ending with "Silence". I must say the album flows beautifully in this order and, even after purchasing the disc, I find myself returning to my burned copy because the flow is more cohesive. Before you naysay 3 try listening to the tracks in reverse order. "Deep Water" is a perfect calm moment after the abrasiveness of "Machine Gun" and the abrupt ending of "Silence" is a perfect closer.
  
  This is still Portishead, a more mature Portishead that is still forward thinking in their approach to music. Sure, those who want another Dummy or more mind numbing trip-hop (even though that genre has been dead for years) will more than likely hate 3. It's a polarizing release and diehard fans will either love it or hate it. Frankly, I'm glad they've decided to try something different but at the same time manage to maintain their signature sound. Genius.
  
  
  
  
• Where is Beth?
  By A3ITNFR8RYR3MP on 2008-10-29
  I don't know if it's just me, but I feel the experimental sounds take over Beth's voice and to me she MAKES Portishead. Her scary, low voice is so beautiful, why are they trying to mask it? Plus, I think that they strayed from their morbid, spooky music to a more eclectic sound and I guess it's just not for me, but hey it's not a bad Cd. It's good to have in your collection, but I highly recommend their other albums if you don't own them already.
  
  
• Let Down
  By A8THFWFBV6FGQ on 2008-07-11
  I really love Portishead, and like many fans, I eagerly awaited this album. I find that it is incredibly different from their past albums. Sometimes this takes some adjustment, and giving them a second and third try might prove them to be better.
  However, I fear that in this album, Portishead was trying to be so different that the music does not seem as thoroughly composed as its predecessor albums.
  In fact, at times, it sounds downright incohesive.
  I never thought I would see the day when I said to myself, "gotta go turn the Portishead off, it's annoying the hell out of me."
  
  
  
• Portishead's back, and not at it again
  By A8QCB68UL50NX on 2008-05-09
  In the 90s, it was easy to know who Portishead was. They were the ubiquitous trip-hop group, combining molasses-slow beats and turntable scratches with atmospheric accents, tied together by the siren singing of Beth Gibbons. Ten years later, the group has an entirely new modus operandi, but it's not exactly the one that's expected. On Third, the combination of growling guitars, damaged and detuned analog synths, clipped loops warring with overdriven drum machines and embarrassingly confessional lyrics that could have been ripped from a middle schooler's diary combine to make Portishead's analog to... an NIN album?
  
  Nine Inch Nails is actually something of a guilty pleasure of mine, so I don't really mind this new direction. And, of course, if Third's closer "Threads" bears any resemblance to the infamous "Hurt", it's that song being sung by a chanteuse in a smoke-filled nightclub with a nuclear war being waged just outside. Third would easily rank on par with NIN's finest, especially as it takes many risks that would probably be beyond the old industrial crowd.
  
  Most important among these is the jolting sequencing, which constantly aims to prevent the listener from getting into any sort of expected groove. Opener "Silence" starts with a wicked drum loop which fills most of the song, but it only finds its signature riff by the ending - a simultaneously mournful and beautiful guitar line roaming amidst the chaos - only to cut out abruptly in mid-phrase and segue into the underwater jazz of "Hunter", which similarly fades out just as it finds its rhythm and gets truly gratifying. Then, of course, there's the jarring transition between the heavily industrial "We Carry On" and 30s doo-wop soundbite "Deep Water", which somehow manages to work perfectly despite being totally improbable.
  
  There aren't many weak tracks on the album either, although I can see why a few ("Machine Gun" especially) might be grating enough to be skippable. But Third works as an album - it's clearly one of those unified works that is becoming increasingly rare in the age of the mp3. And no matter how different their sound, this is still unquestionably Portishead - the cinematic sound is still there. You just have to look harder for it.
  
  
• Better then I ever expected
  By A2C7M79A9NKF5E on 2008-05-05
  This album is great in every way. It sounds current, yet familiar as Portishead. Simultaneously they don't rely on repeating what they've done in the past, instead exploring new audio boundaries for great effect. For all the detractors, just don't buy the album, keep listening to the same tired albums you have been for 10-15 years. For all the intelligent music fans, heres a true gem to discover.
  
  
• Genius re-birthed
  By AC3R5QHIIGO15 on 2009-02-01
  I honestly got tired and annoyed of waiting for this album. Portishead being one of my muses I was getting ready to write them off. The first track I heard off this album was Machine Gun - I didn't like, I felt frustrated by it. Then I woke up one day and listened to it again and it finally sunk in. I pre-ordered the vinyl. When it showed up I put it on and just finally enjoyed the return of a set of true modern composers.
  
  What makes Portishead such genius is that they are truly composers. They don't just follow the tradition of a four part band. They truly experiment with vocal and instrumentation to form a true composition. Just like classic composers they just use what they are interested in at the time. The scratching and the theremin of the second album are gone, because that's done. It's time to move on.
  
  Instead the have a beautiful use of what I can only describe as analogue, digital. Rather than just using loops Geoff applies programed samples to his set and plays them in real time. This combination of human driven sampling is really what gives portishead their edge. Its also why they are so unbelievable live, they don't try to recreate computerized samples live because that's not how they were produced in the studio.
  
  Drop the needle, kill the lights, lie back and enjoy the best trip hop you can get.
  
  
• Great for the fans
  By A229S0EIN3W4NA on 2008-08-25
  It's a short album, but it's okay. This is a compact album with a lot of familiar tones that are expected from Portishead, but they do branch off with new ideas and unchartered waters. For those who have not yet heard Portishead, then I strongly suggest holding off from this album until you hear their first two.
  
  
• Converting the Unconverted
  By A32W89Z5N03UXB on 2008-07-23
  This is a genuinely avant-garde album, with all kinds of unexpected twists and turns. It is not tuneful the way of trip hop--this album is more "out there."
  
  I didn't like their earlier records all that much, they didn't seem to do "tuneful" trip hop as well as, say, Morcheeba, and the odd touches they threw in struck me as relatively tame.
  
  Very little about this records is tame. I wouldn't recommend this one for everyone, but if your musical tastes are edgy, this is definitely worth checking out.
  
  
• Striking
  By ALL087C49769B on 2008-07-20
  Eleven years is a long time between releases. It's been awhile since their albums were in heavy rotation on my playlist, but this sounds just as good if not better than anything they've out out. I can't understand people waiting eleven years and then being disappointed that the new album is not exactly like the last one. Things change, I guess a lot of people don't, or are in denial. Anyway, you would recognize this as a Portishead album immediately on hearing, and it's new, different, and good.
  
  
• 60 psychedelic meets modern electronics....
  By A2JED3BDSJNR5I on 2008-07-17
  While this release is highly anticipated anyone expecting to get a rehash of the 1990's trip-hop Portishead may be let down upon first listen. Gone are those jazzy drums and record scratches, instead it's replaced with a buzzing rhythm of analogue synthesizers. Another problem is that when a band got a big in the 1990's and defined a sound as they did then it's hard to expect them to blow you away upon first listen.
  
  The real gem of this release is that Third grows on you, it's a deep record with the trademark Portishead mood, although this time there are some real 60's psychedelic feelings on it. Also vocally Beth Gibbons is as tortured as ever it comes out in the lyrics. This is a great moody record for a rainy day and if you want to listen to Dummy then put that record on, but if you want to hear what a brilliant band has to say in 2008 then you will love this album. It's one of my favorites that gets regular play on my CD player....
  
  
• A Sonic Journey
  By A23196ZXMFF5MS on 2008-07-05
  I am loving Third SO much! I'm so glad I decided to give it a chance even though I wasn't convinced by some of the 30 second snippets. There is one track that I'm not crazy about, but the rest are wonderfully crafted, beautiful and yet surprising to the ear in so many ways. I listened to Third for the first time at the gym, all the way through, and wasn't totally in love from the first listen, as there was a lot to absorb and take in. Even so, I was too intrigued to want to fast forward through any of the tunes. By the second listen, I was hooked. I felt like I had experienced something that touched my emotions while stimulating my rational mind as well. If you like music that is (at least somewhat) experimental yet beautiful, and not afraid to tread paths not considered stereotypically beautiful, give this a try! If you are the type of person who can sit and listen to an album all the way through uninterrupted and enjoy the twists and bends, highs and lows in the music, then you will love this album. In other words, can you sit back and meditate and let something new come to you and just experience it without judging it, letting its brilliance occur to you slowly and over time? If not, and if you'd rather be able to have your music fit into a pre-set mold of your own conception that fits with your past experience of music you've loved, then you may not like this. Seriously, beautiful work! Well done, Portishead!
  
  
• Crazy album!
  By A3AEN6JWPGUWFM on 2008-05-11
  First time, I couldn't listen to the CD and gave up.
  
  Second time, after 6 hours of receiving this CD (About 7 pm), I turned this on again.
  
  It is crazy. I am totally addicted by their new style.
  
  It's not like their other two albums.
  
  It's way more bizarrrre, Blue, creepy and keeps reminded me of drugs, alchol, And most of all the end of the world-all kinds of mentally disoriented tules to make us close our eyes and makes our heartbeat.
  
  Just what I needed.
  
  Although I never had drugs, I can feel what that world is like.
  
  Portishead made this album in their own way. No matter what others say.
  They did their own way..
  
  No regret.
  
  Recommend->Silence, Hunter, Plastic, We carry on...Machine Gun...
  
  
  
  
• The Best Portishead Album.....EVER!
  By A1C1IAMZI0WRY3 on 2008-05-07
  Again, just mistified by the negative reviews. People just love to pidgeon hole artists to make the same sounds over and over. Real musicians change, experiment, and challenge listeners.
  
  If you want to hear the same thing over and over, get the next Kitaro record.
  
  I almost didn't get this great album because someone was "disappointed" in it. What a mistake that would have been. This is the best Portisehead album, ever. Challenging, moving in different directions, yet still sounding like Portishead.
  
  Best Songs:
  Nylon Smile
  We Carry On
  Machine Gun
  Threads
  
  Lay off these bands that are pushing music forward and keep listening to "Journey" for your sameness fix.
  
  
• this is why we wait....
  By AOAUPR5T35O4U on 2008-05-06
  I was very concerned when i learned portishead was making a new album... the thoughts kept racing through my head- "will it sound like portishead?" "i hate to think they will rehash their previous success."
  "how do you progress from something so unique?" well....i have my answers. if this is what i have to look forward to every ten years in their ouvre, i will sit patiently by and wait. this album is amazing. phenomenal. when i buy cds, i always worry that there will be a string of weak tracks that i feel i've wasted my money on. but i buy the cds because they're from artists that i love and i must continue to collect just to have the entire collection of an artist. there is not one work track on this one. and thank you portishead for keeping it fresh and interesting.
  
  

• Portishead
• Dummy
• Live: Roseland NYC
• Mezzanine
• Out of Season