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.
  
  

• 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
  
  

• Prepare to be very disappointed

  
  By A53GY0OZJZFZE on 2008-05-02
  I loved the first three albums of Portishead (including the live one), and believe that they hold up remarkably well. As many fans, I bought the album as soon as it was announced. And it was the biggest musical disappointment in recent memory. Have you ever listened to Morricone's "serious" (and serial) music? Or Gershwin's attempts at serious (Ravel-influenced) experiments? Or Zappa's fixation with Edgar Varese? These are all examples of gifted popular musicians with a knack for melody and harmony, who give in to an inferiority complex and give a shot at respectability. In the case of "Third", the album is significantly more angular, harder to listen, and ultimately a failure. There is not an interesting melodic line, and the arrangements and moods have lost all their originality. Beth Gibbons has turned into a parody of herself. It's depressing and saddening. I could barely bear the musical death of Massive Attack. But Portishead? Is Bristol turning into the city of the undead???
  
  

• All Tension, No Release.

  
  By A1XDE00CAQPJUW on 2008-04-30
  "It reminds me of what a headache feels like... and why we get them," is how a friend put it.
  
  In past albums, Portishead has done an amazing job of pushing the envelope. This album went too far though.
  
  The music was all tension and no release. It felt like it should be building to something, but never broke.
  
  Portishead is one of those great bands that can get under your skin, make you a little bit uncomfortable, and then transport you someplace new. This album only did the first two, but completely missed the all important third step. It did not open up to anything. It was like they were so pleased with their ability to create a creepy narcotic vibe, that they never bothered to consider what use they were going to put it to.
  
  It might as well have been a 45 minute sound check.
  
  

• three for 3.......

  
  By A237UQWA01EGVD on 2008-04-29
  been a long time, i didnt even know if they were still together, but they are, by far the best two song on this long awaited cd are WE CARRY ON and MACHINE GUN, some of the other songs, well, kinda dull the cd need some more of what these two tracks have. But, i feel i have heard this kinda sound before.....YES, if you like this kinda sound then check out the first two cd by the group flying lizzards the lizzards where way before there time, I am not saying this is not good, it has to grow on you. I just think if they would have done a few more songs like the two best track, it would have been a 4 for 3. god knows they have had enough time to make this cd great. It seems like they were too afraid to make it too pop. Like i said before, if you like this, take the time to check out the first cd release by the flying lizzards, yes its got the cover song MONEY. But after all these years for them, it still holds up. hope 3 can do the same as time goes on.
  
  
• What's so wrong about wanting more of the same?????
  By AYFDJOG8H8YVA on 2008-04-30
  Everyone keeps praising this album for having a fresh sound. Yes "Third" does sound different then past albums, and everyone praises them for that. However personally I want more of the old style. That is the Portishead I can bob my head to. Their first two albums is what brought me to love and appreciate the band(and you other fans too!), so why is it so wrong for them to make another album like them?? I would love another album of fantastic songs that I can listen to from beginning to end.
  I'm not saying the album isn't without merit. However A lot of the album has the feel of Beth/rustin man project, "Out of Season". The recipe of their songs on the last two albums worked so well. If you are expecting the same groove that you loved about their first two albums, you will be let down. If you really loved "Out of Seasons" and mixed in some(a small bit) of the portishead feel, then you might be happy. That being said, I would have welcomed More of the Same from such a wonderfully talented group!
  
  
• This is not the Portishead that I enjoy so much.
  By A27A9X0SI81K74 on 2008-05-02
  I still keep the first two Portishead albums with me on an MP3 player.. They are commonly playing when I go to sleep at night. But Third is just not the Portishead that I know and love. The deep bass heavy beats of the first album are dead and gone and this album is starting to sound even more industrial than the last. The warmth is gone and what is left over is just not something I am interested in.
  
  If you are a fan of the first two albums, take a good long listen to the track samples before you buy Third. You may end up saving yourself some money.
  
  
• My favorite band ever dissapoints
  By A2HIZ8D5I9D1OQ on 2008-05-01
  Apparently 3 times was not a charm for Portishead. I still listen to Dummy and Portishead every few months even 10 years later. I even popped in the Roseland VHS to watch for the umpteenth time less than a year ago. When I found our Portishead was finally going to release their 3rd album, I was elated! I had very high expectations. Unfortunately, so far, Im just not feeling it at all. Beths voice are still perfection, but the tracks just aren't up to par with their previous releases. Its not as smooth, its not as haunting(as humming), and its not as catchy! Overall, its a big big disappointment for me. Still its too early to call it my all time biggest musical disappointment ever! The two tracks that dont seem like total duds are silence and plastic. The latter sort of sounds like Beth when she was with Rustin Man. But even then none of the tracks on this album compare to mysteries from that album. Perhaps, there is nothing that can touch the genious of the first two albums. Im still waiting! Maybe fourth ;)
  
  
• Mediocre
  By A240UKZ554BY19 on 2008-04-30
  I thought it was mediocre, and like most, I have been awaiting this release for a decade. I pretty much had the other cds on repeat over the last 5 years, so maybe it is just my anticipation that killed it. I thought Beth's vocals were hollow but not in the great way that made other Portishead albums memorable. In the "dilluted and weakened" sense. I'm sorry but I have to be honest here, it seems like they went a little too deep into their imagination and pulled out melodies without much weight. Perhaps it will get better with additional listening, but other than a few choice tracks, I don't hold this album up to the standard of their previous 3.
  
  
• SO DIFFERENT BUT OH SO SCRUMPTIOUS!
  By A2KUMU2HIWAST7 on 2008-04-29
  I HAVE BEEN LISTENING TO THIS THIRD ALBUM FOR MANY MONTHS NOW AND I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO PUT IT DOWN. SURE IT HAS MANY NEW SOUNDS BUT IT PUSHES PORTISHEAD INTO A WHOLE NEW WORLD OF GREAT MUSIC. PORTISHEAD A SEXY ROCK BAND? YOU BE THE JUDGE! AFTER MANY YEARS OF WAITING FOR ANYTHING NEW THEY TRULY DELIVER THE GOODS. BE SURE TO GIVE IT MORE THAN JUST ONE LISTEN BECAUSE LIKE ANYTHING GREAT IT GROWS ON YOU AND NEVER LET'S GO. IF YOU LOVE PORTISHEAD LIKE I DO YOU MUST CLICK YES! :)
  
  
• Tragically awful
  By AUGH54GYJLA79 on 2008-05-01
  "We really wanted to sound like ourselves but not sound like ourselves. It was always going to be difficult."
  - Geoff Barrow (excerpt from Pitchfork interview, 04/07/08)
  
  I hope no one thinks this is a statement worthy of contemplation, awe or any of the other misguided admiration we place upon contemporary musicians. It strikes me as yet another inarticulate rambling by a garden-variety, pseudo-intellect. And if you read the interview in its entirety, you found yourself dumbstruck at how utterly ordinary the members of Portishead sound (like, totally...). I, at least, had previously cultivated a perception of them being a savvy collection of renaissance minds, melding the headiest of musical genres to create Portishead. How dreadfully wrong I may have been.
  
  Looking back, Dummy was and still is deserving of the universal plaudits it has received to date. Portishead, while not as revelatory as Dummy, if only for the fact that it came second, is equally deserving of its countless accolades. These two albums, along with releases by Massive Attack and Tricky, are commonly credited as being the prototypical blueprints of the trip-hop genre. Marked by a mysterious sensuality, expertly conceived sampling and accented by Beth Gibbons' halting vocals, Portishead have since been widely regarded as one of the most sophisticated acts since debuting in 1994. Portishead's newest effort, titled Third, represents the first offering from the Bristol trio in ten years. But was it worth the wait?
  
  No one anticipated the release date of Third with more optimism and excitement than I. And while I hoped for Portishead to raise the lofty bar they established so many years ago, I am left hugely disappointed by what feels like an intentional effort to divorce themselves from the elements which made them so brilliant in the first place, if only for the sake of shrugging off their iconic sound as a means of maintaining their credibility as innovators.
  
  Portishead's music has always been characterized by a level of tension. Whether through composition, lyrics, instrumentation, engineering or a combination of all elements simultaneously, Portishead have always relied on melancholy as a key element of their sound. In spite of their cloudy disposition, Portishead found a much larger and diverse audience than anyone ever expected, from sorority girls to flannel-wearing, coffee house misanthropes. All the while, Portishead have never straddled pop comfortably and maintained a status as outsiders and innovators.
  
  However, their past music never asked so much of its listeners without a payoff. At the height of tension, Portishead's ability to pull back and offer some release has always been among their most sublime strengths. Third has no such release. Tension follows more tension until the listener is expected to accept a premise with no conclusion. For a band so adept at seamlessly blending the contrast of such smoldering sensuality and unnerving dissonance in the past, and for being credited as the touchstone for an entire genre of music, their latest effort represents a disturbing step backwards, rather than any sort of progression from their other releases.
  
  Unfortunately, and not necessarily for the better, Portishead have only reinvented themselves. If their initial efforts can be credited with creating a genre, this venture falls painfully short of doing anything beyond changing the group's approach to its own music, rather than acting as the new standard bearer for their trip-hop denizens.
  
  Portishead's stark departure from the sensual sound which gained them such a loyal following and nearly universal critical acclaim suggests that, while they desperately wanted to evolve their sound, the end result demonstrates only the ability to crudely deconstruct, rather than add depth to their brilliant foundation.
  
  
• Under a Gibbons moon.
  By AEHLNA6Z00J2Q on 2008-05-09
  This is the perfect album for the age all right. Nihilistic yet complacent, tortured yet insufferably smug, it's the sound of slitting your wrists open while sipping Bordeaux at a tapas bar with your bankruptcy lawyer friends who are really, really against global warming. It's the sound of people for whom Jesus is all right, but ultimately, just not as cool as Scott Walker. It is an existential hipster apocalypse of the first order, revealing the death-loving roots of the intelligentsia.
  
  Those who say Portishead have moved past their commercial roots are mistaken. This will be playing in every Starbucks very soon, if it's not already. It's not a particular streamlined or smooth sound that makes a band acceptable these days. No, for music to reach the suicidal pornographic zombie mainstream, there is only one qualification -- it must express a void of spirit. "Avant-garde" acts like Portishead and Radiohead have that in common with Madonna or Christina Aguilera.
  
  On the other hand, Third is the closest you can get to being a heroin addict without actually trying the drug. That feeling of being underwater, pushing through swaying seaweed, occasionally stumbling over the dead rotting corpse of a barely-remembered friend, just floating along, until one of the repetitive panic attacks like "Machine Gun" or "We Carry On" hits you. Not that I know from experience, it's just that I imagine it MUST be like this.
  
  So for drug users, both legal and illegal, beatniks, operators of CCTV cameras, Prius drivers, U.N. functionaries, media types, modern-art lovers, people who believe in politicians, people with skull ornaments on their clothing, future suicides, vampires, witches and other assorted devil-worshippers -- though that all amounts to the same thing -- I must give this a solid five stars. For someone who prefers to fight their way through this life, discover the truth, and not succumb to the easiness of despair, you might be bored with the poison in Beth's heart, and limit yourself to my two.
  
  
  
  
• 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.
  
  
  
• Portishead like Bjork?
  By AWVFH5VJ5RKO0 on 2008-05-02
  Portishead, like Bjork, produce music that is more and more dissonant with each album.
  I completely love their first album, I like about half of their second and I barely like 3 songs of this third album.
  I can understand dissonance done to have a certain sound, but this is too much. A bad album. Bad, bad.
  
  
• Awesome!
  By AG3O7I58S0F4E on 2008-06-05
  At first, I thought this album was terrible; with flat vocals and uninspired and pretentious noise filling in for the lush and skillful signature beats that launched an entire genre.
  
  After three listenings, I still hated it.
  
  After five, I hated it and I had a head ache.
  
  However, after I read the reviews here, I realized that if I don't like this album, it must be because I just don't understand the music. I also realized that the thematic fulcrum of this album is heart-break and pain.
  
  Then, suddenly, it hit me; I finally "understood."
  This album gave me nothing but heart-break and pain.
  It is living art.
  Amazing.
  
  If you hate yourself, buy this album. It's cheaper than buying two angry monkeys and recording them fighting each-other with power tools in your closet.
  
  
  
  
  
• 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!
  
  
• Good bye trip-hop. We hardly knew ye
  By AD3VJNKDVFDYG on 2008-05-25
  After waiting 10 years for a follow up to the greatest trip-hop music ever made, I was more than a little disappointed at what this is. This abrasive experiment lacks all of the elements I love from the first 2 albums. Namely: it's largely without a driving beat, it has none of the retro film noir aesthetics, and there's no song with a catchy hook.
  
  Analysis aside, the worst thing I can say about Third is that I have to really TRY to like it. This happens all the time with good bands. They make great music then in later albums (and often their 2nd album) you try to force yourself to like it. And you know full well that if that were your introduction to the band, you wouldn't have liked them in the first place.
  
  I don't have to try to like the other 2 albums. From 1st listen I was entirely hooked. With Third, if I really, really try then I can find some tracks that are not fully without merit.
  
  
• Its been a long decade
  By A395PNODKAAC9Q on 2008-04-29
  Lets be honest, this album isn't going to change the world. I became a Portishead fan just as their second album was released, so it's so nice for them to be back...but after a decade, many would be happy with ANYTHING, no matter how bad.
  
  Fortunately, this is a pretty decent album. Hunter, Nylon Smile, The Rip, Small, and especially Threads (I consider it the best on the album) are all good tracks. The others don't stand out as much, my finger itches to the > button when they come on. Deep Water is garbage (sorry).
  
  If you are a Portishead fan, or even like them a little, you should buy this. If you are not yet a Portishead fan, buy the first two albums (Dummy and Portishead) and THEN purchase this if you like those two (just as you should watch Episode 4, 5, and 6 BEFORE the others).
  
  Glad they are back, and let's hope that we don't need to wait another 10 years to hear them again!
  
  
• 4.5 Stars: A Near Masterpiece
  By A3KUEXN9M9FOMH on 2008-04-30
  I'm always impressed when a band lies dormant for an extended period of time and is able; somehow, to recapture their creative magic long after their alleged artistic peak has past. Portishead hasn't released a proper album in 11 years, and somehow they were able to release something as good, as haunting, and as evocative as Third over a decade later.
  
  Where bands like Mission of Burma and Dinosaur Jr. basically picked up where they left off when they disbanded, Portishead does anything but. Portishead is so synonymous with the term trip hop and all it's trappings that simply making another album similar to Dummy would have gotten them labeled as a retread or worst, outdated. Third is a much more stark and claustrophobic album than Dummy or their self titled follow-up. Gone are any scratches, oversized drum beats, or any other remnants of hip hop influence in their sound. It sounds a lot more rough and lo-fi, focusing on texture and tension, instead of the relatively warm and inviting sound of their first two albums. Guitars are much more prominent and Beth Gibbon's voice sounds half buried most of the time. Where Dummy and their second album were made for relaxing late at night, listening to Third is about as comfortable as walking in a hailstorm.
  
  The opener Silence starts off with a voice speaking in Portuguese, and for some reason it set me on edge. The rest of Silence builds tension with a throbbing drum beat and swelling strings. The song keeps building and building and them it abruptly cuts off, leaving you wanting some kind of resolution that never comes. The whole album seems built on this jerky sequencing that bounces you between different tempos and moods, but always keeps you guessing and uncomfortable. The best example is the trio of songs in the middle of the album, We Carry On, Deep Water, and Machine Gun. We Carry On has this driving and taunt low end beat that keeps on moving and stuttering, punctuated by an occasional guitar line and sheets of noise. The next song Deep Water is a brief interlude featuring only Gibbons voice, occasional barbershop style backup singing and a ukulele. You're sort of lulled to sleep before the dueling drum machines on Machine Gun wakes you up. It's a masterful job of sequencing because you're only allowed to breath for a minute before being jerked back to life. Other songs like The Rip and Small start out with Gibbons' unaccompanied by a beat before the song kicks in to gear, again jarring my senses. It's similar in motivation, but not neccesarily technique to the GZA's Liquid Swords. Both albums are so tense that it's hard to breath, and both have this shifting dynamic that makes it's uncomfortable to listen to.
  
  The only drawback, and it's a minor one, are Gibbons' lyrics. I didn't think it was possible for her to seem any more forlorn and whispy, but I guess I was wrong. Part of this is the production, which has her voice buried or obscured in the mix a lot of the time, but her lyrics are still as bleak as they come. It's honestly fairly easy to ignore her lyrics though because her voice is still evocative and adds to the uncomfortable mood of the music.
  
  Third is a brilliant album and a worthy addition to their catalogue. Right now I don't think it's as good as Dummy, but it's easily as good as their second album, maybe even better. Over time I can see this becoming my favorite release from the band. Third is a near masterpiece.
  
  
  
• Complete waste of money
  By ACHBMALZCZOX5 on 2008-05-02
  Rarely have I purchased a CD that has had so little worthwhile content.
  
  Burning a $10 note would have provided better entertainment value.
  
  I'm the dummy in this case - Portishead have turned to a steaming pile of cr@p.
  
  
• So disappointing
  By ABJM5JJP6E63J on 2008-05-02
  I have always admired Portishead for their ability to take seemingly discordant sounds and turn it into something beautiful. I initially thought that perhaps it was not an easy listen but ten plays later, I've determined that it's just not a good album. It's overall very sloppy and dispassionate. I'm actually pretty confused over the high praise it has received. Eleven years later, they certainly have not evolved into something better.
  
  
• Not worth the wait.
  By A3QZNLIMSM9RCQ on 2008-07-28
  Like everybody else who was part of the generation blown away by Portishead's "Dummy" it's been a down-hill slide from the get go. I think positive reviews for this album are from hipsters or fans who will defend even the worst of a once loved band. Well the love is gone.
  
  One thing I read again and again in "professional" reviews and little reviews like these on Amazon is that Portishead were unhappy with how their sound was copied and that they watned to "distance" themselves from the first album. Funny, I don't think any band was ever able to do what Portishead did. You can't tell me that albums from Lamb, Morcheeba and Hooverphonic sound like "Dummy". I think it's just an excuse for not being able to recreate the magic of the first album.
  
  To be honest I find it hard to listen to just about anything that's come out in the last few years. Alternative music or whatever you want to call it is so focused on this hipster, White Stripes, indier than though trip that people forgot how to write a good song. Save yourself the money, put in your copy of "Dummy" that you have since you are reading this review and remember that Portishead stopped making music a long time ago.
  
  
• Close encounters of the Third kind!
  By A24N1BAS3CU27H on 2008-04-29
  Imagine yourself lost in a shiny steel labyrinth, walking and running
  in the silence, the sense of someone or something after you and the
  feeling of dread that stirs. That is the feeling one gets from
  listening to "Third", the aptly titled long awaited third album from
  UK Trip hop trio Portishead. Lead singer Beth Gibbons has still got
  her high pitched spidery voice, which perfectly contrasts the bleak,
  stripped soundscape provided by Geoff Barrow and Adrian Utley.
  
  The album sounds like the soundtrack to some classy horror flick,
  (something like the Nicole Kidman movie "The others") where nothing
  happens most of the time, but you keep expecting something to.
  Desolate, skeletal beats, scraping noises, the tiniest of electronic
  flourishes, their ten years away obviously wasn't spent studying their
  peers on the pop charts. If you're looking for something sunny, catchy
  and upbeat, I'm afraid you picked the wrong CD!
  
  "Wounded and afraid/Inside my head "Gibbons wails on the largely
  instrumental opening cut "Silence" and with that, you're ushered into
  their musical lair. Lead-off single, the aptly titled "Machine gun"
  sets Gibbons' desolate vocals against a staccato of percussion and
  dark strings. "Hunter" is a moody ballad, "Deep water" is a brief
  cabaret/showtune-style song with backing harmonies that sound like a
  foghorn, while bursts of edgy guitars erupt every so often in "We
  carry on".
  
  My favourites are "The rip" (which starts off as a haunting piano
  ballad with a droning synth build up midway) and the melodic "Magic
  doors" (which has a sax break that sounds like lots of disembodied
  saxophones being played backwards).
  
  While not as instant and melodic as their brilliant debut "Dummy"
  (most of the CD sounded alike to me at first), this is one that will
  definitely grow on you if you let it. Dread was never so inviting.
  
  
  
• A New Direction
  By A38CUPFP1Q9YEQ on 2008-04-30
  "menacing", "dark", "frightening" are all words you will see when reading reviews for the album. Third is not a quick thrills kind of record.
  This is meant to be heard in long play format, and won't give you much instant gratification.
  However, the long term rewards are well worth the investment. Portishead have grown, and continue to shown their revelance for the listener that begs to be fed.
  
  "silience"
  the album begins with a formal sounding porugusee voice saying something to the affect of "you'll get what you deserve"..
  you are then led to a wind up of various eletronic instruments until they all come together into a nice groove.
  the melodic bass line complements the drum track perfectly. at about 230 we are greeted with
  the familar vocals of beth gibbons "...wounded and afraid.....going through changes". then it fully comes together,
  you realize that you are listening to the first new portishead music in 10 years. the cello heard through out
  really is the icing on the cake of this enjoyable opener.
  
  "hunter"
  to all those that think portishead would be a good choice to do a james bond theme song, this song adds more fuel to that fire.
  pounding toms with tourchured guitar make a good back drop for beth to swoon. "if i should fall would you hold me"?
  need you ask beth?
  
  "nylon smile"
  this track has a middle eastern flair with a very simple effective groove. you can picture
  a picture beth snaking charming the pants off of lover. this is a possible 3rd single on the album.
  this songs seems to be about beth's curtain relationship. "i dont know what i've dont to deserve you,
  I don't know what'd I do without you". Hopefully she has found someone worthy of her love.
  
  "the rip"
  very similar to beth's solo album. we are treated to a simple classical guitar that starts off this gorgeuos
  slow burner. What other song can you think of that feautures a bassoon during the climax? The vocal effects
  used on beth are truly appreciated when listened to at a high volume. This song was mixed and mastered perfectly.
  
  "Plastic"
  Broken beats, and the first sign on the album of classic portishead. This track could have fit in very well on their second album,
  and may be the track that links the two together. The classic stop, start method works again, and we know
  begin to see how the old portishead and the new fit together. This track is quite deep, filled with a lot of pink floyd snyth,
  and depths of hell moans.
  
  "We Carry On"
  A highlight of the recent tour, this track shows that Portishead is still progressing. "The taste of life I can't descibe"...envelopes
  Silver Apples esque rhythms. The raw guitars and fantastic drumming really work well here. The music break down of the climax
  rivals the high moments off OK Computer. The changes of tempo and structure make this quite a thrill to soak in.
  
  "Deep Water"
  The first real shocker on the album comes equip with barbershop vocals courtsey of the someerfield workers choir, and ukulele.
  
  "Machine Gun"
  Now the album takes a sharp turn into much darker territory.
  Here is where the meanacing comments come in to play. Led by a brutal repetitive drum track, this song can only be appreciated
  on a nice stereo system. If you can last until the end you are treated with a climatic symth line that tops off the unforgiving
  first single. This song really must have been what Geoff was worried about on his blog, when he worried whether or not they
  would "piss off the fondue society". Beth's beautiful vocal and second shadow track really make this song listenable. They really
  wanted to challenge the listner here, and they succeeded.
  
  "Small"
  Probably a track that would fit on a cold rainy night by the fire place. This is really a signal that we are in the gut on the album.
  Slow guitars lead you through a emotional ride through beth's fragile mind. This track has a middle section
  that could have been on any doors album, and has enough musical goodies to entertain you through out.
  
  "Magic Doors"
  Whoever there there would be cowbell on a portishead record? Just one of many surprizes on third.
  The lyrics "I can't deny what I've become, I'm just emotionally undone" flow perfeclly with the smooth bass led opening.
  Another left turn near the end with brief saxophone segway into beth's final few words. This track is one of
  the more accesible tracks on Third.
  
  "Threads"
  A lot of fans have singled this out as their favorite on various blogs and message boards. As with "Plastic" we see a slight connection
  to older Portishead with this one. Another song that fits in with the songs on the second album, this track in a long closer that
  really tops off the album quite well. Beth gives a knockout bluesy vocal performance that leaves you begged for more, yet very
  satisfied.
  
  
  
• Courageous but difficult release - and a disaster as a party CD
  By A2PPTN3DTD8QNW on 2008-05-05
  After two careful listens, it's very clear that Portishead was determined to avoid the commercially recognizable sound from their earlier CDs. They succeed dramatically. Do not buy "Third" expecting an approachable extension to their genre-defining trip-hop sound. Adrian Maben's use of the wah pedal is completely gone, and in fact he's not as heavily used on this disc. There's also absolutely no tying to Gibbons' stellar solo work, which has largely disappeared from the market anyway. Geoff Barrow dominates this disc sonically and very likely in the songwriting department as well. The drum parts are even sparer than previous releases and the mix is deliberately quiet and subtly muffled, although very clean even in the MP3s. The noir vibe is completely gone. This is basically rock music written by Samuel Beckett.
  
  In fact, this disc reminds me more of Massive Attack's 100th Window than anything else I've heard from this band - bleak, depressing, and sonically uninviting. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as the intention is to take their substantial fan base to a new place and recognize that they've grown and changed as musicians and can't or won't give their ravening public another "Glory Box." In that goal, I feel Portishead succeeds only intermittently, because the music on this disc is so resistant to accessibility for the most part.
  
  The first four tracks, "Silence," "Hunter," Nylon Smile" and "The Rip" probably convey a more recognizably Portishead sound than the rest of the disc. "Silence" produces a fairly balanced sound with the spare but steady rhythm, heavily distorted guitar parts and Gibbons' impersonal wails about another failed relationship (at least that's what the lyrics seem to convey). "Hunter" provides interesting shifts between distorted instrumental interludes and a dark, stalking instrumental background for Gibbons' haunting vocals, and comes closest to the old Portishead sound. Likely the most accessible track on this disc is "The Rip," which applies a nylon-string guitar to establish the basic harmony of the song paired with a gorgeous Gibbons vocal. The tune then steps up with a strong sequencer part echoing the guitar patterns and takes the song in an emotionally moving direction. At this point I was very optimistic for the rest of the CD.
  
  Most of the rest of "Third" is brutally depressing and deeply dissonant at the same time. With the exception of "Deep Water," a lovely ode to suicide that almost sounds like a church hymn, there's very little here to grab a listener who loved their previous work. "Small" uses a cello-like synth part along with two-part vocal harmonies and another dissonant intrumental break. Don't play this stuff at a party. That is, unless the party features lots of aggressively challenging art and perhaps an S&M station or two, or at least some blond bare-chested Germans wandering around in leather chaps. (Now is the time on Sprockets when we daaahhhnce.) DARK is the operating word here.
  
  I have a strong suspicion that many people will feel like they HAVE to like this disc, it being what it is and whom it's from. (Sarcasm) No pressure. If you're not sufficiently hip or discerning because you don't appreciate "Third," just go back to your meaningless middle-class existence and LEAVE US COOL PEOPLE, DRESSED IN OUR COOL BLACK CLOTHES, ALONE! (/sarcasm) My guess is that attitude would be one which the band itself would reject. I personally think it's pretty cool that Portishead is back working together and wanted to do something challenging to reject the explosive commercialism surrounding their previous work. But if you expect another "Dummy," you will be sorely disappointed.
  
  Unfortunately, Portishead just can't help it - they've produced a new disc that is the very essence of indie rock for the post-Bush era.
  
  
• do NOT listen to while driving....
  By AXLXLZZB4Y27D on 2008-05-07
  because you will more than likely fall asleep.
  
  boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring boring
  
  first off : i am a HUGE fan of portishead! i have eagerly waited for this cd to be released...what a disapointment! there are about 3 songs total that i can listen to without skipping halfway onto the next song.
  i really am trying to give it the "ol college try" but it has become increasingly difficult..
  i only gave them that extra star for trying to be different, albeit horrible.
  
  sorry portishead...nice try...hopefully the remixes will be more on par of what we know & love of you!
  
  
  
• 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.
  
  
• DON'T BUY IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  By A285YBSHZIT8TR on 2008-06-07
  I've been listening to Portishead for well over 10 years now and I never get tired of hearing Dummy, Roseland, or their self titled CD over and over again. I don't have enough fingers to count the number of people I have turned on to this band. I love their music so much! They always put me in the best, chilled-out mood.
  
  In all honesty, this CD sucks so bad that I threw it away.
  
  I know that they were trying to do something different from their norm, and they did just that. If you liked any of their previous albums, I just don't see how you could enjoy this new stuff. The only people that might like this CD, are people that don't know Portishead or people that like terrible noise.
  
  I, like many others, was very excited to hear that they were coming out with a new album. What a dissapointment it was to hear how much damage 10 years time could do to a band.
  
  DON'T BUY THIS ALBUM!!!!!!!
  
  
• The most satisfying album I've heard in years
  By A1TKFXWHL6VZLZ on 2008-05-01
  Well, it's been eleven years since Portishead's last studio album, but it's finally here. The aptly named third album, Third, is about as satisfying as albums get. It's hauntingly beautiful and wholly representative of what Portishead is capable of. Far from falling behind the rest of the music scene in the last decade, the band has managed to craft one of the most original-sounding albums I've heard in years.
  
  Who invented trip hop is a matter of debate to some people, but for my two cents, there is no argument about who defined the genre. Massive Attack, Tricky and Portishead. If you think of trip hop as one big Venn diagram, those are the three circles which represent all of trip hop's possibilities and every trip hop act falls somewhere under their influence. It's practically the definition of the genre: A band is a trip hop act if you can put them somewhere in that Venn diagram.
  
  This makes Portishead one of the three pillars of trip hop and their latest album not only cements their already formidable standing in the genre, but it expands the band's sound into uncharted territory and may force other bands to rethink their own conceptions of the scene as a whole.
  
  Beth Gibbons' vocals are amazing--not just like they already were in earlier efforts, but vastly improved. Her voice has clearly changed slightly over the last decade (no surprise) and her range seems to have extended greatly and her control over difficult vocal transitions in songs like We Carry On is truly mind blowing at times.
  
  Utley and Barrow work their characteristic magic as well, Utley contributing exactly what he needs to, nothing more and nothing less, perfect in every way and Barrow pushing the music forward, sometimes relentlessly urgent and pensive in the samples and beats chosen as the musical backdrop. Every element in these songs has been heard before, though not all in Portishead songs, but never have they been arranged quite like they are on Third. Even the band's earlier albums never sounded like this, incorporating elements from industrial, old old school German techno, folksy jazz guitar riffs, and some truly jarring inter-track transitions that feel like you've just been run into a brick wall.
  
  Third is one of the most vaguely unsettling albums to come around in a long time and yet it still feels so good to listen to. At no point does it let you rest and just sit back and fade into the music. The constant sense that you never know what's going to come next always lies just under the surface, drawing you in closer, forcing you to listen attentively waiting for the other shoe to drop. And when it finally does, it's so rewarding that you can't help but listen even closer, waiting for the next surprise. It's like some kind of twisted pavlovian experiment, each reward surpassing the last until the album finally ends, beckoning you to start over from the beginning and go again (and again, and again). The term "rewards multiple listens" doesn't even begin to describe the complexity of this disc, and yet it seems immediately accessible, enjoyable from the drop of the first beat.
  
  Third is ultimately an exercise in contradictions. It's soulful and mechanical. It's a hauntingly retro throwback that's still painfully cutting edge. It's smooth and jarring, soothing and unsettling. It's uncomfortable and inviting. And throughout it all, it's achingly beautiful. I haven't heard anything like it in years if I've heard anything else like it at all.
  
  The first track, Silence, has got to be the most perfect intro track ever. In five minutes it not only completely encompasses everything Portishead has done before but brings you screaming right through the last ten years of silence and straight into Portishead's new sound. It's like a recursive acronym with the recursive, self-descriptive element at the end of the string. It begins by building on where Portishead left off and then just keeps building and building upon itself until it finally (and rather abrubtly) just stops dead--straight into the next track, Hunter, which picks up some of the band's old torch music sound but tweaks it just enough to sound like no other song you've ever heard. It's a bold proclamation right from the start, "Yes, we're back. Yes, we're still Portishead. No, we're not remaking Dummy."
  
  And that's really the only theme throughout the whole album, Portishead is back and better than ever. God only knows what's going on under the surface here. The band is only slightly less reclusive this time around (every publicity shot I've seen of Beth still captures her looking at the ground and nowhere near the camera) so explanations are scarce. It's so experimental as to be almost opaque and yet it's so damn good that you can't help but keep listening and trying, always trying to figure out what it all means. Absolutely amazing. I only wish they were touring the US right now and not Europe so I could see them perform some of the new material live.
  
  
• waist of words
  By AQ6Q5QT2H0U2U on 2008-05-04
  I do not review cd very often but this one is not worth any words already spent too much time!!!!! so long portishead
  
  

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