Amazon.co.uk: Portishead's Third has been a long time coming, the result of a lengthy creative torpor following 1997's dark, distinctly underrated album Portishead. Importantly, though, they've shaken it. While the core trio of Beth Gibbons, Geoff Barrow, and Adrian Utley remains, this is quite a different band to Portishead's 90s incarnation: gone is the slo-mo turntable scratching and smoky jazz feel, replaced by heavy, brooding rhythms, vintage-sounding electronics, and spindly guitar. Still present, though, is that sense of emotional fracture and deep gloom. "Silence" opens with a dense drum loop which suddenly falls away to reveal Gibbons' voice, cold but magnificent: "Wounded and afraid, inside my head/Falling through changes". "Nylon Smile", meanwhile, is a fine example of Third's occasional folksy edge, an acoustic song reminiscent of Leonard Cohen that, around its midpoint, lifts off on a propulsive electronic rhythm, Gibbons holding one clear, hard note as synthesisers bubble beneath. At times, it's a harsh and foreboding listen: the electronic drums of "Machine Gun" might put off the listener hoping for smooth dinner party fare. But Third is a brave and forward-thinking return, and one great enough to justify its lengthy gestation. --Louis Pattison
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - The best album I've heard since 2005
Upon my first listen or two of Third, I didn't think it was that much of a progression from their debut, Dummy, nor their self-titled sophomore album. But I've come to realize I was ever so wrong.
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Rating: - Great comback! MP3 MAY EXPIRE
For the first album in many years Portishead really pulls it together with 'third'
Not the same winy mess as before. Very beat driven. Tribal even. With a few songs like "deep water" that, while ... Read More
Rating: - Finally!!
For 14 years now Dummy has been one of my all-time favorite albums. It helped invent the genre of "trip hop," one of my favorite genres of music. Third is a triumphant and LONG overdue return, and is ... Read More
Rating: - Worthy of consideration
This recording is worthy of attention if for no other reason than the fact that it *is* pretty original. And that is getting harder and harder to find it seems.
Rating: - 4.5 stars
It's been almost 11 years since Portishead released their last self-titled album (I'm not counting Roseland NYC Live). The three member group of Adrian Utley, Geoff Barrow and more prominent Beth Gibbons ... Read More
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- The best album I've heard since 2005