... The following day however I was taken aback with the announcement that this legendary band were soon to make a staggering return, how would I feel about the impending album Third?
I could spend the next few paragraphs telling you the wonder of Portishead in their long awaited return album ... Read review
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Third - Portishead
Portishead's Third has been a long time coming, the result of a lengthy creative topor
... more
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 ...
Third -
Portishead'sThirdhas been a long time coming, the result of a lengthy creative topor
... more
following 1997's dark, distinctly underrated albumPortishead. Importantly, though, they've shaken it. While the core trio of Beth Gibbons, Geoff Barrow, and Adrian Utl...
THIRD
More than a decade after its self-titled sophomore outing, the pioneering British
... more
electronica ensemble Portishead finally resurfaced with 2008's THIRD, an album that both meets and defies expectations. Although the record features many of the group's a...
Third - Portishead
Portishead's Third has been a long time coming, the result of a lengthy creative topor
... more
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 ...
Third -
Portishead'sThirdhas been a long time coming, the result of a lengthy creative topor
... more
following 1997's dark, distinctly underrated albumPortishead. Importantly, though, they've shaken it. While the core trio of Beth Gibbons, Geoff Barrow, and Adrian Utl...
Third [VINYL] - Portishead
Portishead's Third has been a long time coming, the result of a lengthy creative topor
... more
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
Advantages: The return of a forgotten band Disadvantages: Too cocky, bouncing off the back of a 14 year old album
...sound, and the music from Third is no exception to this rule.
As a whole I cannot say I am impressed with Third, there is a lot of stuff that sounds out of place, wrong in fact for today's market; while time has moved on it seems Portishead have stayed still with a very 1994 sounding album, I guess almost attempting to recreate the magic of Dummy. Now off the back of this statement however it may come as a surprise to hear me say (or at least read ... ...the strength and power of Third in these opening scores, but as the album continues it's almost like Barrow and co musician Adrian Utley have gone hope leaving Gibbons quite literally to play with herself.
Fourteen years ago Portishead had justifiable right in being cocky, every score from Dummy has been used for something movie promotion, television show trails, adverts, and the abysmal Big Brother. Fourteen years on and the influence of Dummy ...
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Advantages: Strangely addictive, compelling and in equal parts mysterious and haunting Disadvantages: Takes a couple of listens to really appreciate it's brilliance
...of THIRD; the aptly named third album that is in fact the fourth from the band if you choose to include the live album recorded in New York with a full-scale symphony orchestra.
So, has it been worth the wait? It would be easy to say no after such a notable absence but in fact, I actually am starting to really, really like this and think it is a contender for their best album yet. There were many of their fans who initially were not keen on their ... ...the whole listening experience of THIRD to a beautiful and contemplative end. I don't want to say much more about them because I feel that part of the enjoyment of listening to a new album is the journey of discovery that the listener goes on as they attempt to make sense of the lyrics, but suffice to say, the album's climax lives up to all of it's potential and leaves the listener wanting more which is always a good sign. It is disappointing that ...
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Advantages: First new LP in over a decade Disadvantages: Terrible lyrics
Portishead - Third (Island Records)
The release of Third by Portishead has been imbued with a heavy cultural significance. It has been reviewed on the Late Review, generated acres of coverage in the music press and broadsheet newspapers and there is a growing online buzz. It feels less like a release more an event.
In a music scene so deprived of anything approaching sonic innovation, there is a desperate desire for Third to be an audio panacea. ... ...hissing grooves of Dummy.
Third is much closer to the disappointing harsh metallic sounds of the bands second LP. The songs are overloaded with heavy bleeding synths, high whining strings, heavy strained rhythm patterns and a far too many turgid guitars.
Yes Third is dense but devoid of tension. It aims to be abrasive and harsh but comes across merely ingenuous and brash. You get the feeling that the band where aiming for something edgy, maybe ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Album Notes: More than a decade after its self-titled sophomore outing, the pioneering British electronica ensemble Portishead finally resurfaced with 2008's THIRD, an album that both meets and defies expectations. Although the record features many of the group's aural signatures--most notably that exquisitely dark, cinematic mood and Beth Gibbons's heartbreaking vocals--it presents little in the way of vintage trip-hop, proving that sonic masterminds Geoff Barrow and Adrian Utley aren't keen on repeating themselves. "Silence" kicks off the affair with tumbling percussion loops, while "Nylon Smile" drifts along on spare, slinky instrumentation, and "Machine Gun" moves to jarringly martial metrics that are battlefields away from any pop arena. Though THIRD is initially disorienting, repeated listens reveal a deeply engaging and fascinating album that stays true to the melancholy spirit of Portishead even as it wanders into unfamiliar territory.
Album Reviews: Rolling Stone (p.80) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "THIRD is an unexpected yet totally impressive return.....Portishead mix up dub, break beats, cathedral organ, Moroccan drones and even surf rock into a headphone album for sour times."
Titles on disc 1
1.: Silence
2.: Hunter
3.: Nylon Smile
4.: Rip
5.: Plastic
6.: We Carry On
7.: Deep Water
8.: Machine Gun
9.: Small
10.: Magic Doors
11.: Threads
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Listed on Ciao since : 31/01/2008
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