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| Artist: Portishead
Label: Mercury
List Price: $13.98
Buy New: $6.39
You Save: $7.59 (54%)
New (52) Used (22) from $5.99
Rating:  166 reviews
Sales Rank: 305
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 001114102
UPC: 602517664005
EAN: 0602517664005
ASIN: B0016HNOXQ
Release Date: April 29, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 21-25 of 166
 So disappointing May 2, 2008
Book Fiend (Los Angeles, CA)
9 out of 18 found this review helpful
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.
Close encounters of the Third kind! April 29, 2008
Nse Ette (Lagos, Nigeria)
8 out of 20 found this review helpful
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.
 NO "DUMMY"... May 10, 2008
F. M. Moses (Blacklick, Ohio United States)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
...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!
 Not worth the wait. July 28, 2008
fullyalive76 (Bemidji, Minnesota United States)
8 out of 13 found this review helpful
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.
A New Direction April 30, 2008
Daniel W. Higley (bushwick, ny)
7 out of 12 found this review helpful
"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.
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