Music : Third

Rating: - Smashed Coffee Tables
This album has blown me away, like no album has for years. I just listened to it for the first time and am shocked at the sheer brilliance of it. It is now back to track one and on repeat ! I bought the album out of a mixture of loyalty and wanting some mid-ninties nostalgia, but that's not what I got. The first song has a krautrock drumbeat that sounds like something from Tago Mago, and a clash of dissonant sounds and feedback that could almost be sonic youth. Then the vocals come in and it definitely sounds like Portishead, but with a new drumming style and a new set of sounds that shows they have moved on. This is a good thing, as I think the trip-hop sound has not passed the test of time so well. The second song is like what most people would recognise as classic Portishead, only without the scratchy/samply mid-ninties trip-hop motifs. After that, there is no more of the "classic" sound to be heard. I won't go into the rest of the album track by track, but will only say that it is brilliant. There is a mix of influences including glitch/minimalist techno, post-rock, post-punk, industrial and as previously mentioned, Can. I don't write reviews very often, but this album is amazing. Not a grower, but an instant hit, and surpassing everything else they have ever done. I'm happy to say that alot of non-music fans who got into Dummy as easy listening backgound music, will struggle to get into this, and you definitely won't be hearing it in Starbucks ! 11 years was worth the wait !

Best Track - Track 6 "We Carry On" - Sounds like Lali Puna/Stereolab then morphs into Joy Division

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Rating: - Objective hatred
Firstly, let me apologise if anyone finds this review insulting, but try to look on the funny side of it. I have always considered myself to be a bit of a connoisseur of electronic music and as such, I have tried to embrace a widespread range of musical talents. This means that I have searched for meaning in a Global Communication album, blissed out to The Orb, endured drum and bass and recovered from listening to Aphex Twin and Autechre's headache-endusing music. Sure there have been many exciting musical ventures during that time, and at times I have paused to consider "Why would anyone actually listen to this crap?". But none more than Portishead!

This dark, dreary, minimal, trippy mismatch of beauty and negativity just does not work at all. People will associate them with other Bristolian trip hop artists such as Tricky or the fantastic Massive Attack, but trust me, there is little resemblance. The singer sounds like an old woman, the tone is far too dark and no matter how I approached it, I just can't actually listen to this aweful album all the way through. Even "Dummy", another messy Portishead affair, had a couple of mildly interesting tracks. However, there are none here.

Please do not waste your money on this album, unless you really love the band, for reasons of your own, and can't resist finishing your collection.

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Rating: - 3 bad tracks. but still 5 stars.
why 5 stars? simply because no other band does what they do. and to come back after such a break is a brave thing.

in my eyes, 3,7 and 8 are wrong for the album. but the rest make up for a stunning return. track 9 simply is portishead at their finest.

a bit too industrial the 3 tracks ive mentioned. borderline amon tobin or squarepusher.

enjoy.

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Rating: - Don't know what I'd do without you
Long vanished from the music scene, Portishead have finally reemerged with a new album. Hallelujah for that.

But this isn't quite the same Portishead as before -- the music here is more raw, minimalistic and dark, with a ragged murky edge that replaces some of the trippiness. While its flavour is quite different from Portishead's earlier work (and this album is best heard with as few comparisons as possible) the beautifully bittersweet "Third" is a haunting experience on its own.

First, a man recites the Wiccan rule of three... in Portuguese. Not sure what that has to do with anything, really.

It's followed up by "Silence," a darkly vibrant mass of violins, urgent drumming and dark ripples of synth. But then it slows suddenly, and Beth Gibbons sings in a soft, fragile voice, "Tempted in our minds/Tormented inside lie/Wounded and afraid/Inside my head..." She adds in a wispy, plaintive voice, "Did you know when you lost?/Did you know when I wanted/Did you know when I lost...?"

By this point, you should have a pretty good idea what you'll think of "Third." Whether you love it or you hate it, you'll know.

The dark, fragile sound of that first song carries over into the fairylike "Hunter" with its growling guitars, and the songs that follow -- tense elusive pop laments, organ ballads riddled with weird flapping and echoing synth noises, satiny rattly piano-synth melodies, and even a light little acoustic song that sounds mildly out of place, but makes a nice little lightweight oasis in all the dark stuff. The album rounds out with "Threads'" bleak web of windy synth, crashing drums and eerie guitar.

The song that really doesn't fit in here is ironically the first single, the rather repetitive, jarring drum-a-thon that is "Machine Gun." Sorry, but even Beth's haunting vocals cannot make this spiky song work.

I'm not surprised that people thought that Portishead had broken up -- after all, it's been eleven years since their self-titled album came out. And in that time, many a musical trend has come and gone (including electronic ones) and most trip-hop bands have settled into other sounds -- usually acoustic or dancepop. Well, Portishead doesn't do anything so predictable -- in fact, the result is utterly UNpredictable.

That trademark noir sound is gone. Completely gone. Instead we have a bleak, post-apocalyptic-dream sound, full of darker, tattered instrumentation, strange sounds and dark stretches of blipping/sweeping synth running just underneath. And yet if you listen to it without the comparisons of their previous albums, it turns out to be very compelling.

There are some lighter moments, like the acoustic ballad "Deep Water," but these softer interludes are overshadowed: we've got generous servings of growling grimy guitars and softer cycling ones, drum machines, sweeps of delicate piano and strings, and solemn soaring organ. But sadly, no horns. Seriously, where are the horns?

Beth Gibbons' voice sounds incredibly pretty and fragile, like a piece of silk just about to tear. Pretty perfectly suited to songs tinged with sorrow ("Somehow turn me around/No matter how far I drift/Deep waters won't scare me tonight"), even in their more positive moments ("Wild, white horses/They will take me away/And the tenderness I feel/Will send the dark underneath").

Those expecting another "Dummy" are going to be deeply disappointed in "Third." But take it for itself, and its bleak, eerie beauty will start to show.

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Rating: - Portishead - the same, only better
What does your favoured band do?
Releases new album.
How does it happen?
Reluctantly, after 11 years of silence.
Is it any good?
Silence has done some miracles. It is simply excellent.
Is the band after developing anything new?
Well, they definitely didn't look behind. The world went only worse during those 11 years and that's what the new Portishead reflects by being heavier, uglier in some places, even more focused on aggression and absurd, but at the same time, by somehow remaining very honest - both emotionally and musically.
There is at least one new thing though: Portishead proves they like to have a laugh as much as to persistently - and beautifully - express seriousness and sorrow in their art. Number called Deep Water is, listen to this, very funny!
So, it's a great work done, again, but with the new century in mind. Musicians went through further stages of disappointment and self-revelation. Well done.