Music : Third

Rating: - Good, but how exacty do they fit into my life ten years down the line?
Look, it's Portishead, and they are good , so I don't want to slate them too heavily - This is exactly what I expected it would be - dark, depressing, and not particularly different to anything else they have ever done. There are certainly moments of brilliance in this album, but the thing is I'm just not sure where Portishead fit into my life any more - they were great to listen to when you came back from a club, while you sat around drinking tea and watching the sun come up. A great soundtrack to to a bit of late teens/early twenties angst. But I have kids now, and I never go clubbing, and the only reason I might see the sun come up would be because my children woke me up too early..nope, I think I need something a bit more positive in my life these days.

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Rating: - Third time lucky?...Er...no.
Avoid this one. Truly awful. What have Portishead been doing for the past x amount of years? Nothing much would seem to be the answer. It's tedious depressive stuff.

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Rating: - Sorry.
When I first played this, with eager anticipation, I thought I'd inadvertently slipped on Can's "Out of Reach" CD, as "Silence" may well have been a direct lift from it with the bass and guitar patterns. So, as a lover of Can, and Portishead, I didn't mind this wink in that direction. After that it just went downhill very rapidly. I have tried to find the mood to listen to it, wanted despreately to like it as much as the other albums. I saw them perform "Machine Gun" on Jools Holland, and think that live, this album will probably come to life, but pouring out of my speakers just seems dull and depressing. Maybe I'll have an epiphany or revelation, but I'm not on the road to Damascus, and life is too short to try to make myself like something for the sake of it. I'm disappointed with it and certainly wouldn't recommend it, and when compared to Beth Gibbons "solo" venture it is insipid and lifeless. Sorry, but I think this may well be their Swan Song.....

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Rating: - Unbelievable in either a good or a bad way!!!
First off I'm a fan. Portishead and Dummy albums, love them. Moody, dark, bassy, eerie, weird electronica. Perfect.

I wasn't waiting for the 3rd album but was keen to get my hands on it.

If I had been giving a new band a go and this was their first album I would have listened to it once and forgotten about it. But its Portishead!

Listening to it now for the 5th time only as it might just be like an amazing onion, peeling off the mediocre layers to hopefully reveal gem.

It must be good, a decade has passed. Its all layers I am looking into it like a project and I'm doing research.

I read a previous review and it said "you need to listen to this album a dozen times to fully get it" or something like that. I found this nonsense but whoever wrote that hit the nail straight on the head.

I'm still looking but I'm sure its there, it must be right?

The mystery is enough of a reason to try this album. If anyone is new to the Portishead then it would be a good idea to get the 1st and 2nd albums first.

Listening to it for the 6th time now.

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Rating: - Could be great
I havent heard anything from this album so far but I read an interview and they were saying how 'metal' bands like SunnO have been an influence and how hip-hop has become quite stale for them.
As far as I'm concerned this bodes well.I love doomy music and love bands like SunnO,Cathedral,Forest of Shadows,Void of Silence,Pantheist and of course classic Sabbath.Luckily I like Portisheads albums,Massive Attack,Tricky and stuff like Scorn and Techno Animal as well so the combination is an enticing one.
Forest of Shadows,a good doom band incorporated blatant Massive Attack inspired sounds and styles into their last album and it worked well,lets hope portishead do something similar.