Comments on: Portishead “Third” Review

By: Ginger

Ginger — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 20:28:14 +0000

Way back when I listened to “Dummy” a lot, and loved it. But I wasn’t a “Portishead fan,” just liked that album, but haven’t played it in a while. Now I just picked up “Third” on a whim (at the library!) AND ABSOLUTELY love it. It’s somehow more aggressive than Dummy (which for me would normally speak against it), but the tunes and sounds are simply mesmerizing.

By: Allan Marsden

Allan Marsden — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 00:11:57 +0000

Liked Dummy and Portishead, but never fetishised them. Barely noticed Portishead were gone until I came across this album, so no great expectations one way or the other. Now I play Third, or parts of it, most days, and am hypnotised by it. Particularly “Small” and “Threads”. In part, that’s probably because I’ve always liked depressing music and, in the case of “Small”, three beats to the bar. There are harshnesses and things which, frankly, don’t work on the album, but I don’t care, because the bits that do work are good enough to make the whole very worthwhile indeed. For me.

By: Justine Electra

Justine Electra — Mon, 31 May 2010 14:20:38 +0000

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS ALBUM. FUCKING AMAZING!

By: Ron

Ron — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 02:25:46 +0000

The discordant and sometimes jarring moments on this CD exquisitely mirror these times we’re living in. Portishead was always very socially conscious (Glory Box, Cowboys, Western Eyes) though in a very subtle, intelligent way. Machine Gun is a very political song with an odd sort of upbeat message amongst all the machine gun fire. It’s an uncomfortable song because, hello, war and violence are things that should make us uncomfortable. Music isn’t all about getting that warm, fuzzy feeling. It can and does delve into self examination and observing closely our own emotions and desires. That’s what Portishead is about, and that’s what they’ve done brilliantly here ‘Third’.

By: B9

B9 — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 21:29:19 +0000

I’m way late to this party, but I’ve had this album since about a week after it was released; and now for a story…

I was going through my music collection today and came across an album cover I didn’t recognize. After looking over it for a moment I realized that this was the latest Portishead album. “Where did this come from?”….oh right…I bought it how long ago? Portishead is decent, so why haven’t I been listening to this?
To answer all my questions, I opened the case to see the receipt sitting on the cd. I tucked it behind the booklet and popped the album in my stereo for a long overdue (or so I thought) listen.
Now I must say that I’ve always been a fan of trip hop, with Portishead and Massive Attack sitting on top of my choice playlists. But after listening to this third outing, I know why Massive Attack has always garnered more playtime.
I agreed with many of the comments before mine in that less isn’t always more. Sure the album has some nice moments, but wow is it ever dull. I’m not going to apologize for disliking this album. Ain’t going to happen. Why? Because the ‘Port is Dead’ (say it fast)…. Stick it out with their 90′s material.

By: Rich

Rich — Thu, 28 May 2009 11:28:26 +0000

It is incompetent in so many ways to throw the comparison of Chinese Democracy around so liberally… mainly because Portishead started working on this albums material in or around 2005-6, didn’t expect it to shatter the face of music as drastically like the next British invasion or UFO, never recalled it, and didn’t get plastic surgeries to accompany the comeback!! I feel like writing three pages about the b.s. in this review, but when scrolling, everyone disagrees with this author that has said all the predictable counterparts to anything positive that came out of this disc. All of them, stereotypical at best; many to most could have been thought of without even giving the disc a listen! i.e. the assumptions I myself had before doing so…

By: Chris DeLine

Chris DeLine — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 21:37:06 +0000

Tossed it in the jam-box a few weeks back and it stands up, can’t say that I feel any different about it now than I did then. Still a solid album from start to finish.

By: jdtart

jdtart — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 20:07:17 +0000

As with several others on here, I was anticipating this new album… got it, listened to it, HATED it. Was SO upset. Then, I let it play through one [late] night, and suddenly, it was awesome. Now, it spins once a day. I am so glad I didn’t toss it on first listen.

By: kudzu

kudzu — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 21:25:09 +0000

it has the same portishead feel to me and i think its pretty much okay.

By: james

james — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 18:19:49 +0000

Changing style is one thing. Departing from everything that makes your music interesting is another. I loved Portishead’s earlier work. I really do not find Third interesting at all. Whereas previously the music had a lot of range and dynamics, this is really quite monotonous isn’t it? Where is Beth’s range? She is constantly in her “small” voice, never growls and no sass. The music just loops. Every time the music seems to be building energy reminiscent of the emotional crescendos of the prev 2 albums, everything fizzles out before exhaling any real emotion. At best, it teases. But not very well. Once I found it went nowhere, I lost all interest. Honestly, it sounded like the band was disinterested and simply fulfilling a contract.