Third

The lead singer reminds me of Kate Bush and this music seems to kind of be in that same vein. This isn't my kind of thing but some of it was somewhat listenable.

Saved Ian Danskin during the pandemic. Couldn't save me during a metro ride.

Nary a melody to be found. Horribly dissonant and boring.

Not a portishead fan. Unusually I like this type of music but this women just does not do anything for me.

Interesting, though almost wholly unpleasant. I did like "The Rip." This album could provide some solid ambiance in an unsettling scene in a movie, but personally I don't think I'd ever pop it on again.

11 years after their previously last album, Portishead released this, promising the next album wouldn't take that long. Over 17 years later and there's every chance Third could have also been correctly titled Last. It's quite the departure from their previous work. It's my least listened-to Portishead album, and with over 17 years between its release and me writing this review, I can finally say that the reason is simply that it is their least compelling album. It's Anxiety Attack - The Soundtrack. A huge, menacing, cold block of cold, hard steel that drags you in while always remaining impenetrable, keeping everything and everybody outside. If Stanley Kubrick hadn't already found the perfect soundtrack for the monolith in 2001... this album would be the perfect alternative. Geoff Barrow recently said that he's shocked by the notion that anybody would have sex to the first two Portishead albums in particular. I dare anybody to actually have sex to Third without being on some kind of Leaving Las Vegas-level mix of uppers, downers, antidepressants, and whatnot in their system.

Portishead had one or two cool songs in the 90’s and they were super unique but I’m afraid they’ve aged like milk. This is pretty terrible.

I can’t stand the whispering singing. I hate that. But the music itself is interesting, unique, and a bit strange.

I discovered through the 1001, that I’m not a Triphop guy, which is funny because I like psychedelic rock. It’s not that I didn’t necessarily like this album. I just had a hard time getting into it. The two songs I was able to grasp respond to were We Carry On and Deep Water. But I think my problem is most of these songs feel like they’re building to something and that never comes. It almost feels like it should be part of a movie soundtrack for a Studio A24 film where the door closes, the screen goes black while the music and the credits play. Give me an ending please. If I wanted a dead end answer and lack of emotion, I would ask my family what they want to dinner….

Started out ok, then just lost interest. The vocals were not great and the sounds just got very weird.

Lost interest

Really boring. Really felt like they were trying super hard to come across as tortured artists and it was just kinda wimpy and annoying. Didn't really enjoy anything here.

Too much experimental, not enough rock.

Radiohead Jr.

Any time I'm feeling too happy and satisfied, I feel this album will give me just the right amount of existential dread to snap me right out of it. According to the wiki writeup, after their second album one of the band members lost interest in music. It took over a decade for him to come back to make this. While this band is very talented and the album is well produced, I have a hard time thinking of this music as something I would ever be in the mood to listen to. It's a bit too depressing for me. Favorite song: Nylon Smile

Jura? 3 estrelas e é muito

Definitely not my thing. Lots of droning soundscapes.

I already liked the song "Threads," but listening to the whole album is overwhelming. After two songs, you just say: enough is enough!

I like her voice but cant hear much of what she's actually singing. Not a fan overall.

Don't get it

This was fun but also a bit stressful.

Vähän liian erikoismenoa itselleni. Jopa vähän jänniä soundeja. Ihan hienoa laulua, mutta siihen se sitten jää. Ihan jeppis kertakuuntelulla, mutta tuskin tulee tähän palattua enää koskaan.

Liked this a lot less than their other two albums. Not as melodic, vocals overall not as pleasing.

Had a few moments of enjoyment, but was overall an unpleasant listen. Music can be a lot of things, but melody and harmony are the bare minimum and this doesn’t have much of them.

Mid compared to others

Overall, pretty chill album, nothing too exciting, but also nothing too bad. I would say that it was alright having in the background while I was doing other stuff, but it's a bit too slow for more exciting activities.

I like this band, but this is awful.

I didn’t love this, but I didn’t hate it… Ultimately this album was not for me, as I would not listen again, would not recommend, and was ready for it to be over well before it actually was.

Snore

My first trip-hop, apparently! Love the songs that sound like the James Bond, Twin Peaks, and Stranger Things themes, the others, not so much. Curious about other bands in the genre.

I did not like this album. I really didn't find any part of this enjoyable. I didn't like the singing or the instrumentation

If someone were to come up to me and say "Hey James, you should really listen to this album before you die its soooo good." I'd prank them back by sending them 12 glitter bombs in the mail. I wish the full album had the vibe of 'The Rip', the synth melodies were super dope and layered on top of each other. The singers style worked well here and felt like it belonged. For most of the rest of the album I wished there were no vocals, she tanked it hard. At other times, the instrumentation wasnt doing anything pleasant either. Also, the one random ukulele song in the middle of the album?! Interesting choice, I would like to know the thought process around that one. 4/10

Some more slow, eerie songs from the head of the Portis. Not as strong as their debut, a little too soft. There was doo-wop on this album? I missed that track I guess. Top one that stood out was "The Rip" with the rest decent but didn't leave a lasting impression. I like this band but the records require a certain mood for play. 2.2 stars for their Third one.

I didn't quite connect with Third the way I did with Dummy. It has some cool segments and pretty wide range of tracks some of which I enjoyed. It's eerie and uncomfortable at times which I imagine they were going for but it was a little too all over the place for me to maintain any momentum. I get that Portishead likes to mix it up quite a bit, but Third almost seems to be experimental just for the sake of being experimental. They pushed the envelope a little too far. I put this is the same realm of auteur movie director who establishes their unique style, but after too many visits to the well they seem to be doing inane things just to show how out of the box they can be. This got too close to being up its own Portishead butt for me. 1.87 stars

Portsihead aren’t as whiny as Radiohead, but it’s a close run thing. I like Machine Gun, but can take or leave the rest.

This has some commonalities with music I like a lot by Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails, but not enough to make me like it.

2/5 - This is a really challenging listen. It gives me the same feeling as going to view modern art — I have no idea what’s happening other than occasionally noticing something cool; I know some people are way into it, and I’d rather just be doing something else with my time.

too much noise… makes me want a bumper sticker that reads: “i took too much acid at the Portishead show and now i think my car is a hamburger” or some shit like that. most boring album i’ve heard in a minute.

This album was SO. FUCKING. BORING! There was maybe… 2 songs that made me perk up and pay attention, but the rest had me falling asleep ON MY DOG WALK. BUT!, at least it wasn’t KISS’s 1998 suicide inducing studio album “Psycho Circus”. 😅

I didn't understand this one much. Odd mix of sounds and super dark. 3/10

This is really not my kind of music, is way too experimental for me.

Album 915 of 1089 Portishead - Third (2008) Rating : 1.5 / 5 It’s classified as electronica, but offers up more of a spooky vibe with its vocals and instrumentation. That said, it’s void of much melody, and for me it was another half-hearted listen in this genre. I’ll admit I’m getting a little tired of the steady diet of electronica, but it’s part of the project so I keep at it. I’ve heard worse in this style, I suppose, but this one still didn’t give me much to hold onto.

Portishead’s Third is like leftover seafood—edible at first, but the longer you stick with it, the sicker you get. By the end it’s less music, more food poisoning.

Boring record with annoying vocals.

Pretty mid

My enjoyment of each song on this album was inversely promotional to how moody and industrial it sounded.

det var någon låt som gjorde att betyget gick upp men i övrigt kass. konstig elektronisk mög

I found this incredibly unappealing. Not for me at all. Favorites: None Would I listen to it again: No

Was a solid 3 stars but it started getting really annoying!

I’ve tried to get into Portishead many times but never really manage to. This was probably my least favorite album of those I’ve heard. This record can be summed up in a few words: ”Moaning to sad ambience”. That’s kind of how this record feels. Even though ’Machine Gun’ had an almost trancelike beat to it, the rest is quite boring. No interesting melodies or things happening in the songs. Just the singer’s moaning to some mellow music. The record could probably have scraped together more points if it was completely instrumental.

I thought this was going to start out like the Virgin Suicides soundtrack, but then it took a different direction. It has slower paced songs with a beautiful voice but the production had a lot of clanky sounds. It made for some interesting faces when I was listening on my long drive thinking my car was falling apart. It may suit a certain introspective mood. Not for me and especially not while driving.

This was one of the more musically interesting albums I've gotten recently. It was more unique in style, composition, instrumentation, and arrangement than most of what I've been recommended on here. A lot of it just felt like noise, though. I found it to have some good parts, but otherwise it didn't really strike me as all that good. I wonder if I'd have a better grasp on this album if this list were more diverse. So many rock/pop albums come up on here, that it's a bit hard to separate them from something like this. The closest comparison I have from my recent listening in the Barry Adamson record a few weeks ago. I wouldn't call it a straight comparison, but it was a change-up similar to this one. I did like that album more than this, for what it's worth. I'm not sure what the main issue here was. It was interesting, but not in a way that required my attention. It was eclectic in a controlled manner, but not in a pleasant one. The vocals meshed well with the music, but not in a way that really made it better. It also felt like it ran long, even though it wasn't really all that lengthy. I felt relieved when it ended, which isn't a good sign. [Side note- I recently went to a show and the opener was a band called Dummy. Their sound kind of reminded me of this. Looking at the Wiki, Portishead's previous album was called Dummy. I'm guessing that wasn't a coincidence. Not sure which band I liked less, though I'm not inclined to listen to either again.] I'll give this credit for being different and changing things up in a refreshing way. I can't say a lot more that's positive about it, though. It had some good parts mixed in, but for me, the rest was only OK to bad. Overall: 2.3/5

I remember enjoying the album "Dummy." It was... for a better word, slinky. This I did not enjoy. I felt like the singer was trying too hard to be Kate Bush, and have even weirder stuff behind her. There have been times when I wonder why the author selected the albums that he did for this list. One Portishead album was great. You put two in there, and I am just left scratching my head. NEXT.

“We Carry On” was the only highlight for me and to be followed by “Deep Water” was such a disappointment.

Not a patch on Dummy. We Carry On is sublime, but the rest is pretty bland.

Does a reasonable job of generating a mood of doom 'n' gloom out of simple repeating patterns but nothing really rises to the level of a memorable hook. Vocal melodies seem practically interchangeable from song to song.

Mijn favoriet: Master of Puppets Niet helemaal mijn muziek. Orion was ook gewoon allen maar instrumenteel.

Kind of funky, experimental jazz. Would fit in well in an A23 film with a lot of cinematic shots and people looking sad. Gave the affect of brown noise, left my brain feeling very relaxed. Unfortunately, not really for me Best track: The Rip

Not a fan.

Not their best. Dragged a bit.

⭐️⭐️.5/5. Not my cup of tea, but at least this is experimental music I can LISTEN to. It’s still challenging and uncomfortable, but there is a rhythm to it, unlike some others on this list.

The record felt like an exploration I don’t think I’d go on again. It feels like a journey through bad sounds, but pretty cool lyrics.

Boring. I just don’t get the appeal of Portishead. They seem to have many fans! But I find them mopey and slow and I can’t distinguish any of their songs except the mopey and slow “nobody loves me” song. They have no hooks. It’s just dull sombersound all the way. Pass.

Boring as fuck. Who can listen to this slow crap?

Today I learned Trip Hop is a genre. Not my thing.

I thought I liked portishead so was looking forward to this album, especially because this challenge seems to be on a roll of sending me albums that have been painful to get through. This album was no exception. Turns out I may only like their first album! Fuck that noise - literally!

Not very good

This is such a boring album. Holy moly.

Kind of interesting 2.5-3

I have never heard of Portishead and upon listening I was not overly impressed. The music is okay but I’m not a huge electronic music fan. There are some bright spots but overall the album seems very dreary. I found a few songs I would listen to again but overall I don’t think I would listen to the full album ever again. Favorites are “Magic Doors” and “We Carry On”

Terrible, grating to my ears. Got 75% of the way through and I just can’t. Get this might be an unpopular opinion considering the play counts. Not for me.

I have always liked the instrumentals of Portishead but the half crying shaky voice singing of the lead has just ruined their music for me. Her voice comes close to nails on chalkboard and borders of infuriating to listen to. 4/10

Christ almighty. I actually know a person that likes and makes this type of garbage music. Maybe liking this is a reflection of extremely dulled senses from too much cocaine use, permitting only the most vile atrocities of the ear to strike the person's interest. Fuck me. 2/5, but only because it's not flat-earth level stupid. Fucking WHY?! jesus christ

< the Beatles Part of the Wikipedia about this album is that Geoff Barrow became uninterested in music... And I think that describes this album.

Yawn. Looking back over my history, I see that I didn't mind Dummy, but this one was like watching the grass grow.

wouldn’t go back to this unless i were a dj to remix something or someone in charge of choosing soundtracks for dark scenes in a movie

It's a two-fer: boring *and* tedious.

'Third' represents a significant departure from Portishead's earlier two releases. Although it retains some trip-hop elements, the band largely shifted towards a sound characterized by experimental electronic music. Beth Gibbons delivers strong and often ethereal vocals, accompanied by a few notable hooks and rhythms. However, much of the album is filled with jarring and distracting sounds, resulting in an overall dissonance that detracts from an enjoyable listening experience. Considering the 11-year gap between albums, it seems obvious that Portishead reunited with the intention of creating something new. While I appreciate the effort and artistic intent behind the album, it ultimately does not resonate with me on any level.

Turns out, I am not a Portiahead fan. Like, at all.

This was a disorienting, anxiety-inducing listen. Songs seem to cut off abruptly, instrumentals feel all over the place, and the singing is pretty creepy. Feels like this skewed more towards the experimental side of things. I don't know, I just couldn't get into this one. I won't give it a 1, but feels more like a 2.

Beats are interesting but I can't quite hear the lyrics.

Def very Portishead 😅 -- too whiny/droning for my tastes. One of the few more modern albums on this list encountered so far.

This was one of my first albums I listened to on this project and I very much disliked it.

"Let's take our electronic instruments, where the possibilities are endless, and make absolutely no interesting sounds at all" - the writers of half the albums in this book, apparently

This frequently reminded me of one side of St. Vincent (though very blatantly missing the guitar virtuosity I love in her music) and even the one song I know by Massive Attack. Unfortunately, this is the only side shown on this album, and it is hard to stay engaged with it through its 49 minute runtime.

Not my choice of music

I didn't hate it but it just never grabbed me. Just kinda was.

Production: 3.5/5 Lyricism: 2/5 Sound: 1/5 Enjoyment: 2/5 Overall: 2.1/5

weird

Listened less than 24 hours ago, can't remember a thing about it.

too electronic

point9.

Was close to giving this one star. It’s a right load of old shite

weird and spooky, great arrangements, but some vocal work that really rides the line between being weird and being annoying

I am disappointed. I enjoyed "Dummy" very much but that one is not fun at all.

Anxious music

Some interesting ideas here, but at times I couldn't help but feel like this was more a demo than a studio album. I think there's probably some treasure here if you've got the time to dig for it among the rubble, but unfortunately, I only had time for two playthroughs today, and that wasn't enough to uncover the goods. Regardless, I think the weak vocals and "misery chick" vibe bring it down; so, it's a 2 for me.

I loved the first 2 portishead albums. This one is poor by comparison.

I get what the vibe was, just was not my vibe

Not a fan of this one and I like Portishead. Meh

Nowhere near their earlier work Can’t quite say why but it’s strangely forgettable

I really like Dummy and was looking forward to this album but I was shocked at how little I liked it. Where Dummy was a great trip hop album, this felt... I dunno, not good. It felt like shoegaze meets industrial with trip-hop vocals. Which is maybe the description of trip-hop. but this album didn't feel like a cohesive whole. 2.5, rounding down to 2 because I was so disappointed in comparison to Dummy Machine Gun was a great example of this - the music and her vocals just didn't gel at all

I’m not sure how I feel about this album. It’s not uninteresting to listen to, but it’s also not very exciting. It kind of feels like a video game soundtrack.

Meh.

I am sad and confused (never liked these guys much).

There is some decent stuff here but it's mostly a bit boring for me.

I like some of Portishead's stuff, but this album isn't high on that list....

Don't know what their First and Second were but their Third was an odd hodgepodge that I failed to connect with.

30/01/25 Portishead don't do it for me. I found the album quite boring.

Can't be doing with much of this one I'm afraid. Liked Dummy quite a lot at the time but I'll probably never reach for this one. Bleak

MIDDLE OF THE ROAD

I really just don’t think this was a necessary addition. I think it was bleh and I was passively listening to it.

Tiene letras que parecen profundas y que seguro merezcan un análisis, pero vocalmente e instrumentalmente el álbum suena bastante monótono; tanto que, de a ratos, aburre.

I didn't hate it, and I liked Machine Gun most of the songs. However, I wouldn't listen to it again.

OK, let's start with the fact that I cannot stand Portishead. But this time I tried to really listen to the album to figure out what was it that kmahes it so off-putting -- because I don't like atonal stuff to much, I don't think this is atonal. It's not exactly pretty but there are definitely interesting sounds in here. So after really immersing myself for a full album, I realize my dislike is entirely about the vocalist. And the morr ethereal she gets, the more I hate it. Her consonants tick like a person chewing in my ear; her melodies are fine but her delivery is affected and pretentious and, to my ears, ugly. At times when she is louder or more forceful (while still hardly ever singing with any real force at all), I find her singing more tolerable but still the worst part of everything in listening to. And finally, at times when she's not singing at all, I actually really like this music. I dig the electronic soundscapes, but just cannot get owe how much I dislike listening to the woman's voice on top of it.

didn't enjoy that much

2- kinda cool creepy ideas but most the album falls flat. Favorite song The rip

1st song is a great driving groove of a tune, followed by many songs of aimless singing melodies and droning electronic noises and beats nowhere near the groove, energy, and coolness of first song.

This album is frustrating. There’s some decent music surrounded by the most annoying noise imaginable.

Bleak with no redeeming qualities. Portishead can produce great tracks, but this is just a dud in every sense.

1,5

The first portishead album is probably top albums of all time for me. This wouldn’t hit the top 1000

Люблю эмбиентные попукивания, но эти попукивания меня утомили.

When will the enjoyable music appear on this list?

Never really been a big portishead fan. Their music is always kind of depressing in my opinion (no offense Adam - please don't unfriend me)

I normally like moody music, but this one wasn't for me. They used some really annoying sounds on We Carry On, Machine Gun and Magic Doors for example.

I agree with the guy who said it's the sound track of their anxiety...

Blind album, know the artist by name. Kinda disappointed here. Had glimmers but this dragged on in my opinion. No clue what happened but maybe I'm just in a bad mood from my shitty job.

I respect the experimental sound, but I don't like it. It's fine, they had already a banger album, doing something different is the only logical step.

Não me pegou.. Mas acho que é o tipo de música que eu gosto. Confuso, mas futuramente eu deva dar uma chance novamente

eita que chatice. "machine gun" é a única música que eu vi uma tentativa interessante e se sobressai.

Never heard this album. But I did own Portishead's first album (which is better than this one). That album is also on this list. Not bad experimental music but didn't resonate enough with me to pull me in. Not sure Portishead needs to be on this list at all, much less with 2 albums.

Correcto. Raro

more annoying than cool

Interesting compositions but overall not my thing.

Portishead is wel oké, maar deze moest er voor mij niet in. Dummy is genoeg (geweldig album trouwens). Dit album kende ik niet en hoefde ik na het luisteren ook niet per se te kennen. Klinkt soms oké, maar vooral een beetje repetitief en heeft niet de dark Portishead sound die ik graag hoor. 'T is eerder een Bon Iver remix van Portishead. 2.3

Didn’t have the impact of Dummy. A lil bland for my ears

I didn't expect this to be such a tough listen. Dummy was one of my favorite trip-hop style albums and I went in expecting something similar. Instead, there's basically an anxiety attack in album form. Atonal synths, heavy beats, and just LOUD. Not at all a pleasant listen. Pass.

Definitely did not expect the opening of the album in portuguese! Cool vibes, but a bit too abstract for my taste. Wouldn't listen to this often, but can definitely appreciate that it's good!

4.5

Liked this album a lot less than Dummy, I don't gel as well with this one. Instruments clash in unpleasant ways sometimes, can be grating sometimes. Machine Gun was a very cool song.

Lots of beeps, and bops-a bit too many, actually. It was definitely a unique experience, but at the same time, not a very enjoyable experience. I certainly hope "Third" isn't ranked their first best album. Favorite Track: "Nylon Smile".

Way too experimental, I felt attacked by the machine gun. Great voice.

Some of the production was cool, but I could not STAND the vocals. Overall, the project felt pretentious as hell. This was my 100th album and it was a let down lol. 2/5

Not nearly as good as Dummy. Some decent at times atmospheric music, but in my opinion not worth the listen.

Tedious more often than not

Random ambient noises gave this one a strange sound.

Honestly portishead is hard for me, idk im just not a huge fan. Couldn’t get through it. I can see why people like them but it’s just not for me

Trippy... It's really cool and maybe there's a few tracks in here for me to pull for a few playlists but honestly a lotta the album blends together. I appreciate the haze it puts me in its almost on the same level as Glass Animals. If I smoked this would be the soundtrack.

"trip hop", steady beats with some melody over top, not very interesting

Moody, interesting, but too gloomy and too weird for my liking

decent 2/5

It was right on the cusp of something I thought was amazing but it pushed it too far

It’s just too much trip hop on this thing ok. There should be a compilation and that’s it.

blehhhhh

Not for me. Didn't get it.

First 2albums are killer. Not this one.

Same song 11 times in a row. Not terrible but not worth listening too.

Damn I almost died of boredom ! A meager hope came with the last three songs, but did not manage to wake me up fully.

- sounds like if Bjork and Billie Eilish had a baby - better than Bjork tho at least the beats are cooler - 2.5

- kind of boring to me - she has a nice voice and there are some good moments -2.5

If you are in crisis reach out for help. In the U.S. you can connect to the suicide and crisis hotline by texting or calling 988.

I have tried to get into this band but it is just not great for me.

Listened on: 2024/05/11 Track List: 1. Silence 2. Hunter 3. Nylon Smile * 4. The Rip * 5. Plastic 6. We Carry On 7. Deep Water 8. Machine Gun 9. Small 10. Magic Doors 11. Threads -- Very atmospheric and unique. I've never heard something like this before. -- Instrumental and vocals are great, putting me on edge.

Meh ...

We are Portishead! And we are here to make you think of death and stuff!

I want to like it, but it's just a tad too much experimental noise nonsense for my tastes.

Yeah no

I like some porterhead but this really isn't my cup of tea.

Strange

Too far out there.

Strange album. Switches genres regularly, which really catches you off guard. Just wish some of the songs were more interesting. 2.5/5 Probably won't listen again

What a terrible departure from their previous success. This just feels like arthouse garbage.

Disappointing departure from Dummy sound. 2/5

Not great. Dummy is better in every way.

Não

There were moments in which I thought, is this cool? And maybe it was true in those moments. Was it good as a whole? Absolutely not. I don’t get the vibe, some songs feel as if they were a draft and man did it draagggggg. I think like this slightly more than Dummy, but it still didn't do it for me.

Dziwne i słabe 2/5

Nope- I remember they had one song and were on SNL but this is post apocalyptic

Heard of the band but never the music. Wish it could’ve stayed that way. Band is named for the town in England that one of band is from…too bad it wasn’t the town of Shitterton. An album that gives and sounds like a headache. Where’s the aspirin?

Wanted to like it more than I did. I’m sure there’s a mood to be in to enjoy it but I wasn’t in that mood

Vraag me toch aardig af hoe dit gezien kan worden als invloedrijk, maar oké wie ben ik

Echt niet prettig om naar te luisteren, aardig vervelend stemgeluid van mevrouw en daarnaast toch ook wel wat rare tonen hier en daar

A lot of the songs aren’t just slow, are additionally stressful to listen to; there are parts/aspects of Nylon Smile and The Rip that I almost like

Not my thing but ooh, what a sweet design!!

I remember hating this in college so I was looking forward to setting aside my prejudices and giving it a fair shake all these years later. And what I found was that, all these years later, listening to this incredibly pretentious, up-its-butt album is STILL an annoying, frustrating experience from beginning to end.

Crisismuziek

The singing scares me a little.

I wanted to like this a lot better than I did. There are some cool synth textures but overall it's just not really my bag.

Kind of a slog to get through. Far from the worst thing I've heard from this list recently, but not great. Songs went on too long. I did enjoy "Deep Water," but that was about it.

Not really for me

Machine gunissa on hieno ja ikoninen tausta, tai niin on koko biisikin. Muuten levy jää yllättävän tasaiseksi hyminäksi ja musamatoksi, josta mikään muu ei nouse esille. Pitäisi tosissaan keskittyä nyansseihin, mutta mikään ei kutsu mua siihen.

Fine easy listening but prob won’t revisit

p922. 2008. 2.5 stars. Not their best work - see "Dummy" for that - and it lacks any standout tunes and descends into noise very quickly.

Never heard Portishead before. This is mellow, not really my jam with the airy singing. Has potential and similarities to other music I enjoy, but meh. 2*. Enjoyed: the rip (reminds me of Simulation Theory Muse) Did not enjoy: dissonance in we carry on, magic doers

Portishea's songs are moody and emotional, reminiscent of Kate Bush and Bjork. The first three songs on "Third" are rough and ... well ... boring. Some songs are well-constructed: listen to "The Rip" for when you feel that you have reached bottom, and "We Carry On" is another good choice. The rest are like the first three.

Aww like 2.5, some of this sounds amazing, some of it sounds like they duplicated 6 minutes worth of loops and forgot to edit it or finish the song.

I can't really get on with it. I'll echo what I've said about a load of previous albums we've had that fall in the electronica/experimental/weird genre, I find it hard to engage with unless there's a consistent drive and a power and a loudness to it, and this never gets to that point for me, although Machine Gun kind of teases it and is clearly my favourite track on the album for that reason. I can over look some of the weird shit on Silence, Plastic and We Carry on because it never becomes central to the music, just a curious experimentalism underpinning it all. I don't like Beth Gibbons' voice but I also don't hate it like some obnoxious vocals we've had, and there are a few times throughout this where if I metaphorically squint, I'm taken back to Origin Of Symmetry and Absolution and get vibes of songs like Endlessly or Ruled By Secrecy or Space Dementia, I think it's a mix of the haunting falsetto and the style of music reaching a crescendo that gets to that point, though I might just be chatting shit and have Muse on the brain right now. Anyway, I'll give it a 2 because it interested me enough to write this much but didn't make me like it enough to give it a 3.

Not my jam. There are occasions where you get a a bit enveloped and overwhelmed by the sound, which is interesting, but really it doesn't do that enough or offer much of anything else beside that. It's often jarring (particularly combining the harshness of some of the synthy stuff with the floatiness of her voice), but not in a way that gives it a particular direction. 2/5.

Overall this album made me feel kinda anxious when listening to it, which feels like it might be the point. But I was not a huge fan. I did like Deep Waters though!

Awful, sounded like tom cats howling in an alley. Could not listen after 2nd song.

I like dance electronica, but not this electronica. I can see the artistry, but it does nothing for me. I like Beth Gibbons voice, and I don't regret listening to the whole album, but I'm not revisiting it later.

Huge miss. Was excited to see Portishead but then I realized I didn't recognize the album at all. Come to learn it's an album recorded 11yrs after their heyday. "Third moved away from the trip hop style they had popularised, incorporating influences such as krautrock, surf rock, doo wop and the film soundtracks of John Carpenter." So they're literally junked what they did well and ventured I to genres that are unlistenable. The result is a drab boring gut punch

Anyone waiting on this was sure to have been disappointed, no? Certainly it has its moments and casts a spell at times but then yields it with odd choices; "Silence," the opener grows into an engaging groove which is then cut off with a rather jarring truncated close, an annoyance repeated on another song or two. The stop-start contrast of sounds on "Hunter" is also off-putting – works, then doesn't; works, then doesn't. Similarly, "The Rip" is exactly one-half (unnecessairly sloooow and tortuous and ultimately dull) build-up and one-half close-to-compelling hook which is given up too soon –– huh? why, exactly? – when it shoulda been the guts of the whole song. Beth G can do drama for sure but the constant shifts undo the tension (see "Plastic" with yet another cool effect wasted by being chopped and chopped, then chopped again). "We Carry On" seems as if it wants to rock PJ Harvey-ly and offers a soary/haunting hook a la Radiohead but they that too is dropped or minimized for a not altogether uninteresting little skiffle bit that could go poppy but nether angle holds, really and the song breaks down as a result. Then a warbly ukulele lullaby, making no sense at all, by some a industrial-y dental appointment of a song "Machine Gun." "Small" also tries to be too many songs at once and cuts off abruptly. On the whole, P'head seem determine to have listeners lose the plot or make themselves hard to follow, which they just don't merit. One doesn't mind the darkness and droning – in fact, one is naturally drawn to such and very much wants to like this record and hear them give in fully to droning in one direction or another – there's really power here, but the shifting and reversals compromise the drive and undo the engaging moments. The record falls far short of the high-impact, high-art effect it clearly seeks. Listen to the final tones – they seem to thiink they've just put you through a NIN-like spectacle or told a story like The Wall or some grand operatic statement, which ... well, they seem to have been watching a different movie. Rounding down because it coulda/shoulda been better.

Experimental and not so great

Not the vibe.

Lænede sig lidt for meget i retning af elektronisk støj for min smag.

I believe this is the third Portishead album we’ve had on his list. Which is just effing ridiculous. Especially considering how many artists get one random throw away selection but otherwise ignore it. This is just boring

The singer's voice is even more grating than the music.

Meh.

I have always felt like I should like Portishead but I just don’t. I like this album even less than their previous ones. I even listened to it driving through countryside at 5 a.m. after dropping my son at the airport which should be perfect Portishead vibes. Still nope, sorry Portishead. Listens: 2 Fave Track: Silence (the irony haha) Rating: 2

I love electronic but this just felt spooky and off key. Got redundant for me

Not my cup of tea.

I couldn't make it through this album twice. I like weird music and this didn't do much for me.

It's Portishead. Good stuff if you like it. Boring and weird if you don't. I kinda don't.

The album starts really good, the end is weaker, a good time overall, nothing blew my mind.

Wow, I didn't even know this existed. I liked their first one and loved their second one and double loved their live album (which isn't streaming for some reason I guess?) But yeah - this doesn't cast quite the same spell as earlier albums. Seems like the ingredients are there - those haunting vocals, layered samples, etc. But I wouldn't be surprised to learn that a Portishead member left before this one was recorded. There's just something missing here. And then I just read the rundown and, yeah, I guess that sort of thing did happen. Is that why this leaves me a little cold? Maybe. May be.

This girls a creep!! Creepy and weird. This one’s too abstract for me, it’s all too loose to the point like yes I’ll call it music cause that’s what it is and what it’s intended to be but I think a lot of people wouldn’t find this aligns with their definition(I’m making up the they). Feels like laying on your back in a quiet, spinning room with a wicked hangover.

didn't really enjoy it but i did finish listening

I can imagine it being better in a different mood.

Not really my style

Agobiante y opresivo.

I do not understand why this album is on this list. The last Portishead album was barely tolerable. The same is true for this one. It is not really a two but I will round up.

Ah, Portis Head (or porta-shed according to every dbag fan of theirs I've ever met). I actually like her voice and the songs are interesting enough. Still, the music all just sounds like you're playing the boss level of the lamest NES game that was ever made.

OK, too weird for me .. 3 stars

Wikipedia gives the music genre as experimental rock / electronica / psychedelic rock; I would call it depressing pretentious rock suitable for use as the soundtrack of a bleak sci-fi movie set in some dystopian future. Although I quite liked "We Carry On" which reminded me a bit of Joy Division.

Ok music but it didn't hold my interest

It's the album that killed off Portishead and took forever to make. To be honest it's experimental and not much works

cool, but did not like the detuned kind of sound that literally everything had.

No thanks.

didnt really like how industrial it is at all, really liked her voice tho which saves the album from a 1/5

As a child of the early 90s, at first I was really excited to finally listen to Portishead. For some reason I've really never listened to them, even after knowing their early work was lauded as important and great trip-hop. Unfortunately my expectations didn't really align with what I heard. If this is great trip-hop, then I really don't understand trip-hop. It just seems incredibly uninspired and tedious to me, and I can't get past the dissonant vocals. That being said, I did kind of enjoy "Magic Doors." So I've got that going for me. Which is nice.

I know this album is supposed to be good. I remember all the music critics falling over themselves for this. Wasn’t for me.

Dark and weird. Interesting and creative. Repetitive sounds that reminded me of the banging of an MRI during different sequences, with the patient singing along while on valium. EERIE.

I’ve definitely come across the name Portishead before, but I don’t think I’ve ever actually heard any of the music. My understanding is that it’s pretty trippy - meaning, from experience, I’ll either love it ir hate it. Let’s listen and find out. Songs I already knew: none Favourites: Machine Gun For the most part, I found this album very uninteresting. It’s pretty lo-fi, generally sounding like some mechanical banging with a lady caterwauling over the top of it. There were a few songs that seemed to click better for me (in the first 20 seconds it so of Machine Gun I hated it, but despite being a pretty repetitive song I did end up liking it by the end). Overall, I think this is an album that some people will love, and other people won’t really see the appeal at all.

I aåpr

Self-absorbed hipster-trash. 1.5/5

Don't love. 2.5 stars

Trippy trip... I can hear some sounds from past generations, but it just ain't my taste...

I was excited when I saw today's album was Portishead, but this was disappointing. I prefer their stuff from the '90s.

Ughhhhhh not for me thanks. So slow, didn’t have pop.

All of the tracks seemed to blend into the background. Didn’t really engage or connect in any way.

One good tune, the rest is pretty oblique. Their first record is fantastic and this is technically excellent, but just really cold.

Dummy is better

Fuckin weird….

Not really much for me. Can understand how it would appeal to others.

Sonically it sounds good however song structure is random, never quite ambient never quite in your face.

So hard to listen to.

This was interesting, also weird

Not a fan

Not my cup of tea at all.

If I listened to this album on repeat for a few times, I might enjoy it, but as it is every track sounds the same and nothing really stands out to me. 2/5.

Didn’t feel any reason to care about this album. 4/10

Not my thing

Played this one on the background while I was working. Did not really pay attention to the music. Feels a bit unfair but I will give 2 stars. Sorry, Portishead.

Meh

My last album was Fever Ray and I liked it. So why don't I like this? /shrug Who knows why one thing is cool and another thing is boring. Both boring and stressful, actually. Not a fan.

Dit is zo'n plaat waarvan ik eigenlijk weinig vind...

The singer is good but didn’t like the music.

Nie wiem czy jest sens sluchac bez opisywania, a przynajmniej do konca tygodnia jeszcze bez palca

Interesting, but I wouldn't say I liked it too much. But it had some memorable songs and tunes. I do think it would deserve a re-listen but I don't think I am ever depressed enough to get into this.

Kind of hated it

Ah man I love Portishead so much and there were some brilliant moments throughout this album but my overall experience was not gooood. I guess I prefer their less heavy songs and more chill vibes kind of tracks that they have. Majority of this album was a bit too depressing for a bit of an already low day so I can't rate this very high for this album. Doesn't contain any of my favourite Portishead tracks either. Boo.

Well I found this very boring indeed. I don't really know Portishead well but I thought I was going to like it. Found it pretentious with no substance. Little variation musically.

I probably listened to more new music in the late 2000s than any other period of my life. So, the fact that I had no idea Portishead released a new album in 2008 I think speaks to its lack of popularity. This is a wholly unremarkable album. Lots of mundane background effects with Bjork-esque vocals layered on top. The only song that seems to break this mold is Deep Water and that song might be the worst of the bunch. Don't get me wrong, there are some cool moments here, such as the ending of "The Rip" and "Machine Gun" but no song feels like it wants to do more than "hey, that's a cool effect, let's repeat it." I feel like the only reason this is critically acclaimed is because they put out a great album in the 90s and critics were impressed they could mount something of a comeback.

Not my usual listening style. I liked some of it, but I was ready for it to end overall. Not sure I understood what I was hearing.

Lulls you to sleep. Wakes you up with a sudden beat change. Rinse and repeat. Lots of Dust Brothers vibes. "Machine Gun" the only standout.

I now know I don’t like trip hop.

i feel nothing about this.

Not to my taste, not like anything I’ve heard before. Very experimental, can see why it appeals to some, like those with absolutely no taste in music 😁

Atmospheric, creepy, discordant. Sounds like an album of soundtrack pieces from "Killing Eve" or "Handmaid's Tale".

Not really a fan.

Too many weird noises , some bits were ok though

Anxiety.mp3

Pretty challenging listen. I don't think the waily/siren singing here works for me. The Rip and Machine Gun are the most approachable sonically, but most of the other tracks feel experimental.

Haunting, ethereal, dark? Yes. Interesting? I'm not so sure. I felt myself waiting for this album to end. A few nice beats but the vocals just became grating in the end, I had no interest in what Beth Gibbons was singing about in the end, I just wanted her to stop.

Interesting sound. Very powerful. I'd like to keep hearing this one so I can get to know it better. For now it is a strong 2.5 /5.

Listened to on 5/3/22 2/5 Favorite song: deep water This album is dark and if it was a person I would be concerned for their mental health - the machine gun song was fun and chaotic

The two songs with ukulele were the only almost half-decent songs. The rest was just atrocious.

You know, this sounds like something I would like, but they lost me by about 6 songs in. I had several issues with the creative choices taken here, ended up just not enjoying the trip

Pointless inclusion to the list. I found the group to lack identity and the sounds were not cohesive as a whole. I did not enjoy listening to this.

Yet another electronic atrocity. Weird, bad sounding background noise, lyrics that are just there to have them because for anything else they're not good enough....

Yeah nah. Playing some minor chords on the keyboard than waffling some airy fairy twaddle over the top does not music make.

I was counting the minutes on this one...

I didn't hate it at all, but since I gotta compare it to all the other albums on this list, it falls into the 2 category for me Had some cool vibes at times, I liked the darkness of it Parts to remember: the 2nd half of The Rip, the guitar hook in We Carry On Machine Gun was very reminiscent of NIN

dos

Big fan of the first 2 portishead albums, and the live album..... Dummy is probably my favourite album of all time. but this effort represented the point that Portishead disappeared up their own behinds. I was so excited to listen to it on the run up to its release.....and then.....disappointment. Listening back to it now, it's not as dire as I remember it..... but it's still an act of sabotage on everything that made Portishead so wonderful

This mostly didn't offend my ears, but is so, so, unrelentingly boring. Even the fog horn sound at the end of the album goes on, and on, and on. Please just finish so I can get on with my life. It annoyed me. 1.5/5.

This band could be pretty cool if they didn't have a Björk wannabe standing at the front. Best track: The Rip

I'm home from work with a massive headache and I get this? This is the last album i want to hear right now. The music is interesting but her whining is making me want to blow my eyebrows off. Hope to a non existing god this is the last we here from her.

Wouldn’t entirely classify this as an electronic album. Felt more alternative. However it has a unique style with the female singing and the various instrumentals and beats. It’s not really my style but it’s interesting at least. 3.7/10

I had forgotten that this came 11 years after their second album, 14 after their debut. It was proclaimed a "reinvention" of the band's sound, and it really is apart from the very familiar Beth Gibbons vocals. It has a harshness to it throughout that I unfortunately found grating. Sharp mechanical beats, abrupt transitions, and dissonant instrumental crescendos all contribute to a strange suspense film vibe. Overall I probably won't revisit even though they get full credit for not phoning in another Dummy after so many years.

Reminds me a lot of In Rainbows. I don't like In Rainbows

Dark, brooding, depressing....what am I missing?

I kind of like the experimental feel about it, but at some point it gets a bit annoying.

Strange and wide mix of songs, but unfortunately I didn't really like it (notable exception being The Rip).

Sorry, but I just can't stand Beth's vocal style.

I genuinely thought I'd really like this album.... I didn't

This ain’t it. Do not want.