III

BANKS - III
Critic Score
Based on 15 reviews
2019 Ratings: #564 / 805
User Score
Based on 499 ratings
2019 Rank: #604
Liked by 35 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

100
The Observer
The Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter’s third and most impressive album yet only lacks the helicopter hit that would lift her to a higher level of stardom.
100
Albumism

III is most definitely BANKS’ best album to date and one that everyone should own.

80
AllMusic

These creative bursts help Banks deliver her most accomplished statement to date, a collection brimming with emotion, attitude, and unexpected delights.

80
NME

‘iii’ is probably a couple of tracks too long, but Banks has created another supremely intriguing musical world filled with ear-snagging lyrics and quirky production flourishes.

80
The Line of Best Fit

III is the sound of an artist solidifying her already concrete career and becoming a musician ready to take over the world.

80
Rolling Stone

It’s a snow-globe of tainted love that makes the apocalyptic outside world seems near- manageable by comparison, a public service for that alone.

80
Clash
BANKS is ever-evolving and ‘III’ is definitely a progression for her as an artist. The more upbeat tracks are interspersed among softer, more delicate, heartfelt ones that represent the duality of her personality and also increase its replay value.
80
The Independent

III is Banks’s most cohesive album to date because she’s no longer restricting herself to exploring one feeling at a time.

70
Gigwise

It’s experimental, it’s treacherous and it shows BANKS’ musical progression. III doesn’t play by the rule book, it creates its own.

70
The Young Folks

Combining strong vocals, a pinch of venom, and a base of uncertain love, BANKS continues to explore the versatility of her voice. Through strong collaborations, her singing is amplified to showcase her voice in the best light.

65
Pitchfork

While the brooding pop singer can’t always shake the anodyne songwriting that plagued her past work, III is still Banks’ best album to date.

50
Slant Magazine

III does little to push either Banks’s own limits, much less the precedents set by her alt-pop contemporaries.

50
Loud and Quiet

Managing to be both half-baked and overdone, it’s an album that tries to do too much only to fail to deliver on its potential.

40
DIY

For the most part, it feels like Banks-by-numbers.

40
The Guardian

Her third album is a less-than-convincing attempt to lighten the old experimentalism in favour of chart-friendly ballads.

NotAndreNot
88

Banks did such a great job on this project. Great production and beautiful written lyrics.

marvelgaryen
90

With this brilliant record, Banks comes with a total different atmosphere, after 2 "dark pop" albuns, this time she comes with a glazing vibe, almost shining I must say. The pop production is dominant, almost like she step into the daylight and let it go (taylor swift reference), She feels more free I guess and the music reflects itself. I must say, probably one of the best pop albuns this year...

TheCarioca
73

Till Now - 4/5
Gimme - 4/5
Contaminated - 5/5 ❤
Stroke - 3/5
Godless - 4/5
Sawzall - 3/5
Look What You're Doing To Me (feat. Francis and the Lights) - 4/5
Hawaiian Mazes - 4/5
Alaska - 3/5
Propaganda - 3/5
The Fall - 3/5
If We Were Made Of Water - 4/5
What About Love - 4/5

Piecat4011
70

III is a fine album, there's some good tracks on here like the art-pop-esque 'Gimme' and the easy on the ears 'Sawzall', but the album is ultimately hindered by it's strange mixing. 'Stroke' is a perfect example of this. While I don't really mind the song, the heavy autotune and distortion effects are too much sometimes and don't sound good at all, the main issue present throughout the whole album. I did kinda enjoy this, but i feel like this is her weakest album that I've listened to (haven't ... read more

acidbb2
80

CLASSIC ALBUM

III by BANKS would be a near perfect experimental pop statement if it wasn't for the atrocious track "Propaganda."

WildWolf
90

Gimme and Contaminated are masterpieces of her works

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Track List

1Till Now
2:36
86
2Gimme
3:39
92
3Contaminated
4:40
88
4Stroke
3:26
85
5Godless
3:10
80
6Sawzall
3:39
77
7Look What You're Doing to Me
4:00
70
8Hawaiian Mazes
4:03
75
9Alaska
3:07
70
10Propaganda
4:05
80
11The Fall
2:56
83
12If We Were Made of Water
3:24
71
13What About Love
4:18
70
Total Length: 47 minutes

Year End Lists

#22/Albumism
#28/The Young Folks
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Added on: May 25, 2019