Portishead - Third
Critic Score
Based on 33 reviews
2008 Ratings: #6 / 806
Year End Rank: #1
User Score
2008 Rank: #9All Time: #382
Liked by 351 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

100
Paste
Third is far and away the best, most punk thing in the Portishead catalog: a deeply transgressive album that bears a passing similarity to its predecessors but leaves most of the baggage behind in favor of a full-blown reset.
100
The Skinny
Third is the most frightening record you'll hear all year, infused with dread and danger at every other turn.
100
Resident Advisor
Reviewers tend to use the commonplace expression “life affirming” here and there without really weighing their words, but in this case, I can’t think of a more telling and appropriate cliché to describe such a truly genuine work of art.
100
The Guardian

Portishead's third album is initially more a record to admire than to love, its muscular synthesisers, drum breaks and abrupt endings keeping the tension high. But after several listens, Third's majesty unfurls.

100
Uncut
This could have been a witty, self-deprecating disclaimer, warning of typical third album creative bankruptcy. Instead it provides fair warning that Third is the most stunning, stark and superb Portishead album yet.
91
A.V. Club

Barrow and Utley provide deep spaces for Gibbons' raw emotions to sink into, and nearly every track provides some little sonic goodie midway through as a reward for continued attention after all these years. For once, it's worth the effort.

90
PopMatters

Third is a complete work of art to fully immerse yourself in, listened to start to finish. It will be a little awkward initially ... After a while, it will become a part of you. History will eventually see it rank on par with the rest of their legendary works.

90
AllMusic

Experimental rock is often derided as being cerebral -- and this is surely enjoyable on that level, for as many times as Third can be heard it offers no answers, only questions, questions that grow more fascinating each time they're asked -- but what sets Portishead apart is that they make thrillingly human music.

90
NME
That ‘Third’ exists at all is impressive. That it’s Portishead’s best album yet is little short of miraculous.
90
SPIN
As punk’s dumbing down has proven, anyone can make abrasive music, but few can do something new and compelling with apocalyptic heaviness. That Portishead manage to do both 14 years into their recorded career is an unexpected triumph over the darkest clouds that have shaped their art and soul.
90
Slant Magazine

The decidedly more guitar-driven Third is their most experimental album to date.

90
XLR8R

The painful longing in her voice emerges from the silent spaces of “Plastic,” and the downright beauty of “The Rip,” an acoustic gem that explodes with an airy beat, reaffirms this band’s uncompromising devotion to the craft that brought them together.

90
Under the Radar

Third concludes with a string of stunners that feature sawing cello, improvisatory bursts of horns, and the most cathartic vocal performance Gibbons has ever set to tape, respectively.

90
The Line of Best Fit

As you can probably tell, it’s not the easiest listen and Third takes more than a cursory number of plays before it weaves its magic and works its way into your skull.

88
Pitchfork

Darker and bleaker lyrically than their previous work, Third is a sort of re-debut-- the band's sound after it has excised every possible remnant of trip-hop from it.

85
Prefix

Behind these minor tones and detached themes, Third emits a knowing and quiet confidence that communicates the band’s strongly held ideas, especially that of existential ennui.

83
Entertainment Weekly

Third is indeed a less immediately accessible effort than Portishead’s more groove-oriented earlier work, but it’s no less gorgeous.

83
Consequence of Sound

Third works in every way most third albums never can attempt, by retaining the old, embracing the new, and remarking on the present. There’s still some dust here, but it tastes sweet.

80
Mojo

Third shows Portishead in the tradition of, say, Fairpoint Convention as much as Massive Attack, and though it might not convert sceptics it is convincing, and occasionally thrilling, demonstration that the wilderness can be a great place to cook up new ideas.

80
Gigwise
Another outstanding album, let’s just hope it’s not 11 years until the next one.
80
Record Collector
Portishead are refreshing in that they continually make things difficult for themselves rather than re-treading and revisiting. God knows how any of this is going to sound live, but as a shiny silver disc turned up really loud, it satisfies to the nth degree.
80
Alternative Press
Listening to Portishead has always been like floating through a waking dream, but now the sleek edges have atrophied into a dusty chaos, and it's all the more beautiful and perfect for the change.
80
Sputnikmusic

At heart, Third is an album full of contradictions. It's obviously indebted to the '60s, but it still sounds futuristic; it could easily be the work of an entirely different band, yet it still sounds like Portishead; it's home to both their heaviest and most fragile songs yet.

80
musicOMH

This is a record substantially more alive than its eponymous predecessor. Portishead still sound like no-one else, but more importantly they aren’t just sounding like themselves, either: this is an album that occupies its own space, untethered to any of the musical trapping and quagmires of genre that snare so many other artists.

80
Drowned in Sound

Both ancient and futuristic, a mildewed signal from a more advanced culture that failed to survive the ice age, Third doesn’t make you pay attention to its desolate contours, but rather stare out of the window, creeping panic causing your mind to dart in a million dark directions at once.

70
Rolling Stone

Nobody ever listened to Portishead for their sparkling personalities or musical variety. What they're brilliant at is obsessively textured studio dread, and Third is an unexpected yet totally impressive return.

70
Tiny Mix Tapes

Third exists to be listened to, ironically, in places like coffee-shops; the difference between this and past work is that this record might make casual listeners frown over their coffees. Again, that’s probably Portishead’s intent, and taken as such, Third is a carefully rewarding record with enough inspired turns to entertain throughout.

60
NOW Magazine

Even though not every twisted move they make on Third pays dividends, considering the stakes, consciously fucking with their formula is a bold gamble for which they should be saluted.

60
Q Magazine
Third will probably be more admired than listened to and, you suspect, this suits Barrow, just fine.
50
God Is in the TV
A pretty average, tired sounding album, which frustratingly appears to be more about delivery and actually taking the time to finish it properly than lack of talent or ideas.
barcooper
96

Portishead's bleakest masterpiece.

Let me start this review by saying that this is undoubtedly my favorite Portishead album. As much as I love Dummy, their most highly praised work in their short yet consistent discography, Third takes their dark subject matters to an extreme while presenting a completely new sound-palette, and a mind bending production style.

So, this is the Third and final project from the iconic trip hop/electronic group, released in 2008, nine long years after their self ... read more

Geem
85

me track 1-7: "What a nice little album. Really calms me down."

me when Machine Gun: "AAAA AAAAA AAAAAA"

Doofy
90

"So Portishead are coming back after a near ten year hiatus? I'm sure they've mellowed over the years, maybe we'll get 'Dummy' version 2".

Cue the intro to 'Machine Gun'.

Maybe not.

BMS
100

Favourite record for emotional stimuli

Sleepless
97

"the eeriest album ever made"

This is without question one of the most harrowing listens I've had to any piece of music. Portishead's output has always been saturated in eerie melancholy, like it's being broadcasted from a record player covered in cobwebs in the center of some decrepit lounge. But this...this album is something on an entirely different level. The plucked twangy tones of the guitars, the chirping alarm style synths, the erratic percussion, the blaring bass, every ... read more

whenthehissing
91

dummy is better but still good return

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Track List

1Silence
4:59
92
2Hunter
3:57
89
3Nylon Smile
3:16
86
4The Rip
4:30
96
5Plastic
3:27
90
6We Carry On
6:27
92
7Deep Water
1:30
82
8Machine Gun
4:43
93
9Small
6:45
88
10Magic Doors
3:31
90
11Threads
5:47
92
Total Length: 48 minutes
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