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Third | 
| Artist: Portishead
Label: Universal
Category: Music
List Price: £16.99
Buy New: £6.97
You Save: £10.02 (59%)
New (30) Used (4) from £5.99
Rating:  74 reviews
Sales Rank: 47
Media: Audio CD
Running Time: 49
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.4 x 4.9 x 0.4
UPC: 602517640139
EAN: 0602517640139
ASIN: B0014C2BL4
Release Date: April 28, 2008
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Tracks:
| • | Silence | | • | Hunter | | • | Nylon Smile | | • | The Rip | | • | Plastic | | • | We Carry On | | • | Deep Water | | • | Machine Gun | | • | Small | | • | Magic Doors | | • | Threads |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review
Portishead's Third has been a long time coming, the result of a lengthy creative topor following 1997's dark, distinctly underrated album Portishead. Importantly, though, they've shaken it. While the core trio of Beth Gibbons, Geoff Barrow, and Adrian Utley remains, this is quite a different band to Portishead's 90s incarnation: gone is the slo-mo turntable scratching and smoky jazz feel, replaced by heavy, brooding rhythms, vintage-sounding electronics, and spindly guitar. Still present, though, is that sense of emotional fracture and deep gloom. "Silence" opens with a dense drum loop which suddenly falls away to reveal Gibbons' voice, cold but magnificent: "Wounded and afraid, inside my head/Falling through changes". "Nylon Smile", meanwhile, is a fine example of Third's occasional folksy edge, an acoustic song reminiscent of Leonard Cohen that, around its midpoint, lifts off on a propulsive electronic rhythm, Gibbons holding one clear, hard note as synthesisers bubble beneath. At times, it's a harsh and foreboding listen: the electronic drums of "Machine Gun" might put off the listener hoping for smooth dinner party fare. But Third is a brave and forward-thinking return, and one great enough to justify its lengthy gestation. --Louis Pattison
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| Customer Reviews: Read 69 more reviews...
 Awful Awful Awful. August 26, 2008
As you might guess from the title, I don't like this one bit. Loved their first two albums, and the live in New York CD, and have been waiting for this third album for years. But it is awful to the point where I can't listen to it. It's like Eric Morecambe said - all the notes are there, but not necessarily in the right order. It gives me a headache every time I turn it on. What were you thinking Beth? Look out my copy on Amazon Marketplace! Erm, it's brilliant, you must buy it...
 The gap between releases shows.... August 25, 2008
We all know and love 'Dummy' and even quite liked the difficult second self-titled album but then we had to wait a long time for the 'Third' to show up - and I think that's it's problem.
Any good band should progress over time and change their sound and Portishead have obviously done so in the years they have been away. Trouble is, we were all expecting something Dummy-esque from Third but having missed out on the evolution got an album which is pretty far from it.
Some of the tracks are very hard to listen to (Machine Gun being the worst), others are fairly non-offensive yet ordinary and one or two are real gems and I wish they lasted a bit longer.
I think that if I had heard the evolution from 'Portishead' to 'Third' I'd be more forgiving but this is so different (and hence I am so disappointed by it) that I can only give it 2 stars and hope that the next album is not quite so far away, either in time or sound.
 Not exactly easy listening August 22, 2008
Strange, bleak, dark and slightly unsettling. Haunting vocals as per usual, but none of the commercial friendly drum and bass beats of the earlier Dummy album. More noise - it made me question whether my stereo was faulty (it wasn't!). The last couple of tracks turning to rock. Some folk rock sounding stuff, with others (Machine Gun) sounding like it's come straight from one of the early Terminator films.
Not worth the wait August 19, 2008
Fine, Dummy was so cutting edge that it sounded horribly dated horribly quickly. But it was wonderful. This isn't. It's harsher, more electronic. Not necessarily a problem in itself. Only they forgot to write any songs. They've gone all Radiohead - I imagine they felt they were too popular so decided to disappear up their own back passage to show how muso and serious they are. Disappointing.
Not so good August 13, 2008
I've been waiting some time for their third album to come out, I seem to remember their website said they were recording and it would be out soon - this was in the late 90s. Anyway after a longer wait eventually there it was. First listen - hmm, give it another go - is it a grower? Not so sure. After a bit of a break and a "third" listen I, unfortunately, have to say it's not a good album. There is virtually nothing here that makes me want to listen again. Fellow Bristolian Tricky has also released an album this year and while he's developed different styles throughout his career I feel his music has always stayed fresh. Portishead on the other hand appear to have tried to do something different, challenging and artistic here but there is no soul, message or feeling in it so most of the songs come across as w..k pretending to be art. Which they undoubtedly are.
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