Portishead - Third Album Review

Third is the third studio album by English group Portishead, released on April 28, 2008 on Island Records .

It is their first release in 10 years, and their first studio album in 11 years. Equaling the performance of their first two studio albums in their native United Kingdom, Third entered the UK Album Chart at #2, and became the band’s first ever U.S. Top 10 album on the Billboard 200, reaching #7 in its entry week.

Coming a full ten years after their last album, the live document ‘PNYC’, this record sees them going back to the source, digging in the crates for weird and wonderful samples from prog rock, free jazz, techno, industrial and funk on which to work their twisted magic, as well as incorporating some of the folk influence that pervades front woman Beth Gibbons’ solo work.

Portishead - Third Track Listing

All songs written by Geoff Barrow, Beth Gibbons and Adrian Utley unless otherwise noted.

1. “Silence” – 4:59
2. “Hunter” – 3:57
3. “Nylon Smile” – 3:16
4. “The Rip” – 4:30
5. “Plastic” – 3:27
6. “We Carry On” – 6:27
7. “Deep Water” – 1:30
8. “Machine Gun” (Barrow/Gibbons) – 4:43
9. “Small” – 6:45
10. “Magic Doors” (Barrow/Gibbons/John Baggot) – 3:32
11. “Threads” – 5:47

The first single released from Third was “Machine Gun“, which made its radio and download debut on March 18, 2008.

Portishead - Third Album Amazon.co.uk Review

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

Portishead - Third Album Information

Released April 28, 2008
Recorded 2005–2007
Genre Trip hop, Electronic
Length 49:13
Label Island

source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_(Portishead_album) and amazon.com