Portishead’s first album in over 10 years is a very big deal as far as i’m concerned, and the first thought that ran through my head as I first listened to Third was “man, this doesn’t sound too good.” It kills me to even think of something so terrible like that, but it just wasn’t clicking with me at all while I was listening to it at work. Maybe it’s just high expectations or bitter cynicism, I really don’t know. That being said, Beth Gibbons still sounds fantastic after all these years and i’m willing to give this record every possible chance, because I want to love this album so badly. Maybe I need to listen to the first two albums again for a nice refresher and/or punch in the face.
Back to the subject at hand, the video for the first single off Third was premiered last night on the group’s website. Of course, it’s on YouTube now, so you can check it out for yourself. The album isn’t set to drop until April 28th, but to those who have heard it already – what do you think?
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where the hell is the beat? is he hitting a drum pad with three effects programmed into it? what did portishead go back in time to film this and therefore not be able to use modern beat making technology? this must be some sort of ruse. i waited a long damn time for this…
i felt the same on first listen. it’s definitely different, but after quite a few listens, it’s growing on me. i really like the second track (“Hunter”), and the few that follow thusly. “Machine Gun” is not my favorite, but it has it’s place. I guarantee with a few listens, you’ll be diggin’ it.
Yeah, it sounds like someone put NIN’s “Closer” into a blender and added some slightly off-tempo vocals. Weird and slightly underwhelming.
I was listening to Dummy the other day and forgot how absolutely brilliant that record is.
so, is it wrong to be different ? so it takes you to another place in your mind. Maybe a place you have not been before…. that’s why you are tripping out.
There was once an original sound that moved the world… unfortunately those that were inspired by it stayed there… the creators now show you how to move on… follow
I also really, really wish it weren’t so, but it’s f’n terrible. Just terrible. The first two albums are two of my all-time favorites, and this is garbage.
I feel after 2 listens (one of which was during a late night daze and the other in the alertness of a sunny morning) that this album is meant to make you feel unsettled. i don’t know how to react to it yet. to me that definitely means it’s an album of some substance. it’s getting me back into music for the first time this year. all the other stuff out this year is just surface bait, this is a band the realizes that most of the world is underwater.
yeah, those would be the ideal conditions to listen to an album like this. Unlike for myself, having listened to it during a boring afternoon at work.
in one word fantastic
I absolutely love every album Portishead has put out and, while “Third” was a difficult first listen, as I was expecting to hear something more similar to their previous work. As Andy said, it made me feel “unsettled.” In fact, so unsettled to the point of disbelief… so I had to listen to it again to really understand what I was hearing. I was immediately like, “What. The. Hell??? Track one seriously just cuts off dead with no sort of conclusion at all!!? Why the eff would they do that!!? How come it’s so straightforward and minimal compared to their old stuff?”
This is what I ultimately came to love about this record. It’s stark. It’s deliberate. It’s unapologetic. It crept up on me and grabbed me on an emotional level that few albums ever have (a similar example for me was Radiohead’s “Kid A”). After listening to Third several times from start to finish, this album that I found so frustrating to hear the first time ’round had pulled me into the cold, dark world it illustrates so well.
Music doesn’t have to be complex or have an infectious beat in order to have artistic merit. The way I see it, Portishead are artists first, and musicians second. If Third were a painting, it would probably be completely white, and the viewer would need to get intimately close to it in order to appreciate the beautiful texture of its surface. This is the kind of art that pisses a lot of people off because they measure the quality of art by it’s proximity to realism. Plus, a lot of people just want to be entertained without being challenged. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I think Portishead has matured to a point that they want their listeners to interact with their music on a more psychological level.
There aren’t many stand-out tracks on Third. It may not technically be a “concept album,” but given the fact that it’s songs all rely on one another to invoke cognitive dissonance within the listener, I consider it a truly successful concept album.
Sure, I miss the more deeply layered grooves of their older stuff but a band has to evolve, and it’s only natural that Portishead went through some significant changes during the 11 years they’d not released an album. Third was a pleasant surprise for me in 2008 and, although it took a while for me to come to terms with it, it continued to intrigue me. After just one listen, I never would have suspected that I would ultimately consider this album to be Portishead’s greatest artistic achievement to date. If you were put off by it initially, give it another spin or two. It just might grab you.