Portishead

[AbjectEvolution]

Post your reviews of Third here!.

Here is mine.

Ok, my mind is successfuly blown. Any ounce of an idea of what you think this album sounds like... completely throw it out the window. Portishead has pulled a Radiohead with what they did with Kid A. This album is completely out there. Unconventional in so many ways. Extremely raw, dirty, and at times a bit sloppy. It's not your average perfect and over-produced sound. Gone is the typical Trip Hop style that Portishead has always adapted. No more turn tables. No more electronic beats, except for a few here and there. Accoustic drums with tons of effects added to them. Speaking of effects, the album is full of them. It is very psychadelic and definatly something that you would greatly enjoy if you were on some crazy drugs. The album sounds avant garde, progressive and indie. I fucking love it! If you are stuck on conventional verse/chorus song structures and catchy melodies and such... you will not like this album. Alot of people will not like how different it sounds. I think it is a bold move. A risk. A very successfull one. I'm so happy that it doesn't sound exactly like their old stuff. While I love Portishead's sound, I respect a band even more when they are able to go in completely new directions.

This is one of those albums that you have to listen to a tun before you "get it". I always know that albums like that are amazing right from the start. This is right up there with Aenima, Kid A, The Fragile, and Thirteenth Step as the type of album that takes your mind for spins in so many different directions and you wont recover until months later after listening to the album non stop in your car every day.

Well done Portishead. Well done.
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"Don't touch my brain like that!" - Myopic Mecca

[Bee]

"the rip" is beautiful

WOW

[Skunk Anansie]

"Threads" is beautiful, as well ! <3 <3

[ian breen]

I wrote this for www.cowandfield.co.uk , haven't put it up yet, but see what you reckon anyway

In 1994, Portishead released their debut album "Dummy", which was an instant hit - a lush mix of slick, slow hip-hop beats, 70s blaxploitation samples and Beth Gibbons' heartbreaking vocals. It propelled them to stardom the world over and were considered to be part of a "trip-hop" movement which seemed to be based in Bristol, alongside other acts such as Massive Attack and Tricky. Their second, self-titled album was an altogether much colder, bleak record, an album that focussed on heartache and bitterness, full of orchestral samples and sparse scratching. Following it's release in 1997, there was a short world tour and then... nothing. The following ten years saw occasional solo albums, record labels formed and many hoax "third" albums appearing on the internet.

Then, as if from nowhere, they re-appeared, announced a live appearance and promises of a new, "evil" album. Fans, like yours truly here, got all wet of pant and frothy of mouth, excited and curious as to what they would come up with. Ten years is obviously a long time to wait for a follow-up release, especially as this particular writer was merely fourteen years old at the time of its release. Are Portishead still relevent in 2008? Will this somewhat-jaded twenty four year old idiot feel that his once-favourite band are still writing music that can be described as "original"? Will it actually be any good?

On first listen, it's hard not to feel that the album is missing a "Glory Box", or an "Over", or a "Mysterons", or an "All Mine" or a... well, you get the idea. However, "Third" is a tricky beast, one that definitely rewards repeated listens. It is darker and even more strange than its' predecessors. The first thing you notice is the distinct lack of scratching and sampling - instead focus has now been shifted to the more intriguing elements of extra percussion, strange synths and sound manipulation.
"Third" is also a deeply unsettling album - opening song "Silence" lulls you in with an unusual chord sequence and distant, persistent drumming, before breaking down to a sparse, drumless verse, Beth Gibbons' chilling voice pleading, "Wounded and afraid inside my head, falling through changes.. Did you know what I lost? Do you know what I wanted?", before continuing on it's mournful journey to a darkly melodic climax before abruptly and rudely cutting away to silence. "Hunter" follows, dragging the pace to a deathly crawl. Dense reverb cloaks the John Barry-esque piano and acoustic guitar, before ominous guitar drones briefly take over, disturbing the quietness.
The first true jaw-dropping moment comes in the form of "The Rip", a song which begins with a persistent, droning pulse, plucked acoustic guitar and a theremin, before the truly beautiful vocals come in. It's almost quite folky, as Beth sings "White horses, they will take me away, and the tenderness I feel will send the dark underneath, but will I follow?". Then, out of nowhere, her voice begins to loop, drums begin to fade in and a thick, bass-y synth begins to creep in. Suddenly Portishead have invoked the spirit of "Low"-era David Bowie and Neu!, transformed the dark vibes of the previous few songs into a truly uplifting chord structure and sound absolutely incredible. Sadly, before it's even begun it's snatched away and you're plunged back into the darkness.
Later, a lone ukelele brings in "Deep Water" - strangely enough the most unnerving song yet. As Beth's fragile vocal becomes complimented by barber-shop quartet vocals, it makes you feel uneasy, almost as if the darkest corners of the album are yet to be uncovered. Then, just as quickly as it arrives, it disappears, leading into the monotonous, metronomic drum machine that is the foundation of "Machine Gun". There is no verse, there is no chorus, there are no other instruments besides an evil machine and the vocals of a woman who sounds terrified of the surrounding cacophony, as she delivers the lines "If only I could see, I'll turn myself to me and recognise the poison in my heart". The drum machine becomes warped, digitised and distorted, twisted into all manner of shapes, before returning to it's original state. It feels like Portishead have truly found their "evil" sound in this one song alone - and it is easily one of the highlights of the album.
"Magic Doors" is another standout song, with some brilliantly off-beat cowbell action, a disturbing, distorted saxaphone freak-out and the most heartbreaking chorus yet, as Beth cries "I'm losing myself, my desire I can't hide" over a dark piano chord sequence. This fades out into a high-pitched synth drone and straight into epic closer "Threads". The John Barry influence is in full effect here, as the dark, jazzy chord sequences lead into a full-on rock out in the final third of the song. "I'm always so unsure", Beth practically screams over the escalating madness of distortion, synths and ominous crashes, before everything fades away, leaving a haunting guitar and synth drone to echo off - it sounds almost like an ominous nuclear air-raid siren, leaving you feeling dark, confused and eager to listen again.

So, was the wait worth it? To me, it certainly seems so. In keeping a low profile for such a long time, Portishead were going to face an uphill battle no matter what they released. It's just exciting to see that they have come back with something that is in turns quietly terrifying, disarmingly sweet, alarmingly ferocious and deceptively twisted. So welcome back the new, darker, creepy Portishead. Let's just hope we don't have to wait another decade to see where they go next.

[el_catzo]

i like all the tracks a lot
and i only like the two first ones so-so

plus, i don't think it's proper to compare this new work with other bands (like radiohead). now, listening to the leak i can notice some new influences (wich i won't say), but in their whole work i can see they have had they're own progress, their own grownment and i'm very satisfied with what i've heard.

i always knew they wouldn't dissappoint me!

can't wait to buy the final work.


cheers to all!
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"hoy me gusta la vida mucho menos, pero siempre me gusta vivir"

[ian breen]

I'll be out on the morning of the 28th to get this I'm excited about owning it

[Spaced Invader]

I'll keep my review short:

I had an errection when hearing it, it's one of the best albums I've ever heard in my entire life, and it's totally worth the 10 years of waiting.

[Bee]

[quote="Spaced Invader"]I'll keep my review short:

I had an errection when hearing it, it's one of the best albums I've ever heard in my entire life, and it's totally worth the 10 years of waiting.[/quote]

How big?

[Slave of Sensation]

Amazing, amazing album, easily the best Portishead record to date, and, sharing Mr. Spaced Invaders thoughts, it's one of the best albums I've heard.

Portishead delivers, greater than I ever imagined.
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Losing myself between the sound...

[a guest]

[quote="Spaced Invader"]I had an errection when hearing it[/quote]

Wow man, such passion - you must be Portisheads biggest fan!! And I'm sure you fit just nicely through the hole in the CD...

For fucks sakes, can we have something on this board other than just sycophants and wannbe producers. ('If I had made the album, I'd have recorded 99% of Beths vocals on an overcrowded FGW commuter train in the middle of an announcement about the buffet opening whilst Geoff argues about the validity of his off-peak travelcard with a surly inspector...')

Dont even start me on those 'oooo its so RISKY' posts....

[AbjectEvolution]

Is it possible at all on the internets to have a possitive thread without some jackass coming into it and starting shit?

If you want to post in here, post a review.

Anyway, the more I listen to this... the more I start to hear the structure of the songs. Machine Gun is growing on me. I know alot of people think it's their favorite, but it was pretty low in the list for me at first. I like it quite a bit. It has become one of my favorites. Actualy, my favorite songs keep fluctuating, whic his a good sign.
_________________
"Don't touch my brain like that!" - Myopic Mecca

[mutton]

[quote="a guest"]

For fucks sakes, can we have something on this board other than just sycophants and wannbe producers. ('If I had made the album, I'd have recorded 99% of Beths vocals on an overcrowded FGW commuter train in the middle of an announcement about the buffet opening whilst Geoff argues about the validity of his off-peak travelcard with a surly inspector...')

Dont even start me on those 'oooo its so RISKY' posts....[/quote]


"Message board mongs in 'raging spastic' shocka!"

Seriously though, I can even deal with the relatively high levels of mongery that go on and the "wow it sounds different" posts. But the "I think they should have done this that and the other instead" shit is just so monumentally feculent. What in God's name is wrong with these donkey fuckers? If I had a hammer and a thousand years alone with them I still couldn't make them understand violently enough how stupid, arrogant and wanky it is to come onto the website of ANY respected band and spout off about how you think they could have improved it, in your own, utterly worthless opinion.

[a guest]

Just in case it still looks like I've got a downer on (couldn't have that here could we?), I've listened a couple of times to the album now and its almost certainly not half bad is it?

No band are above critiscism, least of all this one, and whilst on one hand they probably don't give a toss about what gets written here, its totally fuckwitted for Johnny Nomates to start banging on about the 'improvements' that could have been made to the record if only the band had listened, the ignorant fools...

Its been ten years since the last proper album. So what? Well maybe that means 'risky' or 'inaccessible', it aint. How can it be either of those things when the majority listening to it - initially anyway - are likely to people that are already into the band? Maybe its just me but I dont think the overall sound is that abstract anyway, but far be it from me to suggest that labelling it 'difficult' is a great way to boost someones own ego...

[Spaced Invader]

Others prefer to boost their ego by trolling and creating flamefests for no apparent reason.
To each their own. Keep on eating and shitting flame bait.

[a guest]

That must be why you rushed back for a cutting final comment then!