The Third Eye Centre

Third Eye Centre is a wonderful addendum to the band's prolific and enchanting catalog. [No. 102, p.53]

Although airing also-ran tracks, Belle and Sebastian have proven their idiosyncratic voices shout the loudest.

Rather than shroud themselves in mystery, Belle and Sebastian would rather blow their own cover and, for all its inherent inconsistencies, The Third Eye Centre provides a clear view of how a band that once made music fit for a library is now more liable to get kicked out of one.

Overall, The Third Eye Centre succinctly packs ten years' worth of eccentricities and oddments into a pleasant, if slightly oversized compendium.

Taken together, they're still a bit of a mess but the joy in The Third Eye Centre is that it presents Belle & Sebastian at their most human and ungainly.

Third Eye Centre is marred by a few less-interesting inclusions and a trio of disposable remixes, but it's a worthy collection no Belle and Sebastian fan will want to skip.

Inside you’ll find very little deviation from the wistful, narrative-led pop they’ve made a career from.

There aren’t quite enough of these ringers to bring The Third Eye Centre to the A-game level of …Barman, but they at least make for a decent compilation album. And, some bands aren’t even capable of that.

As an 19-track collection of rarities from the period 2003-present, TTEC is necessarily a mixed bag of styles and qualities.

There’s plenty to enjoy on The Third Eye Centre, but it’s considerably closer to ‘fans only’ territory than its indispensable predecessor.

Get cherry-picking. [Oct 2013, p.116]

For any other band, The Third Eye Centre would be a strong enough original album, much less as a collection of b-sides and rarities. But since this band is hardly any other band, especially working in this kind of format, the hit-and-miss compilation is much more of a spottier proposition for a group with as strong and distinctive a profile as Belle and Sebastian have.

Even at its worst this hotchpotch collection is pleasant fare.

It’s hard to deny that The Third Eye Centre is probably a fan-only affair and, indeed, a bit of a curate’s egg. Much of the time though, it’s a pretty tasty egg.

Belle And Sebastian fans have long ago learned to take the rough with the smooth and the quality control on The Third Eye Centre is all over the shop. The odd flashes of wonder within show they're still not a lost cause though.