Third
by Portishead
  • Record Label: Mercury
  • Release Date: Apr 29, 2008
User Score
8.4

Universal acclaim- based on 198 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 166 out of 198
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 198
  3. Negative: 14 out of 198

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  1. vincent
    May 1, 2008
    3
    The music's ok, but beth gibbons is always off-key. its driving me crazy.
  2. MartinS.
    Jun 30, 2008
    2
    King's clothes. I am tired of being sold tush by reviewers too scared to be counted. This is neither ground breaking nor compelling. A record that deserved to be made? By all means. A masterpiece? It most certainly is not. Infantile, deliberately dark lyrics become repetetive and predictable. Tuneless and lumpy. I want a refund.
  3. EdW
    Apr 30, 2008
    3
    Wow. Difficult and unmelodic. Anyone named Ray is hardly worth paying attention to.
  4. PatrickK.
    May 2, 2008
    1
    Dull, dull dull! The songs go nowhere. You get a sense they could only stand each other's presence enough to throw some beats together and leave it at that. Where is the songcraft?
  5. MargotC.
    Jul 20, 2008
    3
    This is dreadful. i don't know how the band let this go out of the studio - didn't they listen to it and go red with embarrassment? I can't see what is innovative about out of tune caterwauling over 1980s German techno-style synths - appalling. Quality control was lost somewhere in the sycophancy of success.
  6. Dan
    Apr 29, 2008
    3
    Has the whole world gone mad! This album is a piece of shit. It's no way near the quality of Portishead's other albums.
  7. JakeF.
    Apr 30, 2008
    2
    Wow...I cannot believe the praise for this completely lackluster album. We waited 10 years for this?? Are you kidding me? The only real standout here is "The Rip" - everything else reeks of unreleased b-side material. Really - what have they been doing for the last decade. I did hear Beth's solo album a few years back and it was terrible - almost as bad as "Third".
  8. Brian
    Jul 28, 2008
    3
    I just don't get it. I loved the first two Portishead albums but this.. this is just pointless noise. I really don't get it.
  9. VinnyP
    May 12, 2008
    1
    I've tried listening to it...several times...and I'm still incredibly disappointed. The musicality is simple to the point of being boring. The few musical highlights get overused to make them boring as well. I don't understand the high marks here, other than Portishead is one of those bands that could s**t (which they did here) and the critics will love it.

Awards & Rankings

17
#17 Best Album of 2008
20
#20 Most Discussed Album of 2008
23
#23 Most Shared Album of 2008

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
85

Universal acclaim - based on 38 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 35 out of 38
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 38
  3. Negative: 1 out of 38
  1. Blender
    30
    It's groove-deprived and difficult, and not in a particularly inventive way. [May 2008, p.78]
    Read full review
  2. Drowned In Sound
    80
    Both ancient and futuristic, a mildewed signal from a more advanced culture that failed to survive the ice age, Third doesn’t make you pay attention to its desolate contours, but rather stare out of the window, creeping panic causing your mind to dart in a million dark directions at once.
    Read full review
  3. Hot Press
    80
    Long awaited comeback from Bristol trip-hop outfit proves worth the wait.
    Read full review
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