It’s been about 10 years since fans last heard from Portishead. A lot can change in 10 years. Including fans’ tastes. With their latest release, Third, I have to wonder if I’m the only one who has outgrown the angsty-trip-hop group.
For me, Portishead’s 1994 release, Dummy, was pure perfection. Maybe it had to do with where I was in my life at the time — single and struggling to make ends meet — but I loved the way “Sour Times” and “It Could Be Sweet” aptly reflected my early 90s mindset.
Now, almost 15 years later, I can’t quite muster up the same feelings for Portishead’s music. Yes, they still have the same haunting sounds, but now I notice the noise often outweighs the music. From synth sounds that resemble helicopters to machine guns and car horns, there’s a lot of noise going on with Third.
Out of the 11 tracks, four did manage to make me remember what I used to liked about them. Those tracks, “Hunter”, “Nylon Smile” (which sound similar to Dummy’s “It Could Be Sweet”), “The Rip” (which reminds me of the Cowboy Junkies), and “Plastic” (a quintessential, eeery, creepy tune), are all good, but none stand out enough to make me want a replay.
In the take it or leave it category, the brief acoustic "Deep Water” could have been good, but instead features odd background vocals. In addition, “Silence”, the first track on the album and probably the most forgettable, struggles to take a stand, sounding like neither the Portishead of 94 nor today’s jarring, unpleasant Portishead (represented by most of Third).
The final four tracks on the album, “Machine Gun”, “Small”, “Magic Doors” and “Threads”, all disintegrate into an abrasive blend of noises, from helicopter blades to car horns, that leaves me wondering what I ever enjoyed about them to begin with. (And speaking of car horns, “We Carry On” continues the car horn theme with what sound like a car horn blaring in the background throughout the song.)
Die-hard fans might enjoy what this latest album has to offer. For the rest of us, not so much. More than likely, Third will never see the light of day in my home again. Instead, when I’m in the mood, I’ll reach for Dummy and reflect on how times have changed.
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Article comments
1 - Jim Cracker
"I have to wonder if I’m the only one who has outgrown the angsty-trip-hop group"
I believe you might be. There's been a lot of praise for the group developing a "matured" sound. They invented the beats -n- vocals style, which was then watered down by Hooverphonioc & the Sneaker Pimps. So it's not universally dissapointing that the Ps didn't try to revisit their own sound, except perhaps to you.
2 - Tom Johnson
I agree, Jim, and I take particular issue with the tone of using the phrase you point out, "outgrown the angsty-trip-hop group," as if somehow those of us who do love this album - and there are MANY of us - are childish for doing so. The problem Juliet seems to have with the music is that she wants to think that Portishead, as she puts it, "still have the same haunting sounds," but they don't - that's what is so amazing about this album. They grew up and left behind their past. They don't sound like a simple regurgitation of Dummy and Portishead, which, I take it, is what she would have enjoyed.
I would have been fascinated to read a well-written piece about why the earlier albums worked for Juliet and this one doesn't, which we get hints of when she comments on her earlier life being reflected in that music, rather than a simple disappointed review that backhands the music of what is being heralded, rightly, I might add, as a mighty comeback. It would be great to read that kind of reaction rather than a simple "I didn't like it because they didn't make the kind of music I wanted them to" review.
3 - writnkitten
Everyone has an opinion. The beauty of subjective reviews, folks!
4 - Tempestas
Third is consistent advancement which was predictable!
Mark those words of Shelley!
"Man's yesterday may ne'er be like his morrow;
Nought may endure but Mutablilty."
cheers,
T.