Third

前作発表の後、11年という長い沈黙を経てリリースされたサード・アルバムのアナログ盤。気だるいビート、儚いヴォーカル、特有のアンビエント感など、その中毒性の高いサウンドで健在ぶりを示した。2008年発表。

Rolling Stone (p.80) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "THIRD is an unexpected yet totally impressive return.....Portishead mix up dub, break beats, cathedral organ, Moroccan drones and even surf rock into a headphone album for sour times." Spin (p.52) - Ranked #3 in Spin's "40 Best Albums Of 2008" -- "Both taut and unhinged, THIRD turns soul music into a bare-bulb interrogation of the soul." Entertainment Weekly (p.119) - "Beth Gibbons' spectral vocals linger atop eerie, warped pulses of music to create a swirl of melancholia." -- Grade: B+ Uncut (p.84) - 5 stars out of 5 -- "Adrian Utley proves to be the key player through much of the record....Here his playing is frequently awe-inspiring....THIRD is the most stunning, stark and superb Portishead album yet." Alternative Press (p.136) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Listening to Portishead has always been like floating through a waking dream, but now the sleek edges have atrophied into a dusty chaos, and it's all the more beautiful and perfect for the change." Vibe (p.70) - "[Portishead] pays respect to innovators like Kraftwerk, Brian Eno, Wendy Carlos, and the RZA....THIRD has the blare of revolution." Q (Magazine) (p.131) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "THIRD's sole link with the past is Gibbon's voice, now less mannered and more careworn...especially on twinkling interlude 'Deep Water'..." Mojo (Publisher) (p.103) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[C]onstantly beguiling....Throughout, Gibbons' singing gives musical and emotional coherence." Mojo (Publisher) (p.72) - Ranked #11 in Mojo's "The 50 Best Albums Of 2008" -- "Eleven years in the gestating, and totally worth the wait." Paste (magazine) (p.52) - "THIRD is far and away the best, most punk thing in the Portishead catalog: a deeply transgressive album that bears a passing similarity to its predecessors but leaves most of the baggage behind..." Record Collector (magazine) (p.94) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[P]ositively infected with spanking new ideas....The jazz, terrifyingly, near Tropicalia prog and, gulp, ukuleles of Geoff Barrow's vast and vinyl library really come to the forefront." Clash (Magazine) (p.108) - "Portishead have sidled back to express their tortured collective in more depth than most bands could ever dream off. They have subverted the natural order. Pain was never meant to feel this good." Clash (Magazine) (p.67) - Ranked #15 in Clash's "The 40 Best Albums of 2008" -- "THIRD emerged as an abrasive, industrial and intimidating record..."

実に10年ぶりのサード・アルバム……だけど、例のビートが不穏な空気を纏って忍び寄り、ベスが最初の一声を発した瞬間から、ポーティスヘッドはやはりポーティスヘッドだと確信させられる!　良い意味で何物にも侵されない独自の世界観をここまで守り続けるアーティストがいてもいいだろう。むしろ、緊張感を強いる音像も、エイドリアンの不安げなギターも、10年も経ったいまでは妙に新鮮に聴こえるのがおもしろい。
bounce (C)高橋 玲子