Third

I have just bought the album Third by Portishead. I know I'm outdated but the fact that I refused to download the album from rapidshare should provide a good excuse.

Okay, I think last night the CD just got to it's 6th cycle since I popped it in my car's CD player. And I think I would leave it there until it's 9th cycle before changing it to something else. This is just to show that I like this album. Really like it.

Dare I say that I prefer this album to their definitive debut Dummy.
With more somewhat err catchier songs (The Rip, Magic Doors, Deep Water, at least to me), Third even sounds bigger with some instrumental experiments by the trio. This album might not sound as downtempo as Dummy, but I personally think they have taken it to a whole new level. Faster numbers such as Silence, Nylon Smile and Machine Gun provide momentum to the flow of songs as they are strategically placed, like your typical roller-coaster rides.

And while Beth's vocals are as signature as ever, Threads seems to be the only song that could have been fished out from their previous albums. Despite the increase of pace, Third is still as dark as both of their previous albums, marking a trademark by these Bristol pioneers.
To me, Portishead is no short of redefining itself. The change might not be in the scale of Radiohead's Ok Computer-Kid A, but in their case it is just perfect.