Portishead – Third

This pressing has redefined this album for me, really opens up the depth and spaciousness.

Great pressing, minimal surface noise etc, but really just dropped by here to say what an absolute masterpiece this album is… a cinematic, haunting, and genuinely heavy work of art for the ages. What a listen on quality headphones.

Like Melting Duck Coffin right below me, I don't agree with the majority of the comments here. My copy plays pretty fine, absolutely no pops and minimal surface noise . It's not the most audiophile and dynamic experience to listen to it, but it's also because the music is supposed to be crooked and unpleasant, as the digital/streaming versions prove. And surely it could be better pressed, as most vinyl these days, but it's defo not a bad pressing. I'm going to test it with the EU version in a couple of days, we'll see.

I do remember buying this brand new (and omg how on earth are these plain paper sleeves still not banned??), probably between 2013 and 2016, and wet-cleaning it multiple times, as well as adding an extra polylined inner. That maybe did the deal over time.

Not sure if people are getting 2023 versions mixed up, but you want one of the EU pressings cut at Abbey Road and NOT this in-house GZ cut. Agree that this one is still much better than previous releases, but the Miles / Abbey Road reissue is the one to get:

- https://www.discogs.com/release/28556659-Portishead-Third
- https://www.discogs.com/release/29397091-Portishead-Third

Mam to wydanie z Label opisanym "45" RPM" mocno się zdziwiłem jak się okazało, że to 33 1/3 RPM, nie ma trzasków gra bardzo dobrze. Dziwne kupione w lipcu 2024 r. (7 lat było na magazynie)

I bought my copy of this 45rpm WG/NRP mastered United pressing back in like 2016 or something, possibly even earlier.
I have used a VPI 16.5 vacuum machine and gave it a thorough wet cleaning and yes some crackle in spots are still present.
My copy isn’t atrocious as others have described. It’s just a noisy United pressing which I have plenty of because I got into new records in the mid 00’s and United were pressing a lot of indie stuff at the time. I also find the more fine stylus profile along with proper alignment can aid in lots of noise. I have seen improvements from those adjustments when swapping things out.
All in all the 45rpm and mastering are quite good if you can get a playable copy with minimal defects.
Also random piece worth sharing is the album might be system dependent. It sounds way more accurate and exciting through my old JBL L112s versus my ADS L810s. Take that for what’s it worth.

FINALLY a version of this masterpiece that actually sounds good. The remaster has super clear vocals and a beautiful and warm instrumental/bass tone. At this point I think I've heard every vinyl version other than the original Island Records pressing, and this is easily the best. On first listen the only issue is occasional pops and cracks that a wet clean will hopefully take care of. This one's the real deal folks.

There's pops and clicks pretty much throughout the a side, so it needs to be cleaned. Other than that the music sounds great. My favourite Portishead record.

Great pressing. Have to agree with everyone here. Sound is loud and dynamic. No surface noise at all on my copy. Very happy with it.

Sides 1, 2, and 4 on my copy are totally fine and sound better to my ears than some other reviews here seem to indicate, but I can only play "Deep Water" on side 3 (which is visibly warped to the point where it's tough to put the record on my slipmat) and then it becomes completely unplayable. I'm not usually one to complain about things like this as in this instance, I got this in 2014 along with a similar pressing of the self-titled album (which sounds AMAZING) for a deep discount, but after not having played this one for a while, I was eager to give it a listen, so it was quite disappointing.