Third
by Portishead
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Portishead bestography
Third is ranked 2nd best out of 8 albums by Portishead on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Portishead is Dummy which is ranked number 63 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 16,063.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
Listen to Third on YouTube
Third track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 85 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
Third rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 1 hour ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Exist-en-ciel | Top 100 Music Albums of the 2000s | 22/100 | 16 |
| 2026 |  AAL2014 | Portishead | 3/4 | - |
| 2026 |  slatsheit | Top 14 Music Albums of 2008 | 11/14 | 1 |
| 2026 | cicadelic | Digital Aurgasm Albums Of The Year 2008 | 33/50 | - |
| 2026 |  JoaoMoreira | Top 62 Music Albums of the 2000s | 42/62 | 7 |
| 2026 | xhitmanx | Top 20 Music Albums of 2008 | 3/20 | 5 |
| 2026 | matterhornrider | Top 100 Music Albums of the 2000s | 62/100 | 8 |
| 2026 | PurpleHazel | Top 100 Music Albums of the 2000s | 70/100 | 6 |
| 2026 |  Bach | Top 100 Music Albums of the 2000s | 3/100 | 20 |
| 2026 | VanillaBean | Top 32 Music Albums of 2008 | 15/32 | 3 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 748 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 5,530 | |||
Third collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 387 members
Third ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 3 ratings for this album. | Show all 851 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 33 hours ago | luukvdschepop | 767 | 75/100 |
| ! | 4 days ago |  Milhaud | 2,161 | 71/100 |
| ! | 09/14/2026 20:21 | Foxforce5 | 485 | 75/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 80.6/100, a mean average of 79.4/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 80.7/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.1.
Third favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 127 members
Third forum mentions
BestEverAlbums 09/22/2026 20:00 in Album of the day (#7471): Third by Portishead BestEverAlbums 09/09/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5430): By ForegroundNoise BestEverAlbums 09/01/2026 16:00 in Monthly overall chart movementsThird comments
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This record will be considered off-putting by some, even by Portishead fans still in thrall to their first two, the second of which was over 10 years prior to this. They did make two great ones to begin their recording career in the 90s, but this blows them both out of the water. As great artists carry on they challenge themselves to push the envelope. This record does that. It is jarring in places, but that just adds to the overall sense of tension and release. This record is like an aural record of Shakespeare's rising and falling action; I honestly feel it is worthy of such praise. Album of the decade. (Edited)
Wow! Portishead meets Can. So refreshing to hear music this adventurous and exciting is still being conceived. Not as revolutionary as Dummy, but much more enjoyable.
Winter has come! And this time it’s not only achingly beautiful but mind-blowing. Turns out a lengthy sabbatical and a heavy dosage of Silver Apples was just what this trip-hop paragon needed to take their game to the next level. Far more avant-garde and (early) German electronica influenced than their first two trip-hop meets torch singer classics making it less accessible but ever more haunting and majestical. (Edited)
badfaith 09/28/2009 19:37 | #6379 | TOP COMMENT
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Fans of the other two albums might find this a little jarring in places... it's a little more experimental. Coldplay... take note!, you can't keep making the same album over and over again and ask people to keep buying it... gottta keep moving.
Norman Bates 01/22/2010 20:50 | #8564 | TOP COMMENT
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How to remain true to what you were and still be moving on ? Portishead answered brilliantly, burying the competition. My guess is Thom Yorke is still trying to understand how "Third" is done to give us a digest next year.
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