| 4.5 superb | tallonrk1 | July 13th 19 |
It slaps. Banger after banger from top to bottom, with enough variation to keep things fresh throughout. The production is crazy good and adventurous for Banks. Whereas The Altar was at times bland and monotonous (especially in the back half of the album), III excites throughout. Banks is an emotional powerhouse on this album, and Contaminated just might be her best track to date (though Gemini Feed remains indelible). III supersedes Goddess as Banks' best album.
2 Bumps | Bump |
| 4.5 superb | grello | July 21st 19 |
as always, banks is not free of imperfections, but this is where she finds glory
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 2.5 average | JohnFire | July 15th 19 |
Look What You're Doing To Me is a complete mess, overuse of autotune (who made that decision?!?!), but some great songs that even these mistakes couldn't ruin.
Still a disappointment.
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 3.1 good | Erwann S. STAFF | October 28th 19 |
Honestly I did not expect an almost deconstructed R&B record. The autotune sounds great, even though some times she just sounds like Ariana. Finally, the first half is stronger than the second one.
Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | Bedex | July 31st 19 |
I consider this to be ever so slightly superior to Altar solely because it is much more memorable. III sees Banks shift style a lot, both vocally and instrumentally. I kind of prefer her old style, but this is more unique. Vocals are much more processed and more noticeably autotuned, While this works in a lot of places, there are lots where it doesn't, and regardless her more organic, 'bare' vocals are missed. They remind of Ariana Grande in a lot of places too, both melodically and in how they are processed. Instrumentally, this explores a lot more than Banks' first two albums with tonnes of synthy sounds, piano textures, distorted drums etc., and while it does not always work it certainly is commendable. The first half of the record is by far the best and has only jams (1,2,4) or nice tracks. 6 has the first annoying section of the record with overprocessed whiny vocals, but otherwise it is cool albeit Ari-neric. The first truly bad track is 7, which is frankly awful all the way. 8 is in the same style but does it a little bit better, and its end is kinda nice with good ideas. From there on the record becomes more generic and Ari-esque, not much that is truly bad, but the catchy and memorable hooks from the first half are sorely missed. The closing track is probably the worst post track 8, but the actual ending is nice. Overall, just barely above Altar with a 3.4rSecond listen: 1-6 & 8 are jams, 11 is kinda cool, 10 and 12 are ok, but the second half is still a train wreck compared to the first. 3.9
Bump |
| 3.5 great | Francis Brero | July 15th 19 |
tight production and more depth are what makes this album stick out in Banks' discography. I'm a big fan of the GodLess and Gimme which both manage to shine by their execution rather than their originality both in themes and genres. I particularly like the use of the scotch snap (if you've never heard of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7cG9QIvIWo&ab_channel=AdamNeely) on Gimme which really flows.rOverall I think III shows a lot of maturity in its depth and tight production. It's well worth the listen and a great album. We know Banks has a ton of potential and she has confirmed it on this album. Unfortunately I don't feel like the hooks are memorable enough to make this a lasting track list or something you will revert back to automatically.
Bump |
| 3.0 good | maclood | July 13th 19 |
This album is definitely a grower for me. Wasn't thrilled first listen, but I keep coming back to it. Contaminated is just TOO good
Bump |
| 3.0 good | NuclearSplog | July 12th 19 |
it's an improvement over "the altar" and has a whole bunch of standalone good songs (hawaiian mazes, contaminated and stroke are faves of mine) but it's crippled by a lot of skippable average or mediocre tracks that i really would prefer fucked off this project
Bump |
| 3.0 good | heck | December 11th 22 |
| 3.0 good | kojpl | November 20th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | Thibs | June 13th 21 |
| 3.5 great | Xhoven | April 22nd 20 |
| 3.5 great | casey | December 15th 19 |
| 3.0 good | OSEL | November 25th 19 |
| 3.5 great | Faraudo | September 6th 19 |
| 3.0 good | Trey STAFF | August 24th 19 |
| 4.5 superb | lyu103 | August 21st 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | Coast | August 6th 19 |
| 3.0 good | Rail | August 1st 19 |
| 3.5 great | gilly | July 31st 19 |
| 2.5 average | fog CONTRIBUTOR | July 26th 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | dunnope | July 18th 19 |
| 3.5 great | matzo | July 17th 19 |
| 3.5 great | wwf | July 16th 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | Csongli | July 13th 19 |
| 2.5 average | bharry | July 13th 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | alamo | July 12th 19 |
| 2.5 average | ian b | July 12th 19 |
| 3.5 great | Wolfe | July 12th 19 |
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