''Three'' is the third studio album by

Blue Man Group Blue Man Group is an American performance art company formed in 1987. It was purchased in July 2017 by the Canadian company Cirque du Soleil. Blue Man Group is known for its stage productions, which incorporate many kinds of music and art, bot ...

, released on April 22, 2016 by

Rhino Entertainment Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company founded in 1978. It is currently the catalog division for Warner Music Group. Its current CEO is Mark Pinkus. History Founded in 1978, Rhino was original ...

Reception

Reviews were generally positive. Allan Raible said "it may not be for everyone but as on their other two studio offerings the Blue Men show themselves to be gifted musicians." David Seigler said "It has an interesting, mostly rhythmic sound that is identifiably their own." Mark Elliott said "Guitars are heavily featured, but there is a distinct electronic element here that was not present quite to the same degree in their previous releases. ''Three'' is certainly within the realm of rock, but one can hear influences of bands such as

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, "power station") is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize the ...

here." Simon Sweetmas said "I think ''Three'' is easily Blue Man Group’s best set of recordings, and best showcase for the dynamic maximalism the troupe offers" Cristine Struble praised the use of traditional wooden instruments with modern plastic ones.

Track listing

Personnel

*Vince Verderame, Corky Gainsford – drums *Todd Perlmutter – drums, percussion programming *Todd Waetzig, Jordan Cohen, Jeff Tortora – drums *Chris Dyas –

baritone guitar The baritone guitar is a guitar with a longer scale length, typically a larger body, and heavier internal bracing, so it can be tuned to a lower pitch. Gretsch, Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, ESP Guitars, PRS Guitars, Music Man, Danelectro, Schec ...

, guitar,

zither Zithers (; , from the Greek word ''cithara'') are a class of stringed instruments. Historically, the name has been applied to any instrument of the psaltery family, or to an instrument consisting of many strings stretched across a thin, flat bo ...

*Jeff Turlik – guitar, synths,

berimbau The berimbau () is a single-string percussion instrument, a musical bow, originally from Africa, that is now commonly used in Brazil. The berimbau would eventually be incorporated into the practice of the Afro-Brazilian martial art ''capoeira'' ...

, bass *Chris Bowen – tubulum *Byron Esteep – chapman stick *Brian Scott – cimbalom *Doug Baldinger – drums *Bill Swartz – drums *Steve Ballstadt – shaker,

udu The udu is a plosive aerophone (in this case implosive) and an idiophone of the Igbo of Nigeria. In the Igbo language, ''ùdù'' means 'vessel'. Actually being a water jug with an additional hole, it was played by Igbo women for ceremonial uses ...

*Marivaldo Dos Santos –

timbau The timbau or Brazilian timbal is a membranophone instrument derived from the caxambu drum, usually played with both hands. Slightly conical and of varying sizes, it is usually light in weight and made of lacquered wood or metal (usually alumin ...

, triangle *Yusuke Yamamoto –

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist,' ...

*Jeff Quay – bongo,

caxixi A caxixi () is a percussion instrument consisting of a closed basket with a flat bottom filled with seeds or other small particles. The round bottom is traditionally cut from a dried gourd. The caxixi is an indirectly struck idiophone. Like the ...

*Matt Ramsey – PCV *

Rob Swift Rob Swift (born Robert Aguilar; May 14, 1972), is an American hip hop DJ and turntablist. He was an original member of the turntablist group The X-Ecutioners until 2004. He has also released numerous solo albums and collaborated with various art ...

– samples *Mike Relm – turntables *Mark Frankel – drums, spider drums, phoenix drums, logs *Dave Steele – zither, guitar *Josh Matthews – mandeldrums *Phil Stanton – cimbalom, piano smasher *Dorothy McMillan – voice *Geoff Gersh – zither *Larry Heinemann –

lap steel The lap steel guitar, also known as a Hawaiian guitar, is a type of steel guitar without pedals that is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position across the performer's lap. Unlike the usual manner of playing a traditional ac ...

, programming *Clement J Waldman III – drums *Super Natsuki Tamura –

didjeridoo The didgeridoo (; also spelt didjeridu, among other variants) is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgeridoo was developed by ...

References

External links

''Three''
at BlueMan.com * * {{Authority control 2016 albums Blue Man Group albums Rhino Entertainment albums