The Third Party (album)
They noted: "Songs are tuneful and often moving, but subdued atmosphere and in-the-raw presentation will make this fine work a tough sell, especially among cautious programmers.[7] Tom Moon of The Philadelphia Inquirer considered the "bare guitar-and-voice setting" to be a "mixed blessing": "Because it strips all artifice from the gentle choruses and stinging verses, it's a good thing."[8] Anthony DeCurtis, writing for Rolling Stone, felt the material was sometimes "wordy" and Shear's vocals sometimes "wearying", but added he is "capable of coming up with telling melodies and memorable images"."[5] Steve Korté of Trouser Press noted the album was an "interesting experiment" with "well-crafted songs", but added that "a certain monotony results from Shear's unmelodic singing style and the unvarying guitar arrangements".[10] In a retrospective review, Chris Woodstra of AllMusic described The Third Party as a "stark, bare-bones acoustic album" which "allow[s] Shear's songs to come to the forefront".