Comments for Soft Machine, Third

Comes out of what some other Columbia artists were doing at the time, mainly Miles Davis & Blood Sweat & Tears. It's a bunch of extended playing in a "progressive" mode, tolerable and fairly easy to listen to, but not up to the high standards of creativity set by their first album & part of the second. But with some good stuff - I like Side One particularly. It is POORLY recorded though - it's not just that Columbia mastered the disc poorly (as they are known to do) - my old LP copy also sounds faded and distant.

I should have mentioned that... the US CD was mastered from a second-generation copy of the British master tape. I'm hoping for a rerelease, but it seems doubtful.

Many would argue that Third was a turning point for Soft Machine. All prior albums were psychedelic hinting at progressive rock and all later albums were jazz-rock. For those with an ear for progressive rock, Third was the ideal balance. It contains three long exquisite instrumentals much melodic interest, a variety of thematic shifts and enough odd meter to keep things very interesting. Although some artists have covered similar terrain, I can't recall another which balanced the competing influences on this form of music as well within the space of a single album. Truly inspired. It is as though the great god of jazz reached down from heaven and slapped these uptight english boys across the heads and made them dance for his pleasure. Recommended.

THe best of its kind for composition, audacity, and complexity. In 70 they were rocks' edge. Nobody in the Progressive rock stable can come close. If anyone's got a better candidate I'd like to hear of them.

The recordings that comprise "Third", while showcasing the Soft Machine at their peak, are rather weaker verions of songs which thrust the Softs ahead of the prog-rock race in the early 70''s. Superior versions of all four tracks can be heard on the two-disc set, "The Peel Sessions"; in particular, a tighter recording of "Out-Bloody Rageous", where Elton Dean''s sax playing is especially tight, and the otherwise incomprehendable "Moon In June". However, definitely worth owning for anyone with an acute interest in jazz, particularly Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, et al.

Third release from THE group of the Canterbury scene.Lineup: Mike Ratlege: Organ, electric and acoustic piano Hugh Hoppper: Bass Robert Wyatt: Drums and vocal Elton Dean: Alto sax and saxellowith Rab Spall: Violin Lyn Dobson: Flute and soprano sax Nick Evans: Trombone Jimmy Hastings: Flute and bass clarinetFirst album that really explores jazz fusion (previous efforts had been sychedelicpop). Consists of four tracks, that range from freeblowing jazz to composedprogressive. Takes a little getting used to, but well worth repeated listens. Thisis the last album Wyatt sings on.