Soft Machine released their third album, surprisingly called 'Third' in 1970. It is a double album with each side of the vinyl consisting of a single long composition.
Its music explores the emerging jazz fusion of the type present on Miles Davis' 'Bitches Brew', which was released just a few months earlier. 'Third' marks the most major of Soft Machine's several shifts in musical genre over their career, completing their transition from psychedelic music to jazz.
"Third" is a significant milestone of the Canterbury scene, featuring interplay between the band's personnel: Mike Ratledge on keyboards, Robert Wyatt on drums, Hugh Hopper on bass and newest member Elton Dean on saxophone. |