Third

Soft Machine | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 2, 1991)
• Original Release Date: 1991
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Columbia
• ASIN: B0000024WV
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #221,293 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Soft Machine was the jazziest of England's progressive rock bands of the late-'60s, and this 1970 collection album was its expansive masterpiece. It was also one of the hippie era's ultimate jam records, with four songs on its two records. The Soft Machine that opened for Jimi Hendrix's 1968 tour was a trio, but Third brought in five more pieces, including horns and a violin. Keyboardist Mike Ratledge's nicely arranged "Slightly All the Time" featured strong horn lines and terrific percussion from drummer Robert Wyatt. Wyatt's wry way with a vocal and lyrics animate the more rock- like "Moon in June." (Wyatt, who later became paralyzed below the waist in an accident, still releases well-regarded singer-songwriter records.) One suspects that this music was cooked up under the spell of trumpeter Miles Davis' seminal 1969 albums, In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew. The vital result was a record that speaks of its time, but that's also aged remarkably well. --John Milward

Product Description

Japanese remastered reissue packaged in a limited edition miniature LP sleeve. CBS/Sony. 2004. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a gem, September 15, 2000

By 

Sean M. Kelly (Portland, Oregon United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Third (Audio CD)

The Soft Machine had come a long way from the band who was blissfully stoned on stage doing the 14 Hour Technicolour dream a few years earlier- indeed, founders Daevid Allen and Kevin Ayers were both gone (Allen founding Gong, and Ayers' amazing "Joy of a Toy" lp was the first of many successful lps that almost, many times, made Kevin the star he should of been- almost...), and now the trio began their metamorphasis into a tight unit.

"Third" is a landmark album in the Softs'canon. The full fledged sonic jazz attack was unlike anything they had ever done before- and it WORKED! Adding Elton Dean (formally of Bloos-ology with a then unknown Reg Dwight, who, partly in honor of Dean, changed his name to Elton John) added credibility in the British jazz circles, and helped to make the album a more cohesive work.

The lp is a tour-de-force for the Softs, showcasing Mike Ratledge's wonderful feel for jazz, and his signature Lowry organ stylings, Hugh Hopper's always rock solid fuzz drenched bass musings, and the God-given talents of Robert Wyatt on the skins. Wyatt also gets to sing on the wonderful "Moon in June," his voice unparalleled.

The results are pure ecstacy.

The lp will take a few listens to get the full effect of its greatness, but once you get it, you'll have it forever. I have owned this lp for 12 years now and it still amazes me like few albums can. THAT, my friends, is the benchmark for all great music!

So, I highly recommend "Third," in my opinion one of the 50 greatest lps of all time ever made.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thirty Years of Third, January 13, 2000

By 

Bruce Brownlee (Malden, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Third (Audio CD)

I too bought this album in 1970, having been drooling in anticipation since Vol. Two. Imagine (if you will) my elation on finding that the Softs had not only secured a contract with a major (albeit notoriously cranky) label, but that they had released a double album to boot.

I guess the most accurate indication of my feelings about this album is that I still listen to it with some frequency thirty years later. And I own several thousand CDs (jazz, classical, pop), not counting the many cassettes and LPs. This album is decidedly something special. I would suggest that rock fans new to the Soft Machine begin with track (originally side) three -- Robert Wyatt's grand farewell. Jazzers would do better to begin with tracks two or four. As for side one -- Cuneiform has announced a release of the entire concert from which this is taken in January.

Third is commonly spoken of as the Soft Machine's masterpiece. I certainly thought so for quite awhile. But I have to agree with the Cambridge music fan below: sometime in the early eighties I began to realize that Volume Two is by far the more innovative, sophisticated, and just plain weird of the two; I'm still hearing things I never noticed in it before. I think it's generally underrated because it gives an initial impression of being lightly whimsical and twee (as the English say.) But after several listenings its musical merits tend to hit one smack in the face. And, truly rare in rock, the lyrics (with references to Jarry, Pynchon, and who knows what else) are quite good -- and the nonsense lyrics even better.

But back to Third. Buy it. It's certainly the most immediately accessible of the Softs's recordings, and something of a cultural milestone as well. (Though SM were largely ignored at the time, their current discography is well more than twice as large now as it was in the 1970s.)

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Soft Machine are Underground Gods, January 23, 2000

By 

Jay Reilly (Antrim, NH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Third (Audio CD)

This is one of my all time favorite albums, and you should make it one of yours as well. Mike Ratledges distorted Lowry Organ is a unique and amazing sound, along side Robert Wyatts insane, Jazzy Drums, and of course the flawless, incredible Bass playing of Hugh Hopper, and distinct style of Classical-Jazz horn playing by Elton Dean makes The Soft Machine absolutley incredible. "Moon in June' is not to be missed. If you've never heard it, just by this cd, throw on some headphones and slip away. I'm 15 and one of my favorite things to do is to listen to" Moon in June" on headphones, so trust me you'll like it. Life isn't much without this album, so augment your life with a little madness and buy it.