[dorio]

Submission courtesy of grandrebelmaster


Band: Soft Machine
Album: Third



Columbia, 1970

1. Facelift
2. Slightly All The Time
3. Moon In June
4. Out-Bloody-Rageous

Robert Wyatt - vocals, drums, percussion
Hugh Hopper - bass guitar
Mike Ratelidge - piano, organ, keyboards
Elton Dean - saxophone
-featuring-
Rab Spall - violin
Lyn Dobson - flute, saxophone
Nick Evans - trombone
Jimmy Hastings - flute, bass clarinet


This is the album that defined Soft Machine, as well as the entire sub-genre of Canterbury fusion. Being as legendary as it is, I was a bit disappointed when I finally heard it. The music is well-played, but the songs seem to wander around without knowing where to go, and are extended way more than they needed to be.

Facelift is entirely improvised, and it shows. While there is a lot of excellent playing in this track, it sounds more like 3 or 4 different pieces stuck together than it does a single song. It is my least favorite track on the album because it is the noisiest and the most padded-out.

Slightly All The Time has a lot of horns soloing, with a bouncy bassline backing them up. It feels a little more structured than Facelift, with the different sections being somewhat segued into each other. Now, onto my favorite track on the album.

Moon In June is the only song that features vocals. And there a lot of of people who don't like Wyatt's vocals. He has a blatant British accent, and he also has a lisp. He retains both when he is singing. It makes his voice very... unique. Personally, I like his singing on this album, although there are a lot of people who don't care for it at all. The only musicians performing on this track are the basic trio that makes up Soft Machine, and they all put on a very good showcase of their talents, with great organ work, excellent "lead guitar" from the bass, and some very agressive drumming during some of the instrumental sections. However, this one could have done with some trimming, mainly in the later sections. This song didn't need to be any longer than 10-12 minutes, and a lot of the incoherent jamming and noise at the end could have been removed with no real loss of content. Nonetheless it's an excellent song, one of my favorites.

Out-Bloody-Rageous is the best of the three instrumental tracks, with the aural wall of keyboards at the beginning and end. However, this part lasts much longer than it needs to, going from interesting to ambient to annoying. The jazzy horn section and the organ solo and both excellent, though.

So while I may feel that this album is a bit overrated (as most any "legendary" album tends to be,) any fan of fusion, Canterbury prog, jazz, or improv would find plenty to enjoy here. (As a side note, a friend of mine pointed out that this is my first review that doesn't involve a creepy album cover.)

[dorio]

I know very few people who have the patience to listen to that genre nowadays, but there are. First thing is the format was original even for those days: four songs in one double album one track per side. Had not heard it for awhile but it reminds me stuff. That music was played at special parties (...) I found side 2 slightly boring but side 3 (the Wyatt's side) is still funny by the way he sings imo tho I agree it should have been shorter. This jazz and prog fusion was really far out this was underground music for fans that have been labelled as "intellectuals" but they're not (yeah it's true you wouldn't believe all the arguments i've heard about prog rock being only for one small elite.) That is false. Anyone can dig that genre of music no need to be "intellectual". Side one (Facelift) still floats nicely by my ear it hasn't aged much and sounds like Crimson King sometimes tho it should have been slightly edited by the end... I don't think legendary albums like that one tend to be overrrated as you say (...) I think they simply age well or they vanish into the collective consciousness and get totally forgotten. Soft Machine however hasn't been forgotten they still influence alot of neo-prog rock bands esp those that like to jam and improve live or in studio (...) 4th track is still the strongest piece of the album it's very influenced by jazz (Miles Davis should have jammed with Soft Machin) and the fusion works good with prog that 4th track has it's highs and lows but i'd say more highs than lows the piano part is delightful tho' the horn section and the organ rule the piece. I don't find it as long as the Wyatt's side tho' which should have been slightly edited imo like Slightly All The Time the 2nd instrumental track.