Third

I HATE PROG ROCK I DONT WANT TO LISTEN TO 18 MINUITE TRACKS ONE AFTER THE OTHER I DON'T WANT TO SIT THROUGH SEVEN MINUITES OF A GUITAR SOLO Actually this isn't bad tbh

- DO NOT LISTEN TO TRACK 1 FIRST - It was alright, but nearly lost the will to live after the opening minutes of track 1, and this is coming from someone who usually rates prog rock quite highly. Quite an enjoyable listen once I got past that.

I'm so tired

The field recording of an alien swingers party that ends in communal astral projection.

A sometimes bracing sometimes beautiful prog/jazz fusion album. It was honestly a little exhausting listening to the entire thing, but I can't deny that it was NOT BORING (my most important metric!). I can see why some people would give it a 5 for sure, but it's not quite there for me yet. 4 it is.

The musical rendition of Hitchhiker's Guide. Adventurous, mind-bending, indecisive, crazy. I got lost several times. The fact that this was recorded live is incredibly impressive. It sounds several years ahead of other bands that would themselves be considered wildly ahead of their time (e.g. Pink Floyd's Meddle and WYWH). Unfortunately, though, the music lacks riffs, hooks, and (for the most part) chord progressions and melodies, making it tough for your standard listener. One thing I will say is that it wasn't boring. It just overrepresented creativity and musicians' enjoyment, at the expense of building a connection with the audience. Because I'm part of said audience, I can't give this 5 stars. Great synths. In fact, great instrumentation all around. The musicianship is solid and the band sounds like they're genuinely enjoying themselves without sounding too indulgent. Fun and well-executed build-ups as well. It's mostly great, in theory. 4/5 Fave track: Out-Bloody-Rageous

Way way too much prog, disappeared up its own arse before the first two minutes of ambient nonsense had finished. Pointless, annoying, way too long. Its not big or clever to make music like this. The most jazzy parts reminded me of cheap tickets I got to the proms where we left after forty minutes. Wish I left this after forty minutes. Bad.

I would have run a bloody mile from this in years gone by. These days I'm the one making all the moves. You grow old, you listen to jazz, innit. Life 101. Even better if it's on the cusp of psychedelic shit fusing it with freestyle jazz and drugs are involved - participants, not the listener. I love how the songs build up throughout ten minutes or so. You aren't going to hear these on Heart FM anytime soon. There's also a soft approach to all the jazz shit. The horns won't blow your arse off. If you make it through all four sides then you have done very well. It takes you on a journey. Gawd knows where to. I became lost on side 3. That's half the fun, right?

You do a track, and you do a track, and you do a track. Play whatever you want but don’t tell anybody else what you’re doing. We’ll just mash em all together in the end. Ugh.

Really phenomenal spacey electronic stuff, big fan of this sound and can see where it launched them in the future as well.

2.5/5 I liked the part when they sang. Fav: Moon In June

A little noise, a little jazz, a little avant garde minimalism, all prog. Though I like their first two albums a bit more, this is bold stuff, and holds up well alongside other prog rock and jazz fusion of the era.

I enjoyed this to begin with, as it was different to what I was expecting, but after a while - probably during the first tune, as it's nearly 20 minutes long - my interest started to wane. A lot of jazz leaves me cold, and prog makes me feel a bit queasy, so prog jazz is not really going to float my boat. Too much showing off, and for far too long.

I knew from the first track that I was going to hate this album. An 18 minute track where it takes more than half the duration to get going. Even after that it just sounds like noise. The rest of the album isn't much better and I gave up before the end.

So crazy good so cool instrumental stuff absolutely yes

One of my favorite album ever, by which I discovered the incredible Robert Wyatt. Uncompromised and so unique experimental jazz music with a canterbury scene feel. Listening to Robert Wyatt singing Moon In June while drumming is one of the best thing a human can experience.

Sometimes the best albums are the ones we can't figure out

now this is the kinda weird shit i am looking for drone, jazz, rock, electronic. only thing i'm not into is the vocals on track 3

Jazzy prog? Wow I have been sleeping on these guys. I know some of Robert Wyatt's solo stuff but somehow haven't ever explored Soft Machine. I clearly have work to do!

Wow, I re-listen an album I liked before and find out I actually love it? Who Could've guessed something like that would happen to me! Sarcasm aside, this album is magnificent, with a hard-coded display of jazz rock at its instrumental finest, with a sonic blast of buzzing organs, complex drum patterns, and bass playing that is just subtle enough to feel like a texture that keeps my mind fuzzy. Even better is the third track's vocal performance via Robert Wyatt, who's voice I adore to no end, and I really soak in each word he speaks, as, alas, this is our only moments with him vocally. I originally was turned off by the opening track for being too all over the place and nonsensical, and while it is still the weakest track, I can wrap my mind around it just enough to love the parts where all the instruments explode at once, or when the music reverses and goes forward at the same time. Assuredly a sick experience to see live, and the rest of the album's non-live performances are also top-notch. Figures that I like it when British white guys do crazy, long form jazz instead of albums like Bitches Brew. Because I'm a bad person. Ah, well... someday that album will click with me. Maybe. Probably not. But this one does! This is fantastic, and worth the re-listen just a month later!

Wow, this album is a wild trip. I ignored first track - it is unbearable to listen to from first second. But rest of it is just crazy. During one 20 minute track it can go from perfect harmony to totally dreadful chaos and go back to great harmony. And this album is doing this many times this process is so smooth that I can't wrap my head around it. I have never heard other song with part that was monotonous and not interesting just to use it as a base to build more on it and turn it great and fascinating. Avoid first track.

I really liked this; a mix of pop, avant garde, psychedelic, jazz, progressive all wrapped in that late 60s lofi sound. Lovely.

A mix between electronica, prog rock, and free jazz. In other words, pretty awesome!

Very cool listen. A bit of a synth psychedelic feel to the finish which I really dug. A bit up and down as far as how much I enjoyed it, but overall a cool album

Somewhere between ethereal and jazz.

While I appreciate Soft Machine’s risk taking and experimentation, I’ve always found Canterbury scene prog to be a little boring and self-important.

Good free jazz but the intros to the songs are way too long

I think it's pronounced 'turd'.

5. I really like this album. It is a new sound for me with jazz that I really like and wouldn't mind hearing more of

Totalement et absolument ma came, je connaissais pas Soft Machine mais je kiffe, la découverte de cet album vaut tout à fait l'ensemble du projet des 1001 albums tructrucs

Hell yeah. This is sick.

dahora, quero ouvir mais.

Long and jazzy

I was very surprised to find this one on this list, but hey! I'm not going to complain. A really great album from a really great band. Moon in June is just incredible and makes me crave for some more. I understand that this album might scare a lot of people, but I swear it's quite the journey!

What a pleasant surprise. This album was a jazz/prog adventure. There were moments thwt sounded like King Crimson and early Kansas. I had to look up this band because the sound King Crimson is very prominent within this record and I wanted to see if there was any cross over. This band has gone through a number of members... Their current line up has Theo Travis on it, formerly of King Crimson. Theo also has worked with Porcupine Tree and Steven Wilson's solo stuff. Remember the killer flute solo In The Raven that Refused to Sing? That was Theo Travis. Awsome listen. Would love to show this off to my fellow prog friends.

love it

On my current round of overnights, I've been revisiting random albums that pop into my head. One of those records is "The Apocalypse Inside of An Orange" by Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, guitarist for the Mars Volta. I bought that record at age, like, 13, because I had randomly stumbled into being a fan of TMV and wanted to consume everything they made. I bring it up because, I think that record was severely inspired by this one. This record is drenched in psychedelia, acid, and even that kind of electronic that sounds "space age". I groaned when I saw that it was only four songs initially, but ended up walking away really loving it? It aged well, despite definitely sounding confined to the era in which it was birthed. I hesitate to give it a five here, all because of the vocals on "Moon In June". They aren't the strongest, the lyrics aren't great, and overall just feels like a throw-away. Other than that, I really love how weird this record gets, and found the 80 minutes (or so) pass by relatively quickly. Will definitely revisit. Favorite tracks: "Facelift", "Slightly All the Time"

This album is a 78 minute opus with only four songs. The genre can loosely be said to be progressive rock, but that doesn't even begin to encompass what is here. Soft Machine have clearly done their homework and are influenced by Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and early jazz fusion. This modal jazz influence is the dominant one and the album can be characterized by long passages with a simmering quality before building to a crescendo and starting over again. At no point did this have a noodly quality to it, but rather feels improvisational within a careful framework that the whole band is locked into. In that way it distinguishes itself among other albums of this type.

It's one of my favorite albums from the early 1970s. Such a great mix of jazz, rock and electronic music. I got into their first two albums because I was a big fan of psychedelic rock and 'Soft Machine' and 'Volume Two' were two great records from that era. 'Third' made me got interested in jazz fusion and electronic and opened new doors in my world of music. It was unusual for me, a then 22-year-old girl to listen to such music but I'll always be grateful that I discovered this band. Apart from the first few minutes of 'Facelift', this album is such an inspiring listen to me every time I listen to it. The reason is that it never gets boring and I always find some nuances that I discover while I listen to it. I fully understand if it not everyone's cup of tea, but this gets a 5 from me no doubt.

9/10 kind of a mess of an album, but I absolutely adore this shit

Originally I wanted to write and excessively long and detailed review of this record, but now I’m done with this whole thing and this is the only album left to be rated! So I will be writing by heart, be as long as it may. Soft Machine formed in Canterbury as psychedelic/progressive rock band, with founding members including genre stalwarts Kevin Ayers and Daevid Allen. As the band progressed they moved further from rock, dropping the guitars, and further towards jazz, adding wind instruments. This leaves us at Third, a album with lengthy jazz soloing with a recognizable prog rock base. The album features original members Mike Ratledge’s defining keyboards, Hugh Hopper’s bouncy (heh) yet solid basswork, Robert Wyatt’s unmatched drumming, as well as Elton Dean’s alto sax trading solos with the likes of Lyn Dobson, Jimmy Hastings and Nick Evans. The first thing you will likely about the album is that it’s 75 minutes long with only 4 tracks across 4 sides: This is a committed listen. Despite the length, I never feel as if the album or any of the individual pieces go on too long. The length is merited by the content filling it out. Starkly, “Facelift” opens with abrasive organ noise. One could easily mistake this as something produced by a guitar (as I originally did), one contributing factor to the rock feeling even in the complete absence of guitar. Eventually the track settles into a march like 7/4 groove, the band playing the piece’s theme before setting off on an extended bout of soloing. This is the track most singularly focused on jazz soloing, going through different moods and sections, but largely the members give their solos before returning to the theme to close out the first side. “Slightly All the Time” is the most jazzy track on the album, with swinging drums and Hugh Hopper’s brilliant bassline. This album also features many unusual time signatures (as does the whole album, a particular joy of mine), going between 11/4, 9/4 and 10/4 throughout it’s different sections. The track, as expected, features much soloing as well as dynamic melodies and section changes, ending on a somewhat playful note. ”Moon In June” is the odd man out: A quirky sung song (the last of Soft Machine’s career) featuring Robert Wyatt playing all the instruments in the first section. As well as being a prime example of Wyatt’s unbridled musicality and creativity, it is also a solemn reminder of what the drum world lost with his accident leaving him paraplegic. He switches between nasty grooves so rapidly it seems like would never run out. After this long first part of the song, we shift into more familiar jazz rock territory featuring the rest of the band, then ending on an eerie drone. Just when you might think the album is out of suprises, “Out-Bloody-Rageous” begins with a long section of keyboard tape-loops. The loops layer on top of each other at different speeds, creating an enveloping soundscape. For my money, this section could continue for the full length of the track, but we are treated with another section of nimble jazz rock, this time in 15/8 time. This section follows the familiar themes and solos structure, before ending with a short tease of more tape-loops before a piano interlude. More jazz rocking follows, before ending on one last tape-loop soundscape. Soft Machine went further into jazz on following releases, with many changes in line-up. To me, this album offers a whole that I can’t find quite anywhere else. The whole-hearted embrace of jazz, the prog-psych heart, the odd-time grooves, free experimentation and just overall high quality of musicianship, composition and sound. This is one of my all-time favourite records, not necessarily for any emotional significance, but the music and the rich listening experience it continues to provide.

Marvelois

Fascinating Prog Rock Jazz, disconcerting at first but beguiling by its conclusion, four eccentric compositions draw the listener in and also repel them. Experimentation at its finest.

The first five minutes borrowing from the gurgles of *musique concrète* could scare you into believing that this record is a self-indulgent borefest even worse than the ones of Emerson, Lake and Palmer. But as some other reviewers pointed out here, that introduction is just a recording of Soft Machine flexing their muscles onstage ("Facelift" is a mash-up of two live shows) before the *real* performance begins. And what a performance it is! *Third* is a double-album. Forget prog-rock, its first disc, with one long track for each side, is actually a free jazz masterpiece akin to the ones of John Coltrane or Miles Davis circa-*Bitches Brew*. Coupled together, those modulated harmonies and syncopated rhythm patterns offer so many *tight*, intense moments that it's easy to lose count. And even if the guitar work is stellar there, it's mostly brass and organ that steal the show. The fusion of the two into a fully zany, "experimental"-yet-groovy mode--plus the addition of tropical flutes and more abrasive tones once in a while--has rarely sounded so inspiring and enticing. Not only will *Third* delight most fans of the legendary jazzmen quoted up there, but it will also please a lot of folks looking for hypnotic soundscapes of all stripes. The second disc, also made out of two tracks with each one of them taking up one side, uses those jazzy shores as a starting point to indeed explore uncharted territories--thereby foretelling Robert Wyatt's solo output. The drummer's distinctively frail yet expressive and moving voice can thus be heard throughout *Moon In June*, a very adventurous track that oscillates between dreamy dirges and prog-rock flourishes. And interspersed between short "ambient" sequences that would have sounded at home in Tangerine Dream's early LPs, the "Out-Bloody-Rageous" instrumentals closing the proceedings return to a vein that throws post-bob and free-jazz aesthetics into a mesmerizing arty landscape close to what krautrock would have to offer in the months and years that would follow the release of this record. The penultimate section of this cut is for instance a gorgeous thing, with its ecstatic sax lines aiming at the skies, drenched in echoes and propelled by a hectic rhythm section grouding the whole thing into very human emotions. And the synthetic-sounding outro is a pure wonder, the stuff that dreams are made of. *Third* is therefors one of those records structured around the idea of "build-up", either within the tracks or as a whole. And patience will warrant any listener who's attentive and open-minded enough to give a chance to it. Given the very poor global score this album received on this app, it seems that patience and open-mindedness are not key assets in most listeners, unfortunately. Their loss. And the gain of everyone else who *get* what Soft Machine accomplished here. 4.5/5 for the purposes of this list, rounded up to 5. 9.5/10 for more general purposes (5+4.5) Number of albums left to review: 190 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 351 (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 203 Albums from the list I won't include in mine: 258

Favorite discovery from this project so far. This is fucking sick. Weather report/Can vibes

I think it’s fair to say that this album probably falls more under the umbrella of jazz. Whether you call it jazz or prog rock, this is definitely a free-form improv album that’s on the experimental and avant-garde side. It’s amazing to see this band’s progression as I work my way through their albums. “Third” is definitely a highlight because I really enjoy the way they incorporated the use of studio techniques and electronics. I look forward to hearing this more in the future and continuing my journey through their discography.

Brilliant album. It really surprised me how early this is made and the tone of the album.

What GHAAAASTLY NOISE is that??

Surely this is one of the most eclectic and eccentric albums on the list! This album has a strange but wondrous magic to it. The playing by the band is all great; excellent bass, drum and keyboard parts throughout. My favorite part of the album is the second half of Moon in June, there's something so enchanting about it to me. I also like the vocal bits, and Slightly All the Time is awesome all the way through. Such a journey of an album.

Awesome. I'm really happy to find out about the existence of this band. It's like Pink Floyd veered into jazz fusion instead of prog rock. I'm gonna need to give this another few listens before I know how I really feel about it, but by the end of the first listen I was mightily impressed.

This is why I started this project in the first place, to find incredible albums I'd never heard before. I know nothing about this band, just four tracks but it's jazz/rock stuff and it works exceptionally well. Reminds me of that Blood Sweat Tears album, which also was jazzy, but this one is all in. Just four tracks, each one an odyssey filled with wild and captivating sounds. Of course I'm saving every song. I don't know what else to say, this is all the way up my alley. First new album five-star in a while but very deserving. Favorite songs: All of them, don't ask me to pick a favorite because each has moments that caught me in my tracks. Album art: How often do we get these amazing albums with totally boring covers? It's just the word Third, with a bit of a shadow and path effect going on. Burnt orange all around. It's extremely minimal, and I can't say I'm mad at it, but it gives no indication whatsoever of how incredible the music is. 5/5

Jazz. Experimental. Interesante, pero demasiado largo.

very interesting album, enjoyed it a lot.

I got a softspot for these guys. It's not really rock at all- more jazzy prog but it's really good for putting on late at night and chilling with a stick of incense...

4.5

For the era, I think this was super impressive

Maybe im a bit biased from other prog rock but i wish this was a bit more technical. The first track threw me off originally but as another reviewer recommended on second listening i put it off until last and i enjoyed this a bit better. Still pretty nice though.

Through two songs, both of them have some really great moments. I generally like this style of music - the experimental rock, so I'm a little biased. Lots of really good stuff. There weren't any parts, really, that felt like it didn't belong in the song.

Jazz with prog rock segments. Out-Bloody-Rageous and Slightly All the Time were the tracks I enjoyed most. Cool stuff.

Heavy does of Jazz with a touch of some prog/avant-garde rock. Probably the the 5th or 6th time listening and it keeps getting better.

Vibe I looooove die jaren 70 achtige nergeuze king crimson ass Horns

Hey cool, more Robert Wyatt! I liked this a lot, as far out as it got at times. Reminded me at times of an album's worth of Mr. Bungle interludes. Kind of crazy this is considered jazz rock, as it seemed like 95% jazz with only occasional rock elements.

There were a couple of times I could have turned this off but mostly I thought it was pretty amazing, the good kind of jazz fusion.

Digg jazz

This is a very cool ride, it spans jazz/psychedelic/prog/noise rock and conjures images of early King Crimson, Pink Floyd and maybe even some Zappa and Kraut rock/electronic music. I'm still not a fan of Robert Wyatt's voice but it's undeniable that he's a great musician and has teamed up with A-list musicians of the era with Kevin Ayers, Elton Dean and Hugh Hopper. The first track, Facelift gets a lot of grief from the reviewers on this site, but I didn't think it was too bad. Experimental yes, but never boring. The stand-out track for me was the closer, Out-Bloody-Rageous and I learned from Wiki that the tape loops on this song were inspired by Terry Riley hence its repetitive minimalist sound. Disc 2 (which is not available for listening on Spotify) was apparently part of a subsequent CD released in 2007 so technically not part of this album so its not graded here.

It seems they may have taken a page from Bitches Brew, with one song per side. Side 1 is too noisy for me and poorly recorded. Side 2 is great, very Weather Report-ish. I don’t know how a jazz critic would rate it, though. Side 3 is maybe the most interesting and the least jazzy, though Robert Wyatt’s lyrics are silly at times. Side 4 has a great intro. I think I read of a Terry Reilly influence and it sure sounds like it. I just wish the minimalist segments weren’t dragged out for so long.

Jazz rock / prog / Canterbury Scene of the highest order.

Favorite Songs: Slightly All the Time Out-Bloody Rageous You start with the impression of being at a concert in the 70s in a dusty location and some blokes experiment with their instruments. After 10 Minutes of intro in the first track it becomes quite catchy, the second song is amazingly jazzy.

Très cool, mais pas facile putain

December 1, 2023 HL: “Moon in June”, “Out-Bloody-Rageous” Kind of as a counterpoint to another reviewer, the song order works for me because the spacey loops in the last track are a cool bookend to the atonal electronics in the first. Aggression slowly gives way to serenity I appreciated the book’s insight of the members of Soft Machine wanting to make “serious” music, to Robert Wyatt’s displeasure Though people who don’t like jazz or prog will likely find this interminable… I probably should have a copy/paste of “Wow I liked this more than I expected” for every new prog band I come across on this list.

British jazz rock from 70, extremely distinct feel between the different tracks A hated the first one

pretty enjoyable mix of jazz and prog, like it quite a bit, would have liked it more if Robert Wyatt had kept his trap shut on Moon in June

Wyatt usually manages a telos with his music; Soft Machine doesn't. That's dangerous territory for prog, which Third navigates deftly. While no track is near lean, each occupies its position and no more. Noodling, the music's friendly at the same time it confuses.

Get the sextant out and plot a course to the edge of your mind. After a start where is seems there was some frantic twiddling of knobs before the correct settings were found it hit a stride. A discordant quartet on offer with many ebbs and flows plus a smattering of wit. Give it a go there is plenty to discover.

3.5 - This is definitely an odd album. The first few minutes of the first track had me scared, but it's actually kinda good. That third song was definitely the standout here. I can appreciate the mix of jazz and prog. This makes me pretty optimistic for the Robert Wyatt albums that are in the 1001 albums list.

I put off listening to this all day because I kept thinking it was Soft *Cell*. This rules though, I can definitely fuck with this. It's like if Ornette Coleman jammed with Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd.

Rating: 7/10 Best songs: Facelift

I enjoy this. It’s interesting and unusual. I like to listen to stuff without words when I work and this fits that bill nicely. 4/5

hard prog

mukaviin pätkiin jaettu pojat. edelläkävijät (varhaiset valkoihoiset) jatsi, rokki fuusio (kaksi kevyttä atomiydintä yhtyy yhdeksi raskaammaksi)... virtuoosoja selv'sti. kuitenkin muutama osio jotka eivät vaan hittaa.. helpoin genre onnistua mutta ei oikeen pystynyt... jotkut indiealbumit parempia kuin tämä, miten voi olla? orgaani sentään soi ja rommia pullo. eli silti erinomainen kokemus tämä, jota en koskaan olisi kuullut ilman rojektia. slightly all the time

Just heard it today! As a huge fan of other soft machine albums i was pretty excited and while i didn't care much for facelift every other track was fucking AWESOME. Totally deserves the hype it gets, even though i might still prefer their self titled album for how stupidly varied and innovative it is

Is it prog or is it jazz? Or maybe both. Either way, it's pretty great

It's weird to have never heard of this being a prog guy. It might be because I'm more of a prog metal than a prog rock fan but damn this is good. Lots of inspiration was taken from in the court of the crimson king but that only makes it better.

The bridge that connected rock and jazz was becoming increasingly crowded and the formerly progressive rock minded Soft Machine added their footsteps to the structure with their Third record. Four eighteen plus minute songs detailing their progression (hehe) from flight to fancy is definitely not for the kind that becomes irritated by the supposed monotony of the arrangements, yet those who are intrigued find plenty to comb through on the way to finding gems. Moon in June and Out-Bloody-Rageous in particular are showcases of what the Canterbury scene now had to offer to the increasingly complex rock world, as their indebtedness to their influences such as Terry Riley (the go-to guru of inspiration at the time) shone bright here. Overall, a take it or leave it collection and I'm inclined to do the former. Favorites: Slightly All the Time, Out-Bloody-Rageous.

This is some really stellar psych-rock.

i will be real i really liked this

Stort album. Låter annorlunda varje gång jag hör det

Very jazzy prog second half better then the first

More interesting than enjoyable. I've got the hang of Robert Wyatt by now.

track 2 theres a wind instrument that plays like 6 mins in and it sounds like this SUPER deep bass from like a drum machine or something its so fire. i like this a lot actually wow

Usually go for a Kevin Ayers or Robert Wyatt solo album (lost of great music) or else for the first Soft Machine album. On Third Ayers is no longer part of the band which now makes mainly instrumental music, think 18-minute songs that can go on forever. I agree with other reviewers: best not to get distracted with the rather tedious and lengthy start of the opening track, as afterwards the album gets much better.

All prog, no rock. This is what we call Jazz. Not disappointed, but definitely not what I was led to expect reading the reviews. Nice in the background. Really impressive performance. A live take, you say? Cool. Will I listen to it again or seek out anything else they've done? Likely not.

💖 moon in june 🗣️ 8️⃣

Easy

Good stuff that I should probably know better than I do given me tastes. I prefer Henry Cow.

Never listened to these guys before but I really enjoyed it. Probably depends on my mood - not the kind of thing I listen to every day but when I wanna get weird in a hippy jazz sort of way, I am glad to now know these folks can deliver.

I don’t have much to say about this one. I liked it and can see myself putting it on again sometime.

Jazz/Prog/Psychadelic/Rock Fusion. Good Times.

idk for me

Jam session