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The Soft Machine - Fourth CD (album) cover

FOURTH

The Soft Machine

 

Canterbury Scene

3.59 | 421 ratings

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Bj-1
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
4 stars One of my favorite Soft Machine releases, "Fourth" saw them progress further into regular jazz though it still had the canterbury sounding to it. It's similar to "Third", only more jazz oriented. As with all Soft Machine releases this one shows that this band really can play, it's more or less flawless technically, and the band masters the insanely difficult time signatures with complete ease. Unfortunately, this was drummer Robert Wyatt's last album with the band, it seemed that he didn't like the direction the band was going through, so he quitted to make his own solo career.

Musically, the songs are well balanced and pretty even. The best cut have to be the opener, "Teeth", one of their very best songs and perhaps the jazziest on the album. Hugh Hopper's "Virtual" suite is also a stand-out here. Overall, the album has enough to please most jazz-rock/canterbury fans, though it's a bit inacessible but it's a grower, so don't worry! Newbies should hear some of their other stuff first though, otherwise this one is highly recommended. 4.25/5

Bj-1 | 4/5 |

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