FOURTH

'Fourth' by Soft Machine was released in February of 1971 and came after a triplet of ground-breaking and compelling but very different from one another albums that are still considered some of progressive rock and especially the Canterbury scene's finest. Whether it is the whimsical and lighthearted psych-pop adventures of the well-known Volumes 1 & 2, or the menacing avant-garde masterpiece that is the monumental album 'Third', one cannot neglect these first three albums, as they showcased that the band could easily morph into different creatures, every time to great results. So, what could one expect from the next release except another tremendous and jaw-dropping masterwork?

Well, the reality is a bit different. Fully embracing the role of avant-garde and fusion explorers, Soft Machine's new agenda was not matching each band member's musical desires. This is, of course, a reference to Robert Wyatt, with whom creative differences were quite dramatic. The in-band pressure resulted in him leaving after this album and making 'Fourth' the last studio recording to feature the legendary drummer and former vocalist of The Soft Machine.

Alongside Wyatt, on 'Fourth' also play keyboardist (and in my opinion one of the unsung masters in progressive rock) Mike Ratledge, bassist Hugh Hopper, who was responsible for writing most of the album, and saxophonist Elton Dean. However, as it always happens in this band, several other musicians get to work on the studio albums and re-work or add something to some of the songs' sections: Roy Babbington on double bass, Nick Evans on trombone, Alan Skidmore on tenor sax, Jimmy Hastings on flute & clarinet, and Mark Charig on cornet are the names of the people that are also featured on 'Fourth'.

Probably the most severe sign of the inner-band conflict is the fact that Robert Wyatt did not write anything for this album, and he really feels just like the drummer who added his parts on top of everyone else's works. He, however, did not approve of the band's new direction of a fully-blown instrumental jazz and fusion collective, so all these events are certainly interconnected. Nevertheless, the rest of the band members who wrote music for 'Fourth' did a very impressive job.

'Teeth' is Mike Ratledge's free jazz mini-epic, and certainly the only song that gets as close to the quality of the compositions of the preceding behemoth of an album; a true indication that this man was the Softies' secret weapon with hands like spiders, as he goes ballistic later on in the song; 'Teeth' also feels like the most complete of all the songs here. Then the band dive into 'Kings and Queens', a slower sax-centered composition that is reminiscent of some 60s modal jazz, a Hugh Hopper composition. Following this one is Elton Dean's original contribution to the album, 'Fletcher's Blemish'. It is funny, because they went so 'free' on that song, that everyone seems to be playing a song of their own, making this utterly unlistenable and startling at the same time. Finally, we go into the land of Hugh Hopper again, with the four-parted side-long suite 'Virtually', a very interesting addition to Soft Machine's catalogue on which Robert Wyatt feels quite isolated from all the action. Part 1 is fantastic, Hopper and Ratledge play the necessary number of notes with grace and intelligence that can only be heard on 'Third', as strange as it sounds. Part 2 is no worse, while the final two episodes of 'Virtually' blur out the suite that was feeling just so good up to that point. However, 'Virtually' could not match up to any of the epics on 'Third' in my book which does not make it less enjoyable.

I would say that this has to be one of the lower points in Soft Machine's career, given the success of the three preceding albums. The ambitious ideas are there, but the pressure of the discrepancies in the band members' visions about the band is reflected upon the album in an abstract way. For a band that has always been trying to figure out its identity, this is both a very important album, maybe even a watershed kind of album, and a slightly disappointing one, as it failed to live up to the expectations created by the mighty 'Third'.