Soft Machine - Fourth (1971)
 

This thread is for discussing the album Fourth by the Canterbury band Soft Machine. It was 2011's first homework album in the prog & fusion album club.

So, whatcha think? :)

Been wanting to but sadly, never been able to get my hands on it. If it's anything like 2, and 3 though, then I'm in.

Anyone know of anywhere I can get this album?

Check your PM box comrade. :)

This became my favourite Soft Machine album after the first listen :)

Before this one, I was mostly familiar with Third. Something that bugged me with Third was the low production quality. I hope it's not just my copy, but it sounds like they've put woolen socks over the mics. The production on Fourth is a lot better sounding in my opinion. The album was immediately catchy and attention grabbing right from the start (teeth). For me, I think this might just be the perfect entry-album into Soft Machine. Perhaps I should've attempted this one before tackling Third.

Very good!

I personally really liked this. Apparently Soft Machine decided to go even jazzier from Third with this one. Which is a good thing, but also it's biggest flaw. I liked it a lot but it lacks a lot of the really distinguishing characteristics that the earlier albums(Namely Soft Machine II) had. However, with that said, this is the only real flaw, and it's a damn good album none-the-less.

I especially liked the extended final track. Albeit not traditionally a Jazz band I feel Soft Machine puts out what is a damn fantastic jazz album that might not be up to the very best efforts of say, Miles Davis, but generally comparable to some of the works of most of even the better jazz masters.

Only thing that notches this away from being perfect is the fact it lacks the distinctiveness of other earlier Soft Machine works.

And Mike Ratledge just looks so cool on the album cover :p:

I am going to have to give an explanation for my mediocre vote, pun intended. But not at the moment. Pardon me.

But in short, it didn't grab me as it seemed to for you folks. I'll be back...

This is actually the first time I listened to Soft Machine, when I read this part, I thought that this was absolutely right. Therefore, I know what to do now.

Before I tackle this, what's your opinion on the first album?

First album is good, their second is incredible.

Thanks for the tip. I'll be sure to listen in!

Although I`ve never heard this album all the way through, the tracks I know, such as Fletcher`s Blemish and Virtually pt. 2 sound a bit too busy and dense for my liking. I prefer tracks that you can relax into, like the Third album`s Facelift, with it`s big, bold themes and surging tensions. In comparison, it feels to me that SM are trying -and playing - too hard on this album.
None the less, their instruments still have that special, unmistakable sound and Kings and Queens is a good track, so I`m going with a vote of "Good".

Besides having listened to it all the way through, this is more or less how I felt about it. I don't normally have those feelings but the songs don't really stand out for me as enjoyable (yet). I may pluck tracks from it but I'm not really a fan of the album as a whole. It was good.

Teeth has especially sunk in ... pun intended.

Very good. Still not in the same league asThird IMO. Robert Wyatt had very little to do with the album as Hugh Hopper, Mike Ratledge and Elton Dean took over experimenting with more of free form improvisitional jazz fusion. The Soft's next few albums were a complete let down IMO but Bundles was a great comeback with Allan Holdsworth stepping in on the album.

THIRD is better than FOURTH - but better still is the Peel sessions 2 cd set, which features superior versions - especially the awesome take of "Moon in June". I love the lyrics, which Robert Wyatt largely made up on the spot....



btw does anyone have any opinions about Soft Machine Legacy? I'm thinking of going to see them in June....
Soft Machine Legacy @ Band on the Wall

The main edge Fourth has over Third is that the production is brighter and possesses a lot more depth. Composition-wise, there's a reason why more people listen to Third. :P

However, this is still a really, really strong record that I think everyone with an interest in jazz, Canterbury or just Soft Machine itself should own.