Talk:Third (album)
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In fact, Third predates Bitches Brew by a few months. And, except for the final track and parts of tracks 2 and 3, it is not a typical jazz fusion record. The band's imaginative use of collages is here at its most radical, to the point that the first track is actually built from two full-length live renditions (recorded early 1970).
Apart from the extraordinary beauty of the music in the whole of this album, and its early placement in the history of jazz fusion, a remarkable feature that strikes anyone interested in the complex evolution of the band itself is the fact that the Soft Machine was at a transitional phase, one full of tension but also of fascinating originality. Between the Second and the Third they added a four-member brass section (Dean, Dobson, Evans, and Mark Charig, not featured) that allowed Ratledge trying written arrangements of new as well as earlier material. Thus the complexities of tracks 1 and 2, mainly. The Fourth album still has this sophistication, mainly on the opening track Teeth, but the live performances by the 4-men lineup (Ratledge, Wyatt, Hopper & Dean) were far from that sound. To listen to the septet on late 1969, One should look for the collection BBC Radio 1967 - 1971 Sessions.
Track 3 is the only vocal track and, if for some an oddity, for most of the rock fans it is the favourite. Composed two years earlier by Wyatt and also collecting from other of his ideas, the vocal part itself is almost completely played by him, to be collated with the collective sections of the instrumental half.
Third is also marking the height of the keyboard playing by Ratledge with this band and the full maturity of Wyatt's playing. The latter is considered by many as one of the best drummers ever to appear in pop/rock/jazz records, if not technically at least musically speaking. The contributions by Dobson in track 1 are quite interesting and Elton Dean is rather restrained in his avant-garde playing, which in the context of this album appears to be quite fortunate.
