b o b

Those who like their prog without lyrics and at the jazz/fusion end of the spectrum should enjoy this album. It's entirely instrumental and very fusionish. The opening track, "Teeth," is appropriately named because it has some real bite to it — the energy and density levels towards the end of the track are as intense as music gets. "Kings and Queens" is a little more conventional fusion — there's a bit near the end that reminds me of Miles Davis. "Fletcher's Blemish" is pure musical chaos, so if you don't like "noisy" music, you'll want to skip that track. In good prog fashion, the album also has a side-long piece, "Virtually," which is split into four parts. It's all over the map, blending jazz and noise in the earlier parts with more atmospheric music in the latter parts. The closing section also reminds me of Miles Davis, namely the atmospheric organ in "He Loved Him Madly." But that song was released five years after Fourth, so it can't be considered an influence (but could Davis have been listening to Soft Machine?). Is Fourth as good as the much praised Third? In my opinion, not really, but it does have much better sound quality going for it. And the music on Fourth, if not the band's highest peak, is still very good. review by Bob Eichler — 3-25-05 —

j o e

First of all, will you look at that album cover! Whomever designed this, strategically placing upfront Mike Ratledge in full Mod-King-Beelzebub glory amidst a glaring Brady Bunch-wallpaper orange, is either a visionary genius several centuries ahead of the rest of us, or else completely barking mad. (Sure, I know album covers like that were probably normal back then, but don't crush my toys). Okay, got that off my chest. Now, the music. Well, Fourth is a logical progression from Third, with the band voyaging ever increasingly into the seas of instrumental fusion and away from their psychedelic-cum-vocals beginnings. As can be guessed from this trajectory, Robert Wyatt was being pushed further and further out of frame. Notably, his role on this album is strictly drumming with no vocals. Still, he hid his disenfranchisement well, and lays down some excellent work here. At its best, the brand of fusion that the band was developing was rather unique sounding. Obviously, it drew influence from the usual suspects (e.g., the abrupt cadenzas of Coltrane and sensitive feel of the ballads from Miles Davis' quintet) but injected on top of that British elements that don't show any direct correspondence to other prominent fusion bands of the time (e.g., the backwards tape loops experimentation, the rock fuzz-bass of Hopper, the wailing organ of Ratledge). Aptly described by Hugh Hopper as a "difficult to severe to bloody" piece to play, Mike Ratledge's "Teeth" is my favorite Soft Machine piece and a true, underrated classic of prog instrumentals. One of their most intricately composed, going in just over 9 minutes through unpredictable phases of fast and slow, intricate order and chaotic rage. There are two moments (among many) that I particularly love. One is right after the opening fanfare with the uneven call-response of Roy Babbington's acoustic bass and Elton Dean's corkscrew sax lines-the band gets down to business with a 3/4 shuffle memorable for Roy Babbington's sprightly runs interlocking with Wyatt's go-for-broke drumming. Another is in the middle, when the piece bursts into a Coltranian crescendo: Dean and Ratledge locking into a melodic cadenza, Hopper's fuzz-bass growling from out of nowhere, and Wyatt's drums beating like waves against a rock, before these musical elements gradually meld and begin swirling around and around like the formation of a whirlpool. For all of the busyness of "Teeth," by stark contrast "Kings and Queens" represents one of the band's most stripped-down, laid back pieces. It somewhat resembles a blues form, in 6/4 cycling between Dmin and a shorter stretch of Bmin. "Fletcher's Blemish" is a piece contributed by free-jazzer Dean, and the side-long "Virtually," composed by Hopper, acts as a kind of summary statement of all the elements heard in the previous songs. Of course, there are those who will always maintain that any Soft Machine worth hearing ended at Third. To that I can only say out-bloody-rageous, though I guess can respect that the mid-period of the Softs ain't going to be for everyone, particularly those who disdain fusion. As for Fourth, though it peaks early, it remains compelling throughout. After his final outing with Soft Machine, Wyatt would depart to form Matching Mole. review by Joe McGlinchey — 4-4-05 —

m a t t

Of all the bands that came to fusion from the rock side of the fence, Soft Machine (the early 1970s incarnation) probably had the most jazz credibility. With British free-sax phenom Elton Dean's status as a full-time member solidified after his participation on Third, the Fourth and Fifth albums are the deepest into pure jazz that the band ever got. While I don't think that this album is quite on the level of the monumental Third, I do think that Fourth is an excellent record - and the final major statement by Soft Machine. Fourth finds the band at an interesting juncture. It was recorded in the fall of 1970, meaning that, unlike Third, Fourth was made after Miles Davis' fusion innovations had gone public. Yet the album does not sound particularly influenced by Davis, or even by much else that was considered "fusion" at the time. Actually a lot of it sounds roughly like the band's own innovations on Third, but with more pronounced John Coltrane influences and a number of the rock elements filtered out. The opener, "Teeth," is the most satisfying example of the new approach: it is a dense rush of busy improvisation mixed with (seemingly) composed themes, as Dean and Mike Ratledge first alternate and then compete for solo space amid the tricky web of the rhythm section and the other instruments. If you listen close, you can make out an organ riff that sounds like a quotation from "Hope For Happiness," a song from the band's second album. "Kings and Queens" is the track most indebted to Coltrane, as the bass reminds me of a line that might have been used in one of Coltrane's slower pieces. It is essentially a forum for Dean to improvise. "Fletcher's Memorial" is a free jazz meltdown; the dissonant bowed double-bass of Roy Babington adds a potent urgency, but those put off by music that sounds suspiciously like disorganized noise will not likely enjoy the racket. The remainder of the album is given over to the four parts of Hugh Hopper's "Virtually" - often spacious, occasionally almost tuneful music that, with the exception of the noisier second part, qualifies as the most accessible on the album. The experimentation of "Part Two" is overtaken in "Part Three" by a mournful bass melody that leads the band down an almost ambient path of "wah-wahed" keyboard effects, concluding with the somber "Part Four." This album marked the end of an era for the band, as it was the last Soft Machine album on which drummer Robert Wyatt appeared. Wyatt had become dissatisfied with the band's direction (he favored a more rock-based approach and also wanted to sing) and left after recording Fourth to form the short-lived Matching Mole. You'd never know that Wyatt was disgruntled by hearing his playing, however - he turned in a superb performance crucial to the band's new sound and his playing is one of the key reasons why I elevate Fourth above the other post-Third albums. review by Matt P. — 3-7-05 —