Third＜完全生産限定盤＞

1970年発表 ソフト・マシーン最高傑作にしてプログレッシヴ・ロックを代表する名作『Third 』

60年代後半から70年代初頭にかけて、最も重要かつ影響力のあるプログレッシブ・ロック・バンドの一つであったソフト・マシーンは、1967年にイギリス(カンタベリー)のアンダーグラウンドから登場し、UFOクラブやミドル・アースといったロンドンの最先端の会場で精力的に演奏し、その後10年間にわたり、完成度の高いアルバムと革新的なコンサート・パフォーマンスで、確固たる名声を築き上げた。
本作は、1970年に、2枚組全4曲というスケールで発表された彼らの最高傑作にしてプログレッシヴ・ロック・シーンを代表する名作『Third 』(アナログ盤)。当時のラインナップは、ロバート・ワイアット(ドラム、ボーカル)、マイク・ラトリッジ(オルガン)、エルトン・ディーン(サックス)、ヒュー・ホッパー(ベース)。キース・ティペット・グループのメンバーを迎えて展開される音世界はアヴァンギャルド・ポップとインテリジェンスなジャズが見事に融合された唯一無二の傑作。

Soft Machine plunged deeper into jazz and contemporary electronic music on this pivotal release, which incited The Village Voice to call it a milestone achievement when it was released. It's a double album of stunning music, with each side devoted to one composition -- two by Mike Ratledge, and one each by Hopper and Wyatt, with substantial help from a number of backup musicians, including Canterbury mainstays Elton Dean and Jimmy Hastings. The Ratledge songs come closest to fusion jazz, although this is fusion laced with tape loop effects and hypnotic, repetitive keyboard patterns. Hugh Hopper's "Facelift" recalls "21st Century Schizoid Man" by King Crimson, although it's more complex, with several quite dissimilar sections. The pulsing rhythms, chaotic horn and keyboard sounds, and dark drones on "Facelift" predate some of what Hopper did as a solo artist later (this song was actually culled from two live performances in 1970). On his capricious composition "Moon in June," Robert Wyatt draws on musical ideas from early 1967 demos done with producer Giorgio Gomelsky. Lyrically, it's a satirical alternative to the pretension displayed by a lot of rock writing of the era, and combined with the Softs' exotic instrumentation, it makes for quite a listen (the compilation Triple Echo includes a BBC broadcast recording of "Moon in June" with different albeit equally fanciful lyrics, and the Robert Wyatt archival collection '68, released by Cuneiform in 2013, features a remastered version of Wyatt's original demo of the song, recorded in the U.S. following the Softs' tour opening for the Jimi Hendrix Experience). Not exactly rock, Third nonetheless pushed the boundaries of rock into areas previously unexplored, and it managed to do so without sounding self-indulgent. A better introduction to the group is either of the first two records, but once introduced, this is the place to go. ~ Peter Kurtz