5

I'm still relatively fresh to the world of jazz fusion and jazz rock. To me, Fifth is SERIOUSLY one of the most challenging albums I have ever heard from the 70's (and I've literally heard thousands of albums by this point in my life).No, it's not Yes, or Emerson, Lake and Palmer, or Gentle Giant- but *Soft Machine* who holds the title for the most sophisticated of all the rock bands from that time period.This is because, on the mid 70's albums at least, the Soft Machine liked to implement lengthy, challenging, mind-altering sax and piano jams and completely change the way musicians played their instruments back then. That's not the ONLY thing that makes the band so special.Soft Machine somehow had a talent for taking their musical instruments, and making them jam with so much relentless power and combining it with emotional energy, it's just completely hard to believe so few people out there have actually heard Soft Machine's Fifth.This is one band I wish hadn't slipped through the cracks- they deserve a ton of credit for being one of the most sophisticated and listenable progressive rock jazz bands that ever came out of the 70's.With all that said, Fifth is not an album for people expecting strong songwriting, distinct vocal melodies similar to the ones previously found from the Third album, or anything of that nature.In order to appreciate Fifth, you need to go into it expecting full-fledged jazz jams, and nothing more. Their fourth album showed signs of a drastic change coming, but Fifth finally put all the pieces together and delivers with the ultimate example of jazz-rock sophistication.I won't lie- I had to listen to this album over 10 times in order to really GET it. Apparently my mind was still under the assumption that Soft Machine should be writing vocal melodies, melodic instrumental passages, and playing second fiddle to the more popular progressive rock bands.What I actually had to do was convince myself that Fifth is purely and completely a straight up JAZZ album in order to appreciate every sequence of notes. Otherwise I never would have gotten into it.Like I said in my opening line, I'm no expert when it comes to jazz. Half the time I don't even know whether I'm listening to it the right way or not. I listen to albums such as this one until the mood sinks in, and until select parts of the instrumental passages finally click and make sense.I strongly recommend this album for a challenging listening experience. The Soft Machine proves they should be remembered for the next several years and they should NOT be standing in the shadow of other famous bands like Yes and Genesis.

This is the beginning of the slow but steady decline of the Soft Machine. I give the recording five stars because it is inferior (slightly) only in relation to the brilliant Four. By the time of Five, a disgruntled Robert Wyatt had left to form Matching Mole (machine molle -- get it?) and pursue another, and indescribable, direction entirely. Organist Michael Ratledge, alto sax/saxello player Elton Dean, and sublime bassist Hugh Hopper still remained. The drumming, by John Marshall, is certainly more than adequate, but the band was never quite the same after Wyatt left, and was positively dreadful after -Bundles-, by which time Ratledge had followed the rest in departing, leaving them to vaporous noodling which might have made good muzak had it not been so annoying. On Five, Ratledge plays considerably more electric piano than previously (with an indeterminate amount of help from Dean, who doubled on the instrument), with a touch (though not a style) reminiscent of, say, Chick Corea and Joe Zawinul in Miles's 1970 recordings. Which is to suggest that this is prime electric jazz done in an era when many such projects tended to be excessive or misguided. For those familiar with previous Soft Machine incarnations (One, Two, and Third), this may seem quite a different beast (save for Ratledge's readily identifiable swarm-of-bees organ) -- the accent is strongly on jazz, and there remain few if any rock influences beyond those dictated by amplification.Buy it. Right now. Buy One through Four, too. After that, you're on your own (but might wish to pick up the trail with Robert Wyatt's lovely Rock Bottom from 1974.)

This album seems more meticulous that the bands earlier work. Like Third (and probably 4 even though I don't have it yet), its an album to kick back to and let the music flow, especially "All White" and "Drop", the drum solo on "LBO" is incredible too. Instruments on this album are blended into a whole, and each is showcased at least once. Check out the incredible sax on "As If". Fans of earlier Soft Machine should still give this album a try, even if it is completely different than what they started with.