Soft Machine released their third album, surprisingly called >Third< in 1970. It is a double album with each side of the vinyl consisting of a single long composition. Pressed on 180 gram audiophile vinyl, comes in gatefold cover.
Its music explores the emerging jazz fusion of the type present on Miles Davis' 'Bitches Brew', which was released just a few months earlier.
'Third' marks the most major of Soft Machine's several shifts in musical genre over their career, completing their transition from psychedelic music to jazz.
"Third" is a significant milestone of the Canterbury scene, featuring interplay between the band's personnel: Mike Ratledge on keyboards, Robert Wyatt on drums, Hugh Hopper on bass and newest member Elton Dean on saxophone.