The one hundred ninety-fourth album: #194 Soft Machine - Third
Listening to Facelift, the first track on Third, feels like it features two indulgences that I like least - the loose, too long jazz improv style layered on top of a prog rock feel that is unfocused, losing its power in the process. There are moments that make you perk up and think something interesting is going to follow, but really the twenty minutes just keep dragging. oon in June feels like a good step up (even if it's backwards for their oeuvre) as the lyrics provide a lot more structure to the num. It it still long, the lyrics aren't great, but it feels like it has a bit more substance while that part lasts. On the whole though, it's an album with four tracks that run too long, but don't have the pay off needed to make them worth the time spent listening to them.