Third (Soft Machine album)

Third is the third studio album by the English rock band Soft Machine, released on 6th June 1970 by CBS Records in the United Kingdom and Columbia Records in the United States. The album was recorded from January to May 1970, partially at IBC Studios, based in London, and was produced by the band themselves. It is a double album with a single composition on each of the four sides, and was the first of two albums recorded with a four-piece line-up of keyboardist Mike Ratledge, drummer and vocalist Robert Wyatt, saxophonist Elton Dean, and bass guitarist Hugh Hopper. Musically, Third marks a shift in the group's sound from their psychedelic origins towards jazz rock and electronic music.