''Fifth'' (the title is ''Fifth'' while the front cover shows the number ''5''), is the fifth studio album by the

jazz rock Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, amplifiers, and key ...

band Soft Machine, released in 1972. In the US the album was identified on cover and label by number (''5'').

Overview

''Fifth'' was the first Soft Machine album recorded after the departure of founding member Robert Wyatt and continued the band's progression away from their original blend of psychedelic and

progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

rock towards jazz fusion. Wyatt's replacement was Phil Howard, who contributed to the 1971 sessions that comprise side one, after which he left and was replaced by John Marshall for the 1972 recordings that make up side two. Future member Roy Babbington played double bass on side two, as a session musician. Unlike the previous two albums,

Elton Dean Elton Dean (28 October 1945 – 8 February 2006) was an English jazz musician who performed on alto saxophone, saxello (a variant of the soprano saxophone) and occasionally keyboards. Part of the Canterbury scene, he featured in, among oth ...

's saxophone is not augmented by a brass and reeds section composed of session musicians.

Track listing

Side one

#"All White" ( Mike Ratledge) – 6:06 #"Drop" (Ratledge) – 7:42 #"M C" (

Hugh Hopper Hugh Colin Hopper (29 April 1945 – 7 June 2009) was a British progressive rock and jazz fusion bass guitarist. He was a prominent member of the Canterbury scene, as a member of Soft Machine and other bands. Biography Early career Starting ...

) – 4:57

Side two

#"As If" (Ratledge) – 8:02 #"L B O" ( John Marshall) – 1:54 #"Pigling Bland" (Ratledge) – 4:24 #"Bone" (

) – 3:29

2007 CD reissue bonus track

#"All White" (take two) - 7:14

Personnel

– alto saxophone, saxello; Fender Rhodes electric piano (2) * Mike Ratledge – Fender Rhodes electric piano, Lowrey organ *

– bass guitar * Phil Howard – drums (1-3) * John Marshall – drums (4-7) * Roy Babbington – double bass (4-7)

References

External links

Soft Machine - ''Fifth'' (1972) album review by Wilson Neate, credits & releases
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

Soft Machine - ''Fifth'' (1972) album releases & credits
at

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Soft Machine - ''Fifth'' (1972) album credits & user reviews
at ProgArchives.com
Soft Machine - ''Fifth'' (1972) album to be listened
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