FIFTH [AKA: 5]

Well I do prefer this one to "Fourth" but it's close. Ratledge composed most of the music on this one. Wyatt and just about all the guest musicians who were on "Fourth" are gone except for Roy Babbington and his double bass.

"All White" doesn't have much going on for the first 2 minutes except for Dean's meandering. Then bass, drums and piano arrive and Elton becomes more prominant with his sax melodies. "Drop" opens with the sound of water dripping as liquid piano joins in. Cool sound. Drums and bass arrive 3 minutes in with sax following. Ratledge is all over this with his fuzz organ. Great sound. "MC" is a Hopper tune, and his only composition on here. More liquid keys in the intro from Ratledge. Drums take over as sax sounds come in around 1 1/2 minutes. Keys return to this atmospheric section that has little in the way of a melody. Mostly sax, drums, piano and bass sounds. I like it a lot though.

"As If" is the longest track at 8 minutes. We get outbursts of sounds before it calms right down. Sax, piano, bass and light drums start to slowly get louder as it builds. Sax is leading the way. Hopper makes some noise before 4 1/2 minutes until piano starts to become more prominant 7 minutes in. Big finale. "LBO" is a short Marshall tune where he offers up a drum solo. "Pigling Bland" features smooth sax melodies. Much better. The tempo picks up after 3 1/2 minutes. Very enjoyable song. "Bone" has to be a Dean composition, and it is. Lots of atmosphere and experimental sounding. I like it though because it has this Krautrock vibe in it.

Like "Fourth" we get some experimental passages with some Avant-garde Jazz. I like this style of music a lot. Easily 4 stars.