The Thing is an album by saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love, who then took the album title as the name of their trio.

The album was recorded in February 2000 and released that year by Crazy Wisdom, part of Universal.

[1] The album was first released in 2000 by Crazy Wisdon, part of Universal Group.

[3] The Thing received a positive review from The Penguin Guide to Jazz, which described it as "A great modern free-jazz record".

[2] The AllMusic reviewer summarised that "Gustafsson's furious and dense delivery receives great backing from Håker Flaten, who moves effortlessly from pizzicato to arco, and Nilssen-Love, who has the necessary energy to sustain the saxophonist's sonic onslaught", but criticised the performances on one track as "self-indulgence".