Soft Machine

Soft Machine | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 12, 1993)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: One Way Records Inc
• ASIN: B000002R2W
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #506,027 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars They opened for Hendrix in '68 -- and blew us away!, November 26, 2000

By 

S. H. Towsley (Fort Wayne, IN & Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Soft Machine (Audio CD)

This band toured with Jimi Hendrix around 1968, and I saw them in Muncie, Indiana, then went out and bought this album in vinyl. At the time, it was their first and only album. The killer was, the album's production mix was terrible (I can only speak for my copy, but still...). Here was a trio relying upon heavy-duty organ (!) and a super-solid bass bottom end well before anyone else was doing it (Todd Rundgren & others who used organ in place of lead guitar in a power trio came later). In live performance, Soft Machine was as powered up as any other trio of the time, from Hendrix to Cream. They were loud, yes, but their sound was classic power rock -- deep bass, rockin' drums, and those amazing, somewhat overdriven instrumental licks by the lead instrument, a well-amped Hammond B3 (I think).

They took the crowd totally by surprise. Their performance was wordless, and contained very little vocal. It was just great playing, with improvisation, and, I learned later, a close relative of jazz fusion. They were bathed in a psychedelic light show on an otherwise darkened stage, and they very simply knocked us over.

Then, as I said, I bought the album, and to my everlasting disappointment, the bottom end was entirely missing. What had been their gutsy and gutteral sound on stage became a narrow band of mid-range tootling. There was no way to play this for friends and have them see why I loved this band. I didn't have sufficient graphic equalization to try to "re-mix" the thing on my stereo, but even if I had, I have no doubt that the production values of that album helped to assure that Soft Machine would NOT be able to capitalize on their brilliant live shows in the hottest rock double-bill it has ever been my privilege to witness. They did not become another superstar power trio like Cream, Led Zeppelin or (you fill in the blank), though they should have. Their later albums got little popular press and frankly I didn't realize until lately that they produced several more albums after the first. I will be checking out this CD to see if they got the mix right later on, and will eventually buy II and III, at least, to see where they went in terms of jazz fusion. But I feel sorry that this band, which should have ridden Hendrix' coat tails to their own legitimate stardom in '68, misfired on their signature 33 1/3 LP.

Reading the other reviews, I see that others who saw this same tour in '68 became die-hard afficionados of this band too. I have saved and framed the flier from that concert all these years because it was pivotal for me in forming my own musical worldview for my keyboard performing. (Yes, I'm a rock/fusion musician myself). All I can say is, when you stop to think how hugely entertaining Hendrix had to have been on that tour with Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell, Soft Machine MUST have been phenomenal to have held their own and blown people's doors off. Yes, Soft Machine was THAT good, live.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Holds its own after 30 years, August 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Soft Machine (Audio CD)

I saw them open for Hendrix at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago with no knowledge whatsoever of who they were. They blew me away and I bought the album as soon as I had the money. I wore it out, bought it again, wore it out again, then recently bought the CD. It remains strong to this day. This was, in my opinion, their strongest line-up. Keith Emerson was getting the accolades back then, but Mike Ratledge has some truly viscious organ solos on this record. Wyatt plays some amazing drums, and his unique vocals run from goofy in songs like "Why Am I so Short" to touching in "A Certain Kind." Kevin Ayers puts his comic spin on much of the writing. This is truly inspired with little regard to convention, which is probably why it still sounds so darned great.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An erratic gem in rock history, August 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Soft Machine (Audio CD)

Soft machine is best regarded for their jazz/rock records 2 and 3 but in my personal opinion the First is their best. Robert Wyatt's original drumming is in apex and it's never found in all his subsequent works. The whole record is a connected piece with a serious of songs, with impressive melody and unpredictable treatment. It is a very raw yet brilliant record. For those interested in progressive/psychedelic you mustn't miss this one. ~~~by Fu Wai