Softs [Import, Original recording remastered]

Soft Machine | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 13, 2010)
• Original Release Date: 1976
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import, Original recording remastered
• Label: ESOTERIC
• ASIN: B003JIOHJK
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #42,030 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce the long overdue release of the re-mastered edition of the classic 1976 album 'Softs' by the celebrated Jazz and Rock group Soft Machine. The album was the band s second for EMI s Harvest label and featured a line-up of Mike Ratledge (keyboards), Karl Jenkins (Oboe, Piano, Soprano Sax), John Marshall (Drums), Roy Babbington (Bass) and new member John Etheridge (Guitar), along with Saxophonist Alan Wakeman. An accessible collection featuring John Etheridge s considerable guitar playing talents and would also be the final album to feature founder member Mike Ratledge. Unavailable on CD for nearly 15 years, this reissue has been re-mastered from the original tapes and fully restores the original artwork.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Part Two of "Bundles", right?, November 4, 2005

By 

Squire Jaco (Buffalo, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Softs (Audio CD)

There were primarily two albums from Soft Machine that really interested me: "Bundles" from 1975, and "Softs" from 1976. Despite the departure of Allan Holdsworth and Mike Ratledge after "Bundles", the quality of the compositions and playing on "Softs" continues to impress as much as its predecessor. Both albums are 4-1/2 stars.

Critics of this album often compare it to elevator music or light jazz. Listen up: forced to suffer through endless hours of listening to Muzak as a security guard during my summer job in my college days (the late 70's), I feel supremely qualified to quash that hideous "light jazz" accusation! (Don't get me humming the clarinet version of "Penny Lane" again! Aarrgh!!!)

To be sure, this is not the aggressive, "Look what I can do" jazz/rock fusion of Mahavishnu Orchestra, U.K., some Brand X, or other contemporaries of the band. There is a dreamier atmosphere that pervades "Bundles" and "Softs"; but that background is supplemented with catchy bass riffs, searing and soaring guitar solos, great drumming, and interesting melodies interspersed with some great jamming. Actually, if you combined the pre-Brand X "Marscape" album with Camel's "The Snow Goose", you'd have a pretty good idea of the sound of "Softs".

I realize I'm kind of reviewing both albums here, but "Bundles" and "Softs" really are kindred albums that bookend a unique phase of Soft Machine. They share a similar feel and scope between them, while still managing to differentiate themselves with new melodies and perspectives.

These are very good, interesting, entertaining and - dare I say - ESSENTIAL albums for the serious progressive rock/jazz fusion aficionado.

I value interesting music that is played and recorded well. This cd's rating was based on:
Music quality = 8.9/10; Performance = 9/10; Production = 8.5/10; CD length = 8/10.
Overall score weighted on my proprietary scale = 8.8 ("4-1/2 stars")

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A DIFFERENT YET GOOD ALBUM OF FUSION/JAZZ-ROCK FROM LATER SOFT MACHINE, August 19, 2010

By 

Stuart Jefferson (San Diego,Ca) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Softs (Audio CD)

One disc 45 minutes in length approximately. The remastered sound is improved from earlier releases-clean, open, and crisp without sounding harsh. The 10 page booklet lists song titles, and band members (Roy Babbington-bass, John Etheridge-guitars, Karl Jenkins-keyboards, John Marshall-drums, Alan Wakeman-saxophones, and Mike Ratledge-synthesizer on "Ban-Ban Caliban" and "Song Of Aeolus". There's also a short synopsis of the band during the time surrounding this album, including insight from band members. There are color photos of the band members throughout the booklet.

This album, released in 1976, shows a band that had changed fairly radically from its earlier stage as a very progressive/sometimes tongue in cheek English group that used the talents of Robert Wyatt as drummer/vocalist, along with several musicians that defined the very sound of the band. From the first album through "Three", and maybe a bit beyond ("5TH" OR "6TH"), the band's sound was easily recognizable, yet not so easily defined.

This album and "Bundles" marked a real change in the bands direction. Gone were the organ/keyboard emphasis of earlier days-the guitar was becoming the dominant instrument. With the addition (he replaced Allan Holdsworth) of guitarist John Etheridge (on "Softs ") the band had a player who could step out front and solo until next Tuesday if needed. Along with Babbington's more rock orientated bass work (replacing the wonderful Hugh Hopper), and the intuitive drumming of John Marshall, the group took on a different sound-jazz rock. Where the bands earlier work was basically English progressive, this new band devised a harder sound in their compositions (written mostly by Karl Jenkins), which was a real left turn for long time "Machine" listeners.

But this album has a number of good things going for it. Certainly no one can say that Etheridge's guitar playing wasn't good if not great. He could up the fire power ("The Tale Of Taliesin") when needed, or play softly ("Etika") and mannered ("Song Of Aeolus") when called for. Jenkins various keyboards added, besides some beautiful piano ("Out Of Season"), just the right amount of atmospherics ("Second Bundle") that held his compositions together. Marshall's drumming was both the foundation for the rest of the group to work off of, and at times, almost a lead instrument in tandem with another soloist. Babbington's bass worked in tandem with Marshall to produce a rock solid background for the rest of the band. And Alan Wakeman added his horns when needed, adding extra depth to the songs. And to my ears the addition of Mike Ratledge on two tracks, definitely adds something missing from the rest of the album-a listen to the tracks he plays on is all the proof you'll need.

The composition "The Camden Tandem" is a perfect example of the new SOFT MACHINE. Etheridge's burning guitar, playing with and over Marshall's fusion-style drumming, is far and away different than anything the "old" "Machine" would compose, let alone play. Wakeman's horn is in the then current style of modern horn players who incorporated a bit of funk into their jazz-rock sound. Definitely not the SOFT MACHINE from the late 60's/early 70's. But that's okay. This band, with vastly different personnel, had their own sound and approach to music. There were a number of bands (especially in the U.S.) playing fusion style music, using jazz as a launching pad. Indeed, Allan Holdsworth had just left SOFT MACHINE to play with the awesome (late) Tony Williams, in his new fusion-orientated band. So yes, the bands sound had changed-playing the then new fusion/jazz-rock style that was fast becoming the new "thing". And that's all right-any artists who don't grow and change will suffocate eventually. The band was playing the music that most (certainly not all) people wanted to hear.

Is this album any better of worse than the bands earlier work? No. It's different, that's all. If you're a died-in-the-wool SOFT MACHINE listener from the early years, this album might sound almost foreign to your ears. If, however, you're open to a different sound (and band), this album has a number of outstanding compositions, wonderfully played. Having heard SOFT MACHINE since the earliest days, this album took a bit to get into. But once I opened my ears and really listened-wow. If you like 70's fusion/jazz-rock played by musicians at the top of their game-give this a try. You just may be pleasantly surprised.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars First Division Instrumental Fusion From Master Musicians, September 29, 2010

By 

S. Dinsdale (Leeds, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Softs (Audio CD)

"Groups exist for the use of musicians" so said drummer Bill Bruford. I think that this statement applies here. Much is made of Mike Ratledge literally fading away from the group during these sessions thus effectively leaving the Soft Machine to a whole bunch of non-original members. This has no trace of the wit and wisdom of the Robert Wyatt years, or the edgy experimentalism of the mid-period band with Hugh Hopper and Elton Dean alongside Ratledge's patent organ soloing.

It does however, continue the shift towards the first class compositional and instrumental intensity delivered on it's predecessor `Bundles'. Keyboard and Reeds man Karl Jenkins is now the driving force, and (Allan Holdsworth recommended) guitarist John Etheridge takes the music to a new intensity and ferocity ably supported by the stunning drumming prowess of John Marshall. There are contrasting slower melodic passages, and time shifts, making this a thoroughly well assembled and captivating suite of compositions.

This album is often seen as the beginning of the end for the Softs, but fresh listening to this beautifully recorded and newly remastered re-issue on Esoteric reveals much to admire and plenty to enjoy in terms of breathtaking musicianship.

In truth the album becomes a little fragmentary towards the end, but the first two thirds of its duration is a tour de force of energy and propulsive Mahavishnu style intensity, contrasted with Jenkins' strong compositional abilities on the softer passages. `The Tale Of Taliesin' and `Ban Ban Caliban' in particular represent British musicianship at it's finest, while `Song Of Aeolus' occupies the melodic territory of the likes of contemporaries Focus and Camel.

Forget the name and the associations of old, and enjoy the fact that the musicians gathered here were at the height of their creativity. Recorded at Abbey Road under the auspices of engineer John Leckie, instrumental music never sounded so good.