Side One
Hazard Profile, Part One
Hazard Profile, Part Two
Hazard Profile, Part Three
Hazard Profile, Part Four
Hazard Profile, Part Five
Gone Sailing
Side Two
Bundles
Land of the Bag Snake
The Man Who Waved At Trains
Peff
Four Gongs Two Drums
The Floating World
DISCOVERY; I got this album because Soft Machine is a great name for a band and the album cover is pretty cool. What made me curious about them were the reverential tones the rock press reserved for underground luminaries. So they were pretty high on the list and making the trip to Oarfolk's it felt important to come home with something fairly obscure. As I've said before, you don't go to a cool bohemian record shop miles out of your way to buy an Elton John record. I thought the latest Soft Machine album would make me look legit.
WHERE & WHEN; This album and the Quiet Sun album formed a part of my collection I'd be very slow to expand. Jazz rock fusion albums did not fit neatly into the image I was cultivating. Something about the genre was a bit too prim, a bit too brainy, a bit too leisurewear. I liked the guitar work enough to play the album a few times but not enough to register who the guitar player even was. It was only when I heard the album again a couple years ago I realised what a stonking great album it is! OK, it's a bit safe I admit, it's like instrumental rock music with jazz tendencies. Like eating one of those breakfast cereals with dried fruit in, thinking now you've had your fruit for the day. There's an analogy for you.
Can't say I'm a Soft Machine fan by any stretch. I'm a fan of this album which isn't really a Soft Machine album at all. They were on to something here. Should have called it 'The Ratledge Holdsworth Band' and stuck it out for a few years. They could have made 'Bundles One', 'Two', 'Three'...
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HIGHLIGHTS; Brilliant album in hindsight.
STATUS; CD
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