BUNDLES

After a two year break, Soft Machine returned with essentially the same lineup as the previos album, "7", with one major addition. Allan Holdsworth was added as the first guitarist to be featured in the band. While Holdsworth is great, and certainly does a fantastic job on every song he appears in, he is so good that he dominates the album, pushing the rest of the band into the background.

Compositionally, the songs are similar to the previous albums. The music is made up of clever chords and melodies in interesting time signature blends, with a heavy nod toward soloing. And this group was certainly proficient at soloing. But the addition of the guitar gave the band a much more conventional fusion feel.

So while to me the albums "4" thriough "7" rate in the high four star range, this one is closer to the low fours. Still a great album, just not quite at the level as the previous few.