SIX

There are actually two albums here, a live album and a studio album. Karl Jenkins had taken on the lead role, and Mike Ratledge, while still an official member and playing great solos, starting to recede from view. The live album is actually relatively decent, although much of the music is now being written by Jenkins and is not nearly on the same level as the earlier Softs albums (even Fifth). However, the studio album here lacks any sort of energy, even of the experimental, avant-garde or free-jazz kind. I really like long drawn-out avant-garde jazz experiments, including a lot of Hugh Hopper's drones (I even like the experimental sides of the Centipede Septober Energy album), but the studio album here is simply boring. It does not help that John Marshall's drumming is so straight. He sounds completely bored himself! (but for some reason unwilling to liven things up). On balance, I give this album 4.6 out of 10 on my 10-point scale, which translates to 2 PA stars. Really, only the live album is worth a listen.

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