SIX

For those who are not deeply in love with "Soft Machine", it is quite hard to review each of their albums. I am just saying this because this is another double one clocking at almost eighty minutes. And the content is not very different of their prior releases: fully jazz oriented (being the live disc or the studio one).

Is there any need to mention that the band changed from personal again? I guess not.

Is there any need to mention that the musical style hasn't really changed? I guess not.

There is no need to proceed to a track by track reference: the global feeling that prevails is just a fully jazz oriented album again. Canterbury style is alien here (as during most of their works actually, but one can try and argue). This is jazz rock: period.

I'll leave the debate to know if jazz-rock is part of prog music to your judgment. But I have my idea?

To tell you the truth, I would advise you to listen to each side (or section) in a separate way, because the whole of this offering is quite indigestible to listen to as a whole. Again, your feeling might be more obliging if you are under the jazz charm. But I am not.

The worst I had to experience was the second free-jazz jam "Gesoltreut etc. ". It reminds me of the VERY difficult to bear "Facelift" from their third album: inconsistent, improvised, and rather loose to say the least. At the end of the day, this is pretty much dispensable. The only decent part is the drum solo. Big deal!

Two stars. This is again on the upper side of my rating system.