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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
74/75 was when the band totally changed direction & probably lost many of their original "Canterbury Rock" fanbase. However, they gained a new audience with the compositions showcasing solo guitar. First was the incomparable Allan Holdsworth, who moved on to play with Tony Williams, to be replaced with John Etheridge. This recently released album features live performances when Etheridge had taken the reins.
If you are a fan of the Softs from this era then you need this. The guitar playing is great and although the departed Holdsworth was incomparably brilliant, I feel that the band are tighter in this album and the other members solos are also better than in Floating World.
It was a really tough job for JE to take over from AH, especially as many of the tracks are featured on the studio album Bundles (which was one of my favourites from the 70's)and you do tend to think that these tracks belonged to AH.
As with Floating World, the drum solos, whilst good, are over-indulgent and way too long.
If you are a fan of the Softs from this era then you need this. The guitar playing is great and although the departed Holdsworth was incomparably brilliant, I feel that the band are tighter in this album and the other members solos are also better than in Floating World.
It was a really tough job for JE to take over from AH, especially as many of the tracks are featured on the studio album Bundles (which was one of my favourites from the 70's)and you do tend to think that these tracks belonged to AH.
As with Floating World, the drum solos, whilst good, are over-indulgent and way too long.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
really I wanted to buy "Softs" , but that record is not available. I went for this live recording instead, since it is from the same period and contain some of the tracks. I really like Etheridges guitarplaying, but I find something amiss with this live recording - there is not much of that emotional intensity and (nearly pinkfloydian) moodiness which I appreciated so much on "Softs". Improvisation is good and energetic but not so much more than that -- generic fusion rock, it just spirals on and on as a testament to the bad reputation of the late 70's fusion music. Very competent but boring. A plus is the sound quality of the CD-very good. The studio recordings are more subtle and dynamic, I think. Compared with this I much prefer the early soft machine, 69-71 with Wyatt and Hopper, where there are suberb live recordings available too. That band really sounds like nothing else.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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8 reviews
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
everything i was hoping for
11 Sep 2005
Format:Audio CD
First of all, the recording quality is great. The playing is top notch. Etheridge puts on really good interpretation of the bundles songs. The musicians sound very inspired throughout the whole set. I was frustrated that there were no live recording from that period and finally i got exactly what i hoped for. The only minor complain is I don't think I will be able to sit through a 10 minute long drum solo again...
I think bundles is one of the greatest fusion albums of all times and softs is not all that bad either. There is really not much more to say about this set other than it is a must for the fans of these two albums.
I think bundles is one of the greatest fusion albums of all times and softs is not all that bad either. There is really not much more to say about this set other than it is a must for the fans of these two albums.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Soft Machine Raw and Live
10 Sep 2005
Format:Audio CD
This is for Softs fans of their guitar stage and this album really shows it. This album has no overdubs,feedback goes in and out of the songs and the production probably just the way it sounded as the concert did,nothings change, perfectly concent like. The thing that is odd is you got music from the Softs album that sounds undone and very different and song from Bundles that have change quite a bit like The Floating World is just a bridge to Ban-Ban Caliban or Out Of Season being faster and just electric then on Soft version.Karl Jenkins never even touches the woodwinds and this is the only album you hear Mike Rateledge and John Etheridge play together. The unreleash material is good to JVH is a great synth duet and is just full of sound. Sideburn is a 10 minute John Marshall durm showcase with shows no site of him slowing down. The grand finale in Sigh of Five with is a marvolous funk-rock driven song it features delightful callback reponse and delious band interplay worth the price. If you want some good intensive jams go for this pick.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Soft Machine '75: Later Was Better
14 July 2010
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
How very typical of Soft Machine that we could have two concert recordings from the same year, with much of the same material, yet both shows are very different.
Given a choice between this October '75 show and the January one captured on "Floating World Live", many fans might choose the other simply because guitar legend Allan Holdsworth played on that one. For my money however, this show is considerably better.
Holdsworth is a blindingly fast and technically brilliant player. But with Soft Machine he seemed rather overbearing and one-dimensional. His effect on the band seemed to be to inspire the other members to compete with him, which to my mind made the music suffer. To me, the January show with Holdsworth was little more than a long string of amphetamine solos from all members, with little sympathy for the actual music.
What a difference 9 months made! On this disc, replacement guitarist John Etheridge showed that he was perfectly capable of Holdsworth-style pyrotechnics, but he chose not to do these every chance he got. Instead he exercised some artistic restraint and economy. The whole band now sounded more relaxed, and the music was allowed to breathe. There was more depth, texture and subtlety; due largely to the keyboard interplay between Mike Ratledge and Karl Jenkins.
Of course there are still solos galore. Be warned that both of the 1975 shows suffer from the interminably long drum solos of John Marshall. The guy was simply not so good or innovative to warrant this indulgence; even tolerant 70s audiences must've been checking their watches and strolling to the loo.
Given a choice between this October '75 show and the January one captured on "Floating World Live", many fans might choose the other simply because guitar legend Allan Holdsworth played on that one. For my money however, this show is considerably better.
Holdsworth is a blindingly fast and technically brilliant player. But with Soft Machine he seemed rather overbearing and one-dimensional. His effect on the band seemed to be to inspire the other members to compete with him, which to my mind made the music suffer. To me, the January show with Holdsworth was little more than a long string of amphetamine solos from all members, with little sympathy for the actual music.
What a difference 9 months made! On this disc, replacement guitarist John Etheridge showed that he was perfectly capable of Holdsworth-style pyrotechnics, but he chose not to do these every chance he got. Instead he exercised some artistic restraint and economy. The whole band now sounded more relaxed, and the music was allowed to breathe. There was more depth, texture and subtlety; due largely to the keyboard interplay between Mike Ratledge and Karl Jenkins.
Of course there are still solos galore. Be warned that both of the 1975 shows suffer from the interminably long drum solos of John Marshall. The guy was simply not so good or innovative to warrant this indulgence; even tolerant 70s audiences must've been checking their watches and strolling to the loo.
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