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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
A Live CD and DVD of the Seven era Soft machine (Karl Jenkins, Roy Babbington, John Marshall, Mike Ratledge, with Gary Boyle and Art Themen, with Hugh Hopper making a guest appearance in sound only on the DVD track 17), the discs represent pretty much all that was recorded on the day at the Congreszentrum, Hamburg in May 1973, by Nordeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) a North German radio station.
The sound quality is what you would expect from a professionally recorded show for Radio and Television. The music is fairly typical of the Six/Seven era with this being the first properly recorded Live release from the Seven album Band though the show highlights the Six album titles such as 'All White', 'Riff', '37 ½' , 'Stumble' which were live on that album and live versions of 'Stanley Stamps Gibbon Album' and 'Chloe and the Pirates'.
In order to fit much of the live album on to one CD `The Soft weed factor' has been cut from the first set quite expertly, while a 15 minute '1983' and a 10 minute 'Encore' also do not feature on the CD, these do however feature on the DVD, though the latter two only as audio tracks.
The Soft Machine are now starting to be well represented on DVD with `Grides' and `Alive in Paris 1970' available from Amazon already. You will however be pleased to know that the DVD in this set is probably the best so far in terms of picture quality and possibly sound as well(LPCM rather that Dolby Digital for better sound quality). I will have to A/B the others to see.
As a summary this represents possibly the best of the Seven band and a worthy addition for any collector of the Soft Machine.
The sound quality is what you would expect from a professionally recorded show for Radio and Television. The music is fairly typical of the Six/Seven era with this being the first properly recorded Live release from the Seven album Band though the show highlights the Six album titles such as 'All White', 'Riff', '37 ½' , 'Stumble' which were live on that album and live versions of 'Stanley Stamps Gibbon Album' and 'Chloe and the Pirates'.
In order to fit much of the live album on to one CD `The Soft weed factor' has been cut from the first set quite expertly, while a 15 minute '1983' and a 10 minute 'Encore' also do not feature on the CD, these do however feature on the DVD, though the latter two only as audio tracks.
The Soft Machine are now starting to be well represented on DVD with `Grides' and `Alive in Paris 1970' available from Amazon already. You will however be pleased to know that the DVD in this set is probably the best so far in terms of picture quality and possibly sound as well(LPCM rather that Dolby Digital for better sound quality). I will have to A/B the others to see.
As a summary this represents possibly the best of the Seven band and a worthy addition for any collector of the Soft Machine.
Format:Audio CD
Having seen the Soft Machine during this period I can say that being able to play and watch this over again enhances the memory of live performances in Norwich and Brighton. The quality of the CD and video is excellent, measured by whatever standard.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3 reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Excellent Softs
5 Jun 2010
Format:Audio CD
This is a CD plus DVD of a Jazz Workshop presentation which aired on German television in 1973. No, there is no Robert Wyatt or Kevin Ayers or Hugh Hopper. Well, yes to Hugh Hopper. He is on the DVD in an audio only version of '1983' which clocks in at 15:33. This is the version of Soft Machine which was in existence after the release of Six and while die-hard Soft Machine fans sometimes show disdain for this incarnation of the band, there is some wonderful music here. The band consists of Mike Ratledge, Karl Jenkins, Roy Babbington and John Marshall. There are two parts to the presentation, the first with the core band as mentioned above and the second with the addition of Gary Boyle on guitar (who had recently formed Isotope) and Art Themen on soprano and tenor sax. The CD contains the two additional songs with the full band that are not included on the DVD version. The DVD is excellent quality. Cuneiform Records did a great job with this priceless snapshot of early seventies Soft Machine. There are audio and video samples of this work on Cunieform's website. IMO this is some of the finest jazz-rock ever produced. For fans of early Softs only, all I can say is you are missing some first rate music.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
a universe of stars please
7 Jun 2010
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
if your a soft machine fan, don't even bother reading this review. just order the cd/dvd right away, no questions asked. and yes, pay the extra couple bucks for expedited shipping because it's all worth it. as much as i liked the "old" soft machine and the great music they provided, my heart beats faster for this incarnation with babbington/jenkins/marshall/ratledge. the live package is mainly from the "sixth" release. the dvd is absolutely stunning. the picture and sound quality is beautiful. what a joy to see this band perform. as added guests, gary boyle joins in on guitar and art themen on saxes. we all have our choice of elixirs we reach to after a tough day in the game of life. this package, especially the dvd is mine. watching the soft machine play melted all my stresses away and left me smiling. thank you soft machine for yet another quality performance, and thank you cuneiform records for providing this long overdue release to us listeners to enjoy.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Rare Look into a Suprprisingly Musical Period
11 July 2010
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Soft Machine could be a noisy avant-garde group but they slowly morphed into one of Europe's leading light in jazz fusion. This CD / DVD combo is a long live set from German television. The band was switching to a new bass player, Roy Babbington, who was more willing to do long improv jam pieces behind Mike Ratledge and Karl Jenkins He gets into wonderful grooves with John Marshall effortlessly. However, Hugh Hopper does show up to do some crazy stuff on one audio bonus track "1983", even if the mix is rather strange.
Both sets are substantially the same, with about four songs different. The video quality is outstanding (typical of German television at the time) and there are no eye damaging effects to cause head aches, which was typical for 'Beat Club'. Additionally, there is about 25 minutes of bonus audio on the DVD, making the entire package a great value for the money. Recommended and surprisingly tasteful.
Both sets are substantially the same, with about four songs different. The video quality is outstanding (typical of German television at the time) and there are no eye damaging effects to cause head aches, which was typical for 'Beat Club'. Additionally, there is about 25 minutes of bonus audio on the DVD, making the entire package a great value for the money. Recommended and surprisingly tasteful.
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