Customer Reviews
Fantastically Evocative of the Times - By: Kevin Mcclure, 20 Feb 2007 
When I was young I found this a difficult brace of albums to get into but although it didn't all turn me on immediately I always knew that there was enoughin there to make it worth my while sticking at it. Once the penny dropped it all became very clear & I do still love this music. The wonderful thing about this CD version is that there is enough room to cram on both albums so that I can listen to it as a whole. There are clearly songs & pieces of musicin there that I am very fond of but picking them out seems to miss the poit. The separate pieces are all part of a whole so that although I always await with anticipation of hearing "You may laugh at me, Say I don't deserve..." I would never consider isolating any of these tracks from the whole album(s)
Although Soft machine went on to seemingly more serious jazz orientated music on Third Fourth & Fifth particularly. However I would argue, & indeed have argued quite pasionately, that you don't need to be overtlt serious & poe faced about your art to be deadly seriousin your intent just as there is nothing quite so frightening than a television or radio presenter being constantlt "happy"
I love this band & accept the various splits & changes that happened along the way but this will alway be may favourite
Brilliant English Eccentricity - By: Mr. Jeremy Carter, 22 Mar 2005 Marvellous albums, excellent value - they could have been very rich & famous a la Pink Floyd butin the words of Major Willardin Apocalpyse Now 'they went for themselves'
I often wonder what happened on their USA Tour supporting Jimi Hendrix - the audience must have been totally bemused by this bunch.
Oh well - It all went t*ts up after Robert Wyatt flew the coop but we have these 2 albums which still sound utterly radical (& wouldnt get anywhere near any 'chart' even today)
Well done those men!
Vol.2 - my favourite album of all time - By: a.campbell@ntlworld.com, 09 May 2002 These 2 albums were released originally independently, & you can see a true progressionin the way that pop/psychedelia was being exploredin the UK/60's. Vol.1 was "feeling" the way, but still had a basis rootedin their contemporaries (floyd, beatles etc.). But when Vol.2 came out -WOW!!! Even the first few chords of the 1st track (from "Pataphysical Intro") showed that this album would be like nothing like anything else that preceded (and arguably followed) it. It is so difficult to categorize it - but why bother? Just enjoy it. It's got everythingin it (including "knickers & panties - nude, bare, naked" - & with no scrimping on the rich & sometimes complex arrangements. Tracks flow into & recede from each other to make this a listening experience where you have to hear the whole record from start to finish. In vol.1 this linkage, again is experimented with, but lacks the polish & completeness of vol.2. I heard that on the strength of Vol.2, Soft Machine were invited to do the proms (1st pop/rock group to do so). As to the richness of the sound, compare vol.2 with its live "Paradiso" session (also on cd). Same tracks, yet the trio amazingly still manage to convey the sound of a small orchestra! This along with Can's "Tago Mago" must rate as one of my all time favourites! Both smashed the underground frontiers of the music scenein that magic period that straddled the 60's & 70's. This is the sort of cd you by 2 of ...and hand down to your kids & their kids!
Grabs attention straight away and won't let you off the hook - By: Colin Whitehead, 12 Jun 2001 Soft Machine 1 is like Quicksilver's Happy Trails - raw, extravagant & virtuoso. Right from the start you know you arein for a white knuckle ride. Hope for Happiness has the most stunning organ solo I've ever heard, & Wyatt's drumming is thrilling. Why did they get so "studied" later?
Out Freaks the Floyd - By: , 14 Feb 2001 These two albums really show what the Soft Machine was capable ofin the late sixties, while Psychedelic rivals & contemporaies Pink Floyd were still suffering from Syd Barrett's departure, The Soft Machine had used a gruelling tour supporting Hendrix across America to hone their own skills to ragged perfection. The first volume is basically the live set recordedin a studio, it sounds like Jazz played by punk rockers, all distorted organ & plunky bass flying offin random directions held together by Ayres pop sensability & Wyatts wonderful drumming & very English sounding vocals. The second album was recorded after a Ayres had left exhausted by the US tour, & was originally meant to be the last album, The first side is a suite of newly draftedin Bassists jazzily wonderful pop songs re-arranged by Wyatt. however one of the finest moments on the first side is Organist Mike Ratledge's Hibou, Anmone & Bear. The second side features two indepent songs the first a homage to former bassist Kevin Ayres, the second a strange - but oddly beautiful- song of Hugh Hopper's. The album ends with Mike Ratledge's powerhouse suite Esther's Nose Job - featuring some comical lyricsin the first section. Together these two albums add up to a brilliant hour & a bit of Pure jazzy Psychedelic fusion that really rocks hard!
