Third

This one is a mixed bag, and it took a few listens to figure out properly. I like tracks 2 and 4, not 1 so much. I like elements of 3, but find the singing really grating. Interesting listen though - some talented musicians on here.

that was weird. background music.

Lots of things lately show not available in my country. Frustrating.

At first i hated it. By the end I could dig it.

Long instrumental tracks of psychedelic rock spiked with free jazz. The structures feel meandering and the mix is far from pristine. These guys seem like avant-garde weirdos who have little interest in making accessible music. The opening minutes are dark and drone-y, which is a pretty bold move considering that there are cool riffs and horn parts later in the track. Soft Machine don’t seem to mind potentially turning off the listener. They trust you’ll stick around. Parts of this reminded me of King Crimson’s “In the Court of the Crimson King,” which came out just a few months before this was recorded. But this album doesn’t have nearly the same level of songcraft and production as that album. And maybe Soft Machine didn’t even want that. Their music is built around extended jams, not songwriting. “Moon in June” actually has some vocals but man those vocals are grating. We’ve had two Robert Wyatt solo albums on this list and I felt the same way about his voice then too. There are some nice parts in this song but a lot of it feels queasy. Ooh I like the way this final track “Out-Bloody-Rageous” starts. Really beautiful. This track develops and expands nicely. The band finds some nice grooves. It’s probably my favorite here.

"Slightly All The Time" is a beautiful piece of music that really takes you places. My favorite section is around the 8:00 minute mark where the electric keyboard in the left ear plays a beautiful dissonant 3/4 part and locks in tight with the drums. Great feel and really intriguing part. Some interesting production ideas on the record, I feel like sometimes things conflict pretty hard when it comes to "space" in a track, but other than that it is a pretty nice listen.

Facelift 3.4 Slightly All the Time 3.5 Moon in June 3.3 Out-Bloody-Rageous 3 Score: 3.3

I know that this is THE canonical prog rock but it's too much for me. There were some cool parts but it's mostly background music with little dynamic. I get that it may be the point, but this thing is for people who really like this specific kind of music. Good for broadening the horizons and for work though.

Early prog rock/fusion. Not the best, but a good early start to the genres.

Worts and all this feels proper king crimson, there’s some nice ritualistic drone passages, some really interesting solo-ing on the first half but it does feel abit too Moonchild at points and the vocals are weak. Good overall

Rock-jazz/prog rock. It's a genre that doesn't usually do much for me. This was in that same vein, and it was fine. Not a bad thing to have on in the background.

A long but cool album. Another that I've never heard of and enjoyed!

Better than Coldplay

Not a boring album but I'm bored. Does that make sense?

Another two groups disambiguated for me: Soft Machine and Soft Cell are different bands.

Primary jazz prog!

Yup, it’s jazz.

Perfect description of this album in another review here: "it's mostly great, in theory." I think this is really good. Probably. No denying that the musicianship is off the charts, and the blend of prog rock and free jazz makes perfect sense. I guess it's just a bit too avant-garde for my taste. Probably one that deepens and ripens with every single listen, but it certainly doesn't encourage more past the first. Still, I enjoyed this.

3.4 It's pretty good for 1969, come on. I can see why it wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea, but 4 long experimental pieces, infused with synth, jazz, a bit of soft rock, etc. The fidelity isn't the crispest but I can let that slide. I only know these guys due to Robert Wyatt appearing on this list, and I prefer his solo stuff, but nice to see where he came from. Main criticism would be the length, but I think that was their point so it's hard to grumble too much.

Yeah okay, this is not terribly exciting (kind of boring) but tolerable ambient waffle, interspersed with cool almost free-form jazz, ⭐⭐⭐, wish it was more jazz and less ambient waffle 😂

It's a little long winded at times, but there is some really nice music on the album. 3/5 Might listen again

Boring but still good 3/5

bizzare mais pas désagréable

Sympa des vibes d'instrus des Doors

Okay.

Not a huge fan of this style of Progressive Jazz Rock. It's either a bit too random and discordant for my liking, or it's a bit boring. I've heard far worse though. Best track on the album is "Slightly All the Time" - ideal if you're stoned.

I'm a big prog nerd, but I always found the Canterbury scene not very easy to access. Similar fusion and jazz-rock of Miles Davis and others seemed easier in that respect. That goes also for this Soft Machine album which has great elements in four very, very long and challenging tracks. Nothing you'd listen to too often!

I'm sensing a theme with the Robert Wyatt-related albums where I find them interesting and I'm glad I've heard them, but can't really see myself listening to them again. He's basically the patron saint of my three-star reviews.

I thought I would like this more than I did. Soft Machine comes up in all those books about the Psychedelic 60s and early prog rock but this was apparently a departure from all that. More jazz fusion than psych or prog. I like a lot of jazz fusion and prog but this was really rough. The tracks were just too damn long. Facelift was just too much even at 9 minutes instead of 18 minutes, it would have been too long. Slightly All The Time sounded like jazz from a Chicago or Miles Davis record and I really enjoyed it other than the length. Again half the length and maybe it would have been better. Moon in June was interesting musically. It felt like multiple tracks linked together instead of one unified composition but the vocals were nothing special and either recorded poorly or gibberish? The song got seriously weird and annoying for the last quarter. Plus, you guessed it, too damn long. Out-bloody-Rageous was better but still too long. Reminded me at times of Brian Eno and other times of early 70s Zappa. That track did make me want to seek out more of their music though so good job I guess?

Ummm... Ok. Feels like you had to be there. It's got some good beats and some good moments. It's just so fucking long that I don't think that any of the songs will be in the rotation at any point.

The first song was a mess. Completely incoherent. The second song was a more straightforward jazz number. Can lyrics save this album? Song three says no. Slightly more intelligible than the first song, but the lyrics don’t do anything good for it. God, it’s still not over? Why isn’t this a Goose jam instead? Ok, the last song (“Out-Bloody-Rageous”) actually kind of slaps. 5/10 What Even Was That

First track was a bit much for someone not on psychedelics, but I think if they made some Fantasia style visuals I could vibe with it. Second and fourth tracks I was into. Third track, the vocals bothered me too much. I’d give it like a 3.5 for listenability.

It felt a little too groovy for me

Трохи суперчливі враження. Деякі композиції, чи скоріше їх частини, сподобались. Там де гурт заходить практично повністю на джазове поле - чудово. Там, де починають згадувати, що вони прог-рок гурт, мучати гітару та видати на ній цей скрежет, який чомусь вважається класною фрі-джаз фішкою для електрогітари, - не дуже подобається. І шматки з вокалом мені теж не дуже. Загалом досить цікавий та все-таки переважно приємний досвід.

3.5 Гурт, який був для мене заскладним у часи найбільшого захоплення прогом, зараз здається набагато більш зрозумілим. Подобаються оці фрі-джазові референси і так далі. Не та музика яку будеш слухати кожен день звісно, але варто витраченого часу.

The first track is too much and put me off. The second and third tracks do have an infectious vibe though. Worked well as working music

Well. That was interesting. (In polite Midwestern Mom voice)

It's a lot calmer than I thought it would be, each song has its meaning and sense for each member, a good production and new listening experience.

I listened to it twice, which is a commitment. Both times the album faded to the background very easily and for the most part stayed there. There are some enjoyable stretches of the album, and the whole thing is pretty interesting, but I’d have to give it several more spins before I could determine if it’s a “grower” or not, and who has that kind of time with 1000 other albums to listen to???

Bitches Brew with a tiny bit of Swans in it

Kudos to the review that mentioned to skip the first song on first listen, it's a rough entry point.

I saw someone else say DO NOT START with track 1 and yeah. Don’t do it. Besides that, it’s a pretty good time. Not as good as I got my hopes up for upon reading “Psychedelic, Jazz” but good

A real attack on the senses very experimental

tavidan jangis krachunis xma iyo mara mere damevasa

It took 7 minutes for something resembling music to start. I do like the flute It’s very jazzy in chords and progression, Not bad 3/5

Facelift - 3/5 Slightly All the Time - 4/5 Moon in June - 2.5/5 Out-Bloody-Rageous - 4/5 It's decent enough jazz rock, but it's certainly a slog to get through. The ambient bit in the first track nearly turned me off, but I stuck around to the end and it was a decent listen. Not my preferred flavor of jazz fusion but good nonetheless. Overall: 3.5/5 Favorites: Slightly All the Time

Tough one to rate. I actually liked a lot of it. But it does what I don't love about prog too much: long long album with long long songs that were fun for them to play but not necessarily for us to listen to

Jazz rock, interesting sounds, would I play again?

What begins as an ominous voicemail machine morphs into jazz, into prog rock, into a weird derivative of blues, and back to jazz. I don't really know what this one was, but it was worth the listen.

Starting weird and I was thinking this could be a long listen, however really enjoyed it. Close to 4.

Can't believe they had the opportunity to have multiple 20 minute songs and they choked 4 times. I had no idea what was going on in this album, and I liked it. Moon in June is the weakest of the collection - could have otherwise been a 4

I enjoyed it, the samples were in places a surprise.

Sitting through 75 minutes of noise gave me a lot of time to think about what I wanted to write here. But having a lot of time on your hands does not mean you are going to know what you want at the end. The first song made me want to quit doing this list. The second song was interesting. The third sounded like some former college jazz musicians who are now middle-aged dads got together in a garage and tried mushrooms for the first time. Fourth song too for that matter.

Forgot this was even on, just kind of blended into the background.

Gear: Fostex TH610 Artwork: 🔠📄🟧 Production (Remastered 2009): 🥩📺😬/🎧😘🤌 Music: 🛸🧭😵 Rating: 👁️‍🗨️👁️‍🗨️(👁️‍🗨️)/5

I'm gonna be honest, that first track started and I thought this album was heading straight to being a 1 or a 2. However, as that song continued and went into song 2 I started to enjoy this album more. It didn't swing all the way to a 4. I think some of the solos go on for way to long and it's an album that I know I would enjoy more if I was listening to it high, but a 3 is a score I didn't think it would achieve when I first started playing this album.

Was an okay album! Good prog rock but maybe another album by them will pique my interest.

A little noise, a little jazz, a little avant garde minimalism, all prog. Though I like their first two albums a bit more, this is bold stuff, and holds up well alongside other prog rock and jazz fusion of the era. 3.5⭐️

If I could give this negative stars I would

Jammy Jazz Rock, highly experimental with bad sound quality. Some parts are genius, some worse with naive, dull melodies. You have to be in the mood...

This is pretty good; Robert Wyatt’s voice is an acquired taste. The longer instrumental jams are better

I find what they're doing here to be pretty cool, especially for the time. I'm more used to seeing the mix of jazz and rock from the jazz side of things so it was cool to see it the other way around. I thought the saxophone work was really great, the band is obviously very tight and coordinated and often has a great vibe going for it. I think it could've used a bit of trimming down though, I have no problem with longer projects on paper but it needs to earn it's length. It felt more meandering then 'taking me on a journey'. I also think it really didn't need vocals on that third track, they were kind of weak. Also there were some ROUGH transitions between sections of the songs, especially in the first track. 3.25/5

Wow, this was a journey. Obviously a lot of it is very strange, I do find it compelling the way they will meander in noise/dissonance and ambience for minutes, then collect themselves for a very co-ordinated musical moment, then fall apart again. It's one thing to take a few grams of shrooms and do some mindless psychedelic exploration, but this takes calculation and predetermination. It was a fascinating listen for this reason, but the stretches of strange weren't quite balanced out by the orchestrated moments for it to feel like a compelling piece on the whole.

Th song lengths were off putting but I enjoyed some of it

The first song sounds like something that would be playing inside of an avant garde art gallery with some weird video playing on loop. Tough to get past that one but I didn't hate the rest of the album. Would've been a 2 but +1 point for a really dope album cover

“Oh, we’re doing that?” -Me, 2 minutes into the first track (is it a song?) on this album. Got better as it went on with some more horns/melody and they are definitely talented musicians, but 20 minute songs still mostly not my thing. You could do worse for background music while you work.

Nothing special

A compact album at 4 songs. Eqch track setting a cracking pace for a 1 hour 15 minute whip through that mere handful of tunes! Havent heard this album. Could be a tough listen. 2 minutes in and it could go anywhere - industrial techno, paychadelic jam band, hard 70’s rock, prog, jazz, it is vast and endless. 3 minutes and still no clue. The tension is building though! Can it live up to the hype? At 6 minutes its a little but jqzz, a little bit prog rock. A bit Zapperish in the wandering and restless melodies with with odd experimental bits, oh and now rocking out on guitar 7 amd a half minutes in. It may live up to the hype. The question now is whether it will kewp my attention across another hour or so. Drummer is a bit restless like Ginger Baker. Actually credits dont show any guitarist on track 1. What was i hearing? 18 minutes is a hefty track. Some interesting parts but my patience and ability to comcentrate wanes. Its experimental and avante guarde in a nice way, a jazzy way. A not hold my interest way. I guess its as good if not better than other prog rock i like - King Crimson, Jethro Tull. I think it will grow on me if i give it the time.

++: Moon in June, Out-Bloody-Rageous +: Facelift, Slightly All the Time 5,8/10

Interesting avant-garde album, the fusion portions are fun but the more experimental sections go on too long for me.

Coming hot on the heels of The Residents makes for possibly the most challenging double-header yet. That said, Duck Stab puts even this set of fairly out-there, dense and intense, free-ranging jazz-rock explorations into the surprisingly accessible listening category by comparison. So, my initial reaction was 'oh no' but the listen wasn't bad at all.

Sehr krautig

Having live albums on this list will always feel goofy

A fine listen

Interesting and experimental. Not sure if I would recommend, however.

I sort of recognized the album cover from record shops and was astonished it wasn’t some classic rock routine! It was kind of a wonderful listen I was happy to pay attention to once. Once.

Out of my depth with this. I feel like a my opinion carries about as much weight as a Labrador’s review of Apocalypse Now. So…fine and good?

Good jazz album I guess, not anything I would intentionally listen to but I wildly care if it was on in a restaurant

Ok, kind of long but was interesting. 3/5

2.5/5

Was not expecting this to be so jazzy after the first prog song. That being said, I'll never listen to this again.

Giving this a 3 out of 5, because while I enjoyed the music more than I expected to… the damn album is like 2 hours long. 1 hour in and I wanted to do something else than listen to more.

damn i dont care8

2.5/5

later

love it but might be a lil TOO MUCH prog

This album might hold the record for most stoned listeners exposed to a flute solo. Or would that be Jethro Tull? If this album was a little less jazz and a little more rock, it might have bumped it up to four for me. Almost my bullshit.

I hated the first track. I liked the 2nd one a bit better and brought my anticipated rating up to a 2. I liked the third song even better and it was pulled up to a 3. And there it stayed.

Progressive rock has never been my thing. But Soft Machines music is creative and quite ok.

2.5

The first track on this is an acquired taste to say the least, but if you can make it through that, the rest is kind of cool. It's closer to jazz than a lot of the fusiony albums from this era, but has some other weird elements mixed it. The middle two tracks -- "Slightly All The Time" and "Moon in June" are the best part of the album for me. Going 3.5 on it.

3.5

After a very rough opening ten minutes, and low expectations, I found a lot to enjoy down the line, a lot of interesting complexity which still seemed to care about making something listenable. Much more of a jazz feel than lots of the prog we've had, and much better for it. That said, I wasn't entirely sad that disc 2 isn't available on Spotify...

Little bit of Thought Gang (less weird) and King Crimson. Robert Wyatt was actually not bad.

Weird, Interesting and long. I'm torn between a 2 and 3. I guess I'll make a snap judgment tomorrow.

Neatish

Pretty cool journey, but felt a little disjointed and none of the individual songs stuck with me.

Lwk playing Skate 4 while listening to this was cinema

Two things I love: Jazz and prog but somehow less than the sum of its parts.

2.7 Jazz-rock wankfest

Not my thing, but pleasant!

Never heard of that band or album before this and I love it.

Experumentell, abwechslungsreich, jazzig, gut

Mezcla de rock y jazz. Me gustó como música de fondo para trabajar. Una propuesta que no esperaba encontrar en este proyecto. No es memorable.

Not too bad but does go on for a while.

Liker førsteplata mye bedre. Syns denne bærer preg av slitsom jazz

Cheguei em casa com dor de cabeça, e imediatamente fui ouvir o disco. Não vou te dizer algo absurdo como “este álbum curou minha dor de cabeça”, nem algo menos absurdo mas ofensivo como “este álbum piorou minha dor de cabeça”. Irei dizer algo tão enfadonho quanto. Ao invés do disco curar ou agravar minha dor de cabeça, ele estabeleceu uma relação simbiótica com minha dor de cabeça, não necessariamente a nutrindo ou a sabotando, mas interagindo com ela de maneira que raramente presencio. Parece que os arranjos aqui foram orquestrados justamente para acompanharem meu sofrimento. A progressão inteira das faixas parece seguir lado a lado com minha enxaqueca. Fascinante! Gostei do disco pela sua audácia. Ele mescla elementos diversos e utiliza de práticas pouco ortodoxas em sua produção e composição. É uma escuta excitante, que não perde o charme em momento algum. Mas não é um álbum fácil de se ouvir. De certo, não me imagino ouvindo ele outra vez em toda a vida. Mas gostei da experiência. 3.5/5

Weird- way too slow of a burn to start, some cool stuff but I don't see myself revisiting this one. Solid 3

Good, I guess

Piss off, Wyatt. This was like "one test of patience, one interesting reward", but stretched over 20 minute servings.

Weird af but quite good. Not something to listen to at a party but its good to put on while doing a task or smth.

Not really a fan of the almost 20 minute long tracks. Very 70s experimental and almost psychedelic, they were probably on psychedelics when they made it. I would like it as background music in a cool group setting though.

I quite like this! It's sort of avant garde jazz / rock. Weird but enjoyable.

First time listening to jazz that jazzy

Not really sure if this stretches the boundaries or is a load of bollox. Wil ironically play it safe with the score

There's just not enough jazz on this list, and then, when it comes, it's sort of generic prog. Disappointing, but professional, noodling about not getting anywhere.

Mostly instrumental except for one of the songs. Was alright though. Best song: Moon In June Notable(s): Facelift

Definitivamente no es mi tipo de música. Demasiadas ideas que chocan entre sí en un álbum que se hace horriblemente largo. Tiene secciones increíbles eso sí. No le pongo una o dos estrellas porque entiendo que este tipo de álbumes tienen que existir y que son importantes para los artistas que desarrollan los géneros o combinaciones de géneros que se presentan en el álbum. Nota: 3/5

Al escuchar este álbum notaba distintos momentos que me recordaban a variados artistas. El blues eléctrico de The Doors, los pasajes progresivos con saxofón de King Crimson, la improvisación libre de Albert Ayler y la cacofonía controlada de Captain Beefheart. También, en los pasajes con voz se notaban ecos de la psicodelia de bandas como Earth Opera y Cream. Una experiencia un poco agotadora al escucharse sin detención, pero con escuchas más esporádicas, se vuelve un disco muy dinámico. Sólidamente evolutivo y variado, un 6/10

I think the psychedelic jazz idea could be pulled off a little better than this. Had a few good moments, but overall underwhelming.

It was ok

This would have been amazing at half the length. That's what she said. 3.5

Cool tunes. Not my favourite jazztronica in the world cause it sounds a little dated, but for it's time I'm sure it was groundbreaking stuff.

My immediate reaction on starting the album was wow this is cool. Can't lie though this is a difficult one. By the second song I was getting frazzled and did find second song was many minutes too long.  It didn't meaningfully deviate for me which weakens its appeal. The singing then didn't help as didn't like that.  I am honestly not sure what to say about this.  I have gone through all the feelings on this album and just struggle to take it all in.  It has the feeling of an experiment where I feel unable to stay fully connected. The first song was the closest I came to genuinely connecting with the content and was some exceptional elements to that.  Really innovative and captivating from the late 60s!!!  Reminded me of Tropical Fuck Storm who effectively take guitar distortion (When saw them live) and they weave it into an atmospheric destructive noise which is aggressive but trance inducing.  Great stuff that song but sadly not a uniform presence from this album, but it was more interesting than terrible for me so will give it its due.  Astonishing!

Appreciate the jazz elements more than the prog rock ones; overall, with time and patience, a cool listen.

Good horns

4 tracks spanning 1 hour 15 mins means you know this is going to be challenging. This was labelled as rock on Apple Music but the second track was pretty much jazz. The last track saved it somewhat, this is where I found most enjoyment, even if I thought it had ended about 3 times before it actually did. So it definitely has its merits, and most likely requires multiple listens but I just don’t see when I’d return - it would make decent background music though.

My hopes were not high after the first song (a lot of noises going on here), but Slightly All The Time and Moon In June gave this better prog rock vibes. Also was very jazzy, especially on the last song. Pretty great album to have on in the background if you're working on something. This was certainly interesting if you paid attention throughout, which felt impossible since each song is nearly 20 minutes long. The mix of jazz, electronic synths, and rock was hit or miss at different points, but overall was pretty good. I score this as a mid-3 that I'll come back to if I need some background music for work purposes.

Some nice all around electronic jazz. The production on the first song was absolute crap but then either I got used to it or it got better throughout the album. Last song was a fun little trip. High 3

Individual songs are a little lengthy, but it has that smooth kind of raw rustic feel of the 70s that i really like.

Okay track 2 being my favorite whereas the rest are a hit or miss. 1st track hurt my ears

Was expecting more prog than jazz, but ended up mostly enjoying this until the mediocre, obviously improvised vocals kicked in on 'Moon in June.' But otherwise decent music for trimming hedges.

Ups and downs...but out-bloody-rageous is super fun

Not feeling this one at all.

good álbum i liked it

The field recording of an alien swingers party that ends in communal astral projection.

Okay. Pretty unique.

Jazz rock. Some cool stuff here, but also a lot of nonsense. Super long intros, repetition, and then an extra several minutes of stuff after you think the song is over. This could have been edited down to a pretty cool single 42 minute album that I would have added to my playlist. Best track: Moon in June (the one that had some lyrics).

Ok, it absolutely works to work with this music in the background.

I wasn't sold until the last song, which fully blasts off into the cosmos

Trippy, influential and a mind exploration.

Takes their time with it, but it does get grooving after a while

Was I looking forward to my fourth live double-album from the ‘70s in two weeks? Absolutely not. But this was a pleasant surprise. I’ve never heard of Soft Machine, though a musician friend enlightened me about the project involving a lot of stellar musicians on different albums. Thankfully for me, this went in a much stronger jazz direction than psych rock or jam band. There were flourishes of late ‘60s/early ‘70s psychedelia and rock on here, most annoyingly with the terrible seemingly improvised vocals on song 2, but such nods to those scenes were used judiciously. I appreciated each of the four album-side-length sessions. However, I won’t be proactively be playing again this any time soon, so, it’s a 3.

Starts off with the most abstract of the four tracks, which I can’t really get into too much, but luckily improves quite a bit from there. The more ethereal or jazz bits are pretty sweet. 6/10

Not bad, but there's plenty of other jazz albums that I would have included in this list ahead of it. Quite liked the last track. 2.5 stars.

тем кто любит звуки настройки и когда царапают стекло;) но что-то в этом есть

Really liked it, almost a 4. Incredible to bake to lol, was fun in the kitchen

C'est pas pire même si c'est pas écoutable.

Soft served.

strong, and very very long

Wow, I forgot how out there this album can be... I've listened to this a few times, once when I was a teenage, another when I was in college, and again now. It was not exactly what I remember. Some strong parts but overall, very interesting.

Liked this more than I expected to!

Free jazz with guitars, cool to appreciate, but not something I’ll come back to

An hour plus for for songs!? Sounds like the theme to every 70's cop show Nice, chill background tunes.

Первые секунд тридцадцать я был настроен на время всей своей жизни кек (спустя какое-то время, когда я буду перечитывать свои высеры, я уже не буду помнить, это ирония или нет, отчего еще интереснее). Супэр музон в дорогу, на фон под шкодинг, в кухню и так далее. Лучшая песня - Slightly All The Time.

Part jazz, part psychedelic rock, one hundred percent freewheeling and experimental. Facelift takes a little while to get going, initially lost in its own whirs but it settles into some genuinely compelling jazz which is somehow both uplifting and disturbing. Slightly All the Time has a more straightforward appeal. This is the song you could pluck out and show a friend, with a slow, stately build throughout the 18 minutes Moon in June brings in elements of English folk singing, or at least charming vocal wandering, courtesy of Robert Wyatt. It’s a less jazz-y more Hammond organ-y affair but no less densely textured. Out-Bloody-Ragious moves the band back to base a bit but messes with the production and gets into some nice saxophone loops. Overall there are moments that I absolutely love, and others which I’m less sure about. It’s a phenomenon though. A must listen.

Okay, I can dig this. Nice Mars Volta vibes. Jazz / Prog and writing this as I’m just half way into the first track but excited to see where it goes but feel aligned and interested so far. Snarky Puppy vibes. ‘Facelift’ feels like a gradual welcoming and unfolding into a jazz crescendo, before coming back down to rest to move into ‘Slightly All The Time’ a slow moseying bass line that again, could easily be a snarky puppy song and ventures all over melody’s and tempos as the song develops. First album I’ve added to my general playlists. ‘Moon in June’ first introduction of vocals and probably enjoyed it more without. Loses half a star for this. Dreadful song and vocals. 2nd half of song better than first. ‘Out-Bloody-Rageous’ back to the enjoyable grooves and prog jazz. Great end, shame about third song. (3.5)

That was.... Something... But not gunna lie kind of fun.

Feels like this is the predecessor of stoner rock. Very slow and laid back album.

Finally a prequel to The Script - #3. It's pretty fun, unique, but also too long and the first song is too weird. Hard to believe it's live. And I'm not sure if an album like that should just fade out. Or maybe it should.

The inferior third on the list

This was like the soundtrack to a gritty 70s thriller about a cop who doesn’t play by the rules. That’s a compliment.

non male, ma troppo lungo

I... hm. I want to hate it for its arrogance and self-indulgent wankery, but I can't. I actually found this quite enjoyable as background music.

Well, it's certainly...unique. It's like part jazz, part prog, part experimental...there are parts that almost sound very early electronic. I'll say that while I didn't *love* it, this would be the best "jazz" album I've listened to in this project. Conversely, it's probably the worst prog rock album I've gotten. Overall, I don't hate it, and I tend to have a soft spot for music where you can hear the foundations of what's to come, and that describes this album pretty well. I don't know the history of prog rockery well, but I imagine an album released in 1970 must have been right around the beginning, and so this is the band that had to crawl so that bands like Rush could run, and Tool could fly. 3 stars because it is fun, new (to me), and influential.

Jazz-Prog that's good for a bit, but I got a little tired of it at the end of Moon In June. I'd still listen again and maybe give a higher rating. 3 stars for now.

1h20m.. 4 tracks. That’s you know you’re in for some weird shit. Liked it, quite unique and can see it being abit of a trip. 3.5

One of those albums I don't hate or love, not something I'd pick myself, and truthfully probably will never listen to again, it's strange but interesting, definitely some great parts, would work well as a movie soundtrack. Didn't care too much for the vocals.

Hmm, I'll have to listen more. Too skronky for now but clearly talented

double album of jazz rock from 1970 - one track per side - they don't make 'em like this anymore !

Get high first, then get super comfy on the couch, then melt into it all. Was surprisingly good. 3.5

This is musically quite brilliant. The live takes, along with the tape sounds and effects make it feel very organic. Unfortunately a lot of the singing sounded very out of tune, I can see why Moon in June was the last song they ever wrote with lyrics.The album as a whole isn't very coherent, probably due to the fact that it was recorded over a period where the members changed around. It really feels more like a compilation of some recordings and ideas that they had either edited together or turned into medleys. There were sections which I felt were downright unpleasant to listen to whilst others were a blast.

I am not a huge an of the start of the opening track. But as I went through the album I liked it more and more. I'm glad I gave it one more listen before making this review.

Started rough, but found itself after a bit. A unique sound and a unique album organization but it works.

Never listened to Soft Machine, I like some Robert Wyatt quite a lot. Loved the monolithic jazz-noise-rock-ambient-something first track, which seems to have turned off a lot of people on here. Track 2 seems more structured from the outset. Much less adventurous, I drifted out of concentration for a little while. Still, there's some great sax almost throughout. I'm not sure I liked either of the last two tracks as much as track 1, but there are good parts in both.

Weird start into the Intro but the album itself was a good listen. More jazzy than rocking progressive songs but it goes well. (3.0/5.0)

Pretty cool!

Decent

If the first track was as good as the other 3, this could’ve been something great. The first track just sucks so bad.

Dit is mij net iets te wazig en ongefocust. Wel origineel. Net geen 4

seventies endless rock

I like prog, but this was a bit much even for me to he honest.

Day420 - first had me thinking that the album would be awful but the second track was really good. unfortunately the third and fourth songs followed the same pattern

от нудятина

instrumental and kinda slow but could be right for certain occasions.

2>4>3>1

Third, Soft Machine’s sprawling 1970 double LP that essentially asks, “What if jazz fusion but also calculus?” It starts with the 19-minute Facelift, which sounds like a tape machine being drop-kicked down a flight of stairs before recombobulating into something resembling music. It’s equal parts exhilarating and exhausting, like being cornered at a party by a guy who really wants to explain why John Coltrane was basically the first punk. Third fully commits to labyrinthine compositions and modal spelunking. Slightly All the Time and Out-Bloody-Rageous move with the grace of jazz but the intensity of something much stranger, like they’re perpetually a few notes away from turning into a hostage situation. Robert Wyatt’s drumming is frantic yet fluid, Mike Ratledge’s keyboards sound like they’re actively conspiring against the listener, and Hugh Hopper’s fuzz bass could be classified as a controlled substance. Then there’s Wyatt’s rare vocal moment on Moon in June, a ghostly reminder that this band once wrote actual songs before deciding that chord progressions were bourgeois. For all its cerebral bravado, though, Third is one of those albums that rewards the foolishly persistent. There’s a hypnotic quality to its repetition, a perverse beauty in its refusal to resolve in expected ways. It is, in many ways, the ur-text for every jam band and experimental jazz unit that ever decided to turn one idea into a side-long odyssey. If you can handle the fact that it occasionally sounds like a high-speed chase through a music theory textbook, there’s real magic here. Just don’t expect an easy ride—Soft Machine isn’t here to hold your hand, and if you get lost, well, that’s kind of the point.

I usually love psychedelic music but to appreciate this album, I think you needed to be there and preferably stoned.

Musically, not bad. But not something that I can say I enjoyed listening to. If I was in a better mood I'd probably enjoy this more.

At first I was like, yeah! this is fun! BUT ITS TOO LONG please I can't listen to 20 minute songs 3/5

3+

Erikoinen psyke rokin ja jazzin sekoitus, mutta toimii. Kappaleissa on kyllä tosi hienoja ambienttisia kohtia, kuten esim Out-Bloody-Rageouksen alku. Parhaat: Moon In June, Out-Bloody-Rageous

The Robert Wyatt side is great, the last side also very listenable. But side 1 and 2 lean heavily into the jazz squawk. Overall 2.5 but feeling generous so a 3.

If I had headphones and a lot of pot this would be a 5 but it’s a 3.5

This is #day159 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and... it seems I’m on a jazz streak—this is the third jazz record in a row on the list. To call this one just jazz, though, would be slightly misleading. It’s more psychedelic jazz-rock. Not the softest listen, but still interesting. Avant-garde, droney... I learned about the Canterbury scene, after all. This gets a 3 out of 5 from me. After reading some reviews, I wish people were a bit more open-minded. There's no way Kanye West albums are rated higher... Looking forward to #day160.

Different, got better, tempo changes were interesting

Está muy bueno de a ratos cuando se vuelve un jazz-rock y en otros se pone muy somnífero o trival.

Cool, but also a little bit Spinal Tap Mark 2 : Jazz Odyssey written by Derek Smalls on the bass.

Experimental, some of it lands while other aspects fall flat. Rhythmically fascinating

I feel like I'm getting abducted by aliens and probed. Which is a cool event but I wouldn't do again

This is a musical loaf of bread. It’s interesting, but like a rye it sure is dense. I’m not sure one listen was enough, but I doubt one or two more would change my thoughts much. The jazzy soundscapes here are unique and worthy of listening to. Not sure starting off with the most obtuse song was really the best idea. My favorite song was Slightly All The Time.

Normally ambient music works for me but this was a little too much. 3

very prog, much long, great oddness

I'm sure each musician is a master of their instruments but jazz often sounds like a 5th grade band class randomly playing stuff just before the teacher walks in.

Not exactly my style, but I can see how other people would like it. Moon In June was definitely nice, but each song was 20 minutes

Synes de egentlig fusionsjazz bands fra den her æra var bedre til fusionsjazz, men kunne stadig godt lide det! På alle måder en ret ekstremt plade der virkelig skider på konventionerne, mere interessant end det meste jamband shit vi har hørt.

Trippy, stressful, proggy at times.. It had a lot of things going for it!

prog rock..nuff said

At times this drags quite a bit (obvious by the total run time x number of tracks) but it also has a lot of moments where it locks into something really rad. And also I’m very partial to Robert Wyatt.

Definitely something you'd need to be in a certain mood to be into. Not bad as focus music, could be useful if trying to recreate a 70s NYC cop movie in your head, or even if you're just tripping balls.

I had a migraine when I started this album. It didn't help. It immediately starts off like you dropped the needle in the middle of Coltrane's Om and stays that way for the first two song before going into this Zappa/Yes phase and it works. It's good. Something that I may come back to when I'm sans headache.

First, I love the hair cuts. I've never heard of these guys, but I like the sound. Jazzy, progressive music? Sign me up! This was a really fun one to listen to while working. These guys were definitely groundbreaking. I'm upset I'd never listened before, but no time like the present to listen to all their albums. The vocals aren't great, but I understand it's difficult to sing on acid. I'll give this a 3.5.

Way too all over the place. Frantic jazz is just not for me.

Talk about challenging listens. Double album, 4 sides, 4 songs, each running close to 20 minutes each of Prog rock, exhausting! Listening, it felt even longer, if you're a classical music fan, maybe you would appreciate these overlong compositions and though I pride myself of being tolerant to all kinds of music, it was difficult to take it all in at once. Good background music, with what I assume is brilliant musicianship with a fusion of all kinds of stuff and the performance is without doubt impeccable, especially considering this is live. Not for all tastes, for me it depends on what type of mood I'm in and listening I admit I was intrigued. It is interesting and kinda cool.

Don’t know what to make of it - a bit overplayed and quite forgettable. Not my cup of tea.

In your face, wall of sound (most of the time) ambient band. Kind of reminds me of Godspeed. Not as good though.

Boy howdy was this one a big tease. The first few minutes of track 1 are almost unlistenable, and they remove any hope that this album will be anything more than a collection of noise someone made in a studio. And even then, the rest of track 1 is just randomly cut together...jams?...I guess, that were obviously a collection of interspersed thoughts edited together to make a 20 minute track. But after that, it's actually quite a delightful jazz/prog/space album! Still, too long, and not enough connective tissue to make me want to revisit this one any time soon.

A cerebral jazz-fusion odyssey that intrigues more than it entrances.

Honestly good, Really cool its a live concert i love that, i love the soft machine and i need to read up more about them. It reminds me of a freeform jazz concert where they are just jamming noodling no real song or direction, but then moments that are melodic and have form and enjoyable but for the most part you need to be entirely focused on the music for me to enjoy and its a bit exhausting.

Foundational prog rock-jazz fusion. Pleasant and good to drive.

Started out really weird. Stayed weird throughout but ended up being alright background music while I worked. 6.5/10

Very early and very pretentious prog? Not a huge fan. Some of the jazzier parts were nice though

Surely this album was created to challenge my will to live. Not a single track under 18 minutes long. This album ended and I am still here. In terms of albums I don't love, I can understand this being on the list.

This kind of self-indulgent guff is usually right in my wheelhouse. Meandering, largely tuneless hippie nonsense...love it. That being said, this is almost too much for me. Almost. The most tuneful parts sound like the least tuneful parts of Caravan. It's strong beer. Three stars from me, but I can imagine a cavalcade of (one) stars from a good many others.

Four very long jazz tracks? Color me impressed. When I read the wiki I got very nervous when it said live and studio album, I couldn't tell this was live so I won't count it. These were great songs to have on just like any other jazz type rock album. Very enjoyable.

Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes made a soundtrack to a Noah Baumbach Film about a D-list Batman villain finally seeking therapy after his mundane but painful divorce.

I like how the intro steadily drives into intensity on the bass line, then sidetracks out into sax and flute land and then on into the unconquered territories. Songs? Hell, lets give up the tired notion of songs--let's do an album side per song. When you're stoned you don't want to bother to have to attend to such things. Jazz? Jazz Rock? Free Jazz Rock? Free Psychedelic Jazz Rock? Free Electronic Jazz Rock? Side note for Pynchon fans: The 2007 CD reissue has a bonus disc with "Esther's Nose Job," which includes "Pig."

I love the musicianship but this album irritates me. I prefer their album Bundles with guitarist Allan Holdsworth.

Music that's more fun to play than listen to. Cool enough vibe, not my first choice for active listening, but fills in the background nicely.

Did I find the right thing? There's only 4 songs. Holy shit those 4 songs take up 75 minutes??? What genre is this? Oh freeform jazz. Lol okay. Let's get into it. The first track takes about 7 minutes to get going. I think the third is the only one with vocals. There's a lot of great stuff in here that's surrounded by literal noise or buried within the vamps of improvisational jazz. This would be incredible to experience at a jazz club/bar. I can see how it informed progressive rock and opened the door for such groups as The Mars Volta (whose song Tetragrammaton is still the best 18 minute long song I've heard, sorry Soft Machine). My experience with jam sessions is to improv them and then find the song within and whittle it down to that. There was no whittling here. I enjoyed this but I don't see myself listening to it again.

Truly never heard of this band. At first it would seem like a psychedelic-rock band. Very interesting. 4 songs, a double-album and 2 compositions. Very interesting and all done live. I can see how this is on this list. Not my style a bit out there.

Nice jazzy. No lyrics

I sure do like experimental jazz!! I joined up with this project to be exposed to music like this. Much love.

Hmmm. I like Soft machine. Definitely interesting and often enjoyable. But I can't go much further than that. This album is a bit too much for me in some ways. Bitches Brew is a double album that makes me want more, like Topographic Oceans this one makes me want less.

Well. It sure is a lot. I can here a lot of people who I can only assume was influenced by it. I love good prog rock but this really veers into jazz which I'm not a huge fan of. If it wasn't for the rhythm section this would have gone completely off the rails... But some parts of this album I was getting into. If they could have trimmed ten minutes off of each of these songs I'd listen to it a lot more...

Hoo boy. We're getting really jazzy with this one. The first side doesn't work for me. Too avant garde. Slightly All The Time is a lot better. Is this a rock song? I don't think so. But there's a discernible rhythm for much of it and I like the saxophone and psychedelic keyboards. Moon In June actually has vocals! Even if the lyrics are weird. Good keyboards again, and there's some nice guitar in the middle section. The last track has an extended ambient intro before the bass and sax really take off. The end is slower with the drums more prominent. This is a weird one because I enjoyed most of this, but it's on the long side and the first track didn't resonate with me. After playing it again, I get a bit more out of the first side but I still think it's a bold move opening with this piece.

The end of Facelift was a drag. Slightly All The Time is on a more approachable level, and was interesting and enjoyable the whole way through. Moon In June was also like that. The synth work on Out-Bloody-Rageous is nuts for 1970. Really i liked 3 out of 4 songs, so not bad.

Thanks to this list, I've learned that I enjoy Prog Rock - this may fall into the prog realm, but feels for free-Jazz to me. Still an interesting listen. 3/5

Please don't let this ugly beast ruin your impression of Soft Machine. By the time of "Third", the band embraced more than before its tendencies toward noisy jazz (or jazzy noise). However, "Volume Two", the band's best record, is unlike anything else that exists in its delicate and much more subtle fusion of the two. "Volume Two" manages to jam actual songs, or at least sketches of songs, into the wax. It's funny and wonderfully constructed with pretty little bits juxtaposed beside more atonal atmospheres. I know this is a review for "Third", but it's such a disappointment for me to have to hear this particular album when I rate its predecessor so much more highly. My advice is to go forth and listen to "VOLUME TWO" first before third.

This, in my opinion, is a ridiculous prog album, but in a good way, because it’s a double album with only four tracks. That means every side of the two vinyl records is one song each. Four about-20-minute tracks. Silly. And the tracks are all so wonderfully different that I think of them as individual EPs. You got jazz, you got weird and experimental, you got soft and soothing with flutes and sax, you got harder psychedelia. It’s all here, wrapped up in a present.

Slightly all the time

I wasn't a fan of the first track: Facelift. I was expecting to give a 1 or 2 star rating, but the others were a lot better. I especially enjoyed Out-Bloody-Rageous.

Too weird for my taste, I reckon.

Long, adventurous, ambitious, and interesting experimental prog jazz. The first few minutes set a bit of a bad tone for the album. It's a bit long and hard to really appreciate unless listening to very intentionally. It is impressive however. I couldn't really get into it much this morning but I can appreciate it.

Not my favorite album, but I get why its significant. Personally, I like "experimental elements" rather than full on experimental music. This definitely leans more into full blown experimental. However, there are some really cool elements. I loved the use of keys, very psych. Also, really cool ambients pedal effects on the guitars. I also really liked the jazz influence. That kind of took it to a new direction, which I wasn't expecting. The brass was really really good. Probably won't listen to it again, but I enjoyed it once!

Back in 1970 when this album was released I had just started my career and had left home and lived in an hostel. Staying there with me was another Prog Rock minded muso. So we immediately hit it off sharing our love of this genre. One of his favourites were Soft Machine although I recollect he liked the similar band Colosseum more and in particular their Valentyne Suite album. For me at that time there was too much jazz influence for me to fall completely into these bands. But I recollect spending time with my mate in a darkened room where he played this stuff but as I say I was never motivated enough then to buy and follow jazz rock bands. Fast forward over 50 years to last year when I went shopping to a newly opened record store in Wakefield. Primarily I went to look for second hand CD’s but the store was more vinyl than CD’s. The guy who had recommended this store to me although not the owner was a friend of the owner and they were both there and engaged me in a long conversation about music. I felt a bit obliged to buy something (like you do!) but there was nothing in the CD racks to interest me apart from this album so in desperation almost I bought it. But what a good buy it has been. My natural avoidance of all things jazz 50 years ago has now gone so it is an album I can gladly play and enjoy. It sounds particularly good in a darkened room when I can take myself back and think of my friend (no longer with us) who tried his best to get me into jazz rock. He eventually succeeded albeit 50 years on. 200th album tomorrow. Let’s hope it’s a good one 3/5 20/7/24

I enjoyed this a LOT more than I expected. I didn’t make it through a complete listen just due to time constraints but I think I got the general gist and and also got some opinions from my listening group. It’s whacky and experimental for sure…. But it kind of makes some of the other experimental artists we’ve listened to feel a bit like poseurs to me haha the MFers were COMMITTED The ‘sound effects’ were not always so enjoyable but when they actually played music it was pretty good!

I wanted to like this but only found it interesting

This was pretty cool - wasn’t expecting something so jazzy. It was pretty long and not a total hit for me, but aside from the first minutes of the first track, never boring. Overall, I liked it. Favorite track: Slightly All The Time

Bit long, but fine

Slightly alien-sounding and eerie, like a half-forgotten tune from late night radio. Could perhaps benefit from some tightening up.

Like Zappa’s jazz only not as good.

Quite enjoyable in places, extremely irritating in places. I guess if you are trying a bunch of new stuff it's not all going to work for everyone. Happy to have heard this.

what's the matter lagerboy, afraid you might taste something?

Yes the tracks are all a bit long and often take a while to ‘get started’ but once you’re in they are pretty damn good

Ok, another album with 4 tracks, but this one has some standout moments. The linked article says you need to listen to their first two albums for this album to make sense so maybe you'll get more context if you put the effort in. Still, enjoyable enough with my faves being Moon In June and Out-Bloody-Rageous

Some really good things going on here, but also feels a little all over the place. Certainly different. In the end, feels like it isn’t quite jazz, and isn’t quite prog rock, so it lands in a weird in-between.

I did not know what to expect. Provides a vast soundscape that shifts from disconcerting to melodious with movements possible after every note. Not sure it's a listen I will return to.

I like some prog and I find this tiresome after a while though you've gotta admire the ambition.

Solid album. This is a nice, interesting prog-jazz-rock album that sounds a bit like a soundtrack in a late-60s thriller (a la Bullitt). It's a fun leisure listen or while working on something else. ***

I don't really remember this album all that much at this point that I am reviewing it. I remember it being kindad noisy and directionless at time, the first song had like two separate halves with totally different mixes. It was like, jazzy and proggy? I don't really remember, but I do remember it being pretty ok. I can't give it a high rating cause I don't remember. I'd like to revisit for sure. Strong 2.5/5

Really wacky and out there. How early was this on the prog rock scene? Was this mainstream? It's so experimental with the melodies and the channel separation.

3.5

This is interesting. Would make for good ambience but not sure if listen to it by choice. Also not convinced that what Spotify has is wholly accurate.

Pretty enjoyable album, all things considered. I usually liked the start of each song, but did not have the endurance to really appreciate the album all in one go. It took a few breaks to get through. There were a few breaks in the songs that felt like they just totally switched directions.

You gotta get past the first few minutes to enjoy this album

It got a lot better, but the first track was terrible.

Wow. Quite a contrast to the previous album (Fatboy Slim), and the first song/composition was pretty much different from almost anything else I've heard in this collection so far, although there are definitely echoes of Frank Zappa at times, of ELP's "Fanfare for the Common Man" concert album (although possibly that's vice versa in both of these cases), and I can definitely see the earlier Pink Floyd connection too as they played in the underground scene. I'm having a harder time imagining them winning over Jimi Hendrix fans during their 1968 tours with The Jimi Hendrix Experience... I'm not sure I can say I enjoyed this album, and I definitely wish there was a way they could have distilled the double album into a single (vinyl) disc, as it seems a bit much for non-hardcore fans, but it's definitely an experience, and at times an interesting one. I also wish the Wikipedia entry for this album was better, as it's hard to get a feel for either the band (at least in its composition on this album) or the album's purpose or genesis. I am not at all surprised that (a) they were never particularly commercially successful, or (b) that the band name came from William S. Burroughs.

If you ignore the beginning, the album got better in the latter part.wwww

That was weird. And long. And felt even longer than the double-album runtime. .... Well, I really wanted to like this, especially knowing the influence they've had on space rock, psychedelic trippy prog, etc, but...it's a lot. Actually I should erase that but I won't because it's actually *not* a lot - there's a lot of filler. ELP was/is a lot. This kinda shoulda been half the length not necessarily overall but each "song" (come on) could be like 7 minutes. I like long songs. Supper's Ready might be my "you get one song before your execution" pick, and not just that it's 20+ minutes. But it rarely surpasses the points where they just sound like they're experimenting and decided to release it as an album. And a double! I don't hate it, it's actually at its best kinda trippy and chill but the moments are spread out. Gimme some Gong and the Planet Pixies for trippiness that I can latch onto. This sounds like a poorly-formed Hot Rats. Oh also the sound is shit which yeah, it matters. I feel like I'm being generous with my rating as I'm definitely giving an extra point for influence but it's not for me. 5/10 3 stars

Not really sure…seems ok. 3/5

Finally, something short---only 4 songs! The cover confused me but served as a reminder to go to discogs for viewing album covers. I wish streaming services would implement front/back/gatefold cover views. https://www.discogs.com/master/16783-Soft-Machine-Third

Track one sounds worse than a middle school ensemble before warm ups and should have been trashed. The rest is almost cool. I dug Moon in June. Jazz fusion prog jams with one track of noise.

Nearing the end of this long project, I probably appreciated this long and noodly/noisy work more than I would have any previous time in my life. It's still not very high up there, but definitely higher.

The start was rough for me and when the end came, I was definitely ready for it. But because there were some moments in between that I found a bit nice, it was overall an “okay”.

Within the first minute of playing this I was more than a little concerned about the hour+ runtime and the amount of noise I was hearing. This was not looking promising. A while into that opening track (Facelift), I realized that this noise was perhaps some kind of jazz music. A lot of sax here, although I’m not entirely sure the sax was enjoying itself… By the end of that first track, I was sort of intrigued and decided to read the Wikipedia page - I recognized Robert Wyatt thanks to this project, the lead vocalist who would appear later on the album. Hmmm… I thought I was hating this… then I grew intrigued… and then listened a second time and wondered who was torturing the whale at the start of the album… Still not sure what to feel, but it was interesting.

middle of the road on this one 2.5

The first track starts rough and seems to go on forever. But if you can you settle into it, this is actually quite good. Eclectic, creative, solid musicianship. A bit too noodly for my taste. Fave Songs: Slightly All the Time, Out-Bloody-Rageous

Cool

Listened to this while playing Middara. Yeah, the beginning of this was really tough, but once you survive that, the rest is considerably better. Another album that was just kind of meh. I'd rather listen to The Necks if I'm in the mood for long noodley tracks.

Nice, kept going

After a distinctly prog first track I was very pleasantly surprised to hear the jazz fusion of tracks 2 and 4. Could easily have passed somewhere between Miles Davis/Herbie Hancock/jazzy Frank Zappa from the same year. Excellent (or at least half the album).

Pretty interesting prog rock album

Electronica jazz, hey? That's a new one for me. The music was good to have in the background but periodically got stuck iterating within repetitive sections full of sounds I didn't like. That happened more often than I would have liked.

Lijkt op experimentele geluiden wat altijd zondagochtend op tv was..

Thought before listening: I think these guys were Bowie adjacent with a proggy glam rock sound maybe. This is one of those bands that are often mentioned as an influence on bands I enjoy, but I've never actually heard their music. Review: Ok so this has nothing to do with Bowie or glam rock, rather being jazzy psychedelic prog rock. This album is very out there and trippy, and while these tracks are too long for their own good, I'm actually enjoying this quite a bit. I'm not going to add any of these 20 minute songs to the playlist, but I will rate this 3-stars as an enjoyable albeit very odd listen.

Bastante decepcionante después de haber escuchado el homónimo

Complexe, en apparence dissonant, très construit et réfléchi

3.6 - An interesting timepiece from that post-hippie era in which some rockers were convinced that their next white whale was to fuse rock with jazz. Apparently these early experiments informed the progressive rock movement, which raises red flags for me right off the bat. The best moments here are when the band noodles with electronics and studio toys. For example, I like the single violin, warped and stretched like taffy, on the second half of "Moon in June." And the staccato electronics that bookend "Out-Bloody-Rageous" evoke a mental image of dancing raindrops on a car window. At 78 minutes, this record feels too long but these shape-shifting 4 tracks make for a dynamic listen. As a jazz album it certainly can't compete with the greats but they make up for it with sonic innovation.

Easy to listen to

The first song is 18 minutes long and sounds like Geese fighting but after the fight they decide to have a jam session. Song two is a relatively straight forward jazzy prog rock song, song three is prog rock. Song 4 we are listening to trippy sounds on the moon. The rest of the album was unavailable on spotify. Every song is 18+ minutes which should be a crime. I generally like prog rock but these guys might have taken a little too much acid.

Slightly all the time var best. Hitt er misjafnt, aldrei grípandi (kannski ekki meiningin), en aldrei leiðinlegt heldur svo sem. Og þó, röddin í Moon in June er meh og hann er stundum falskur. Samt, þið vitið, ok allt í allt.

Could perhaps be used as background music if something more interesting was going on

I've listened to a lot of prog and prog-adjacent music in my day. This album was o.k. I've listened to it before but it is pretty forgettable. For example, I had only listened to Gentle Giant's "The Power and the Glory" once, yet immediately recognized the sample of "Proclamation" in Travis Scott's "Hyaena". The same sticking power can't be said of this album. Still good, but middle of the road prog that is slightly elevated by the ethereal second half of the album. 3/5.

Funny, I just listened to the first 5 Soft Machine albums four days ago. This is number 1 or 2 among them. 4 songs on 4 sides. I think Robert Wyatt was a member- I swear I heard King Crimson in the first track. 3 stars for stretching the material a little thin.

It’s great if you like it, but for me, I didn’t feel like I needed to hear this before I died.

Prog double album. You get four songs, one per side, and they're each nearly 20 minutes long. At times it's more jazz than prog rock but what does that matter? It's all a lot. Technically impressive but did not stick with me at all. Felt like there was maybe 15 minutes of good ideas in that 75 minutes, the rest being padding.

3-4

what... did I just listen to? 3 stars? Or perhaps a rhombus.

Listen I enjoy a good old-fashioned instrumental album. But every song felt like it was 100 hours long.