Reviews (page 4 of 7)
Strange
One like the out-thereness of this, and finds it more satisfying than a great deal of prog, because it has more to do with Coltrane than ferries, wizards or extraterrestial creatures.
Interesting prog-sounding fusion album, though no particular highlights from this
decent but it can be a difficult listen at times, not because of the complexity of its ideas but because it sometimes fixates on sounds that don't resonate, at least not with me (I'm sure this would be great to see live though) Best Song: Out-Bloody-Rageous (which is the least popular funnily enough) Worst Song: Facelift
It’s fine although it feels like a jam session in need of an editor. Some cool sections in each of the tracks but there are just parts that could be trimmed to make the whole thing tighter. I am not against free jazz or jam bands but this doesn’t feel coherent in parts. Still not totally terrible as background music.
Not my thing
Otros 70's
Looking at from this album from the outside, it didn't look like one I'd enjoy terribly much. To begin with, the thing's a double album. Nearly 80 minutes of music! These days I'm not really that much into albums over an hour unless it's already something I love dearly, so right away this was fighting an uphill battle. And that battle only got steeper once I discovered that the album is only four songs long, one per side. That's four twenty minute songs! An album having one song that long is usually bad enough... And that's not even mentioning that this is a progressive jazz rock album! In my mind this was really shaping up quickly to be an interminably boring slog, like that drum n' bass compilation my group got a few days ago. Just endless jazz-y canoodling that I wouldn't be able to latch on. "Oh, a higher power have mercy. This is what I get for listening to every album that pops up." However, once I actually got into it and past the first minute—which really wasn't as bad as the top-rated review warned me it'd be, honestly... It kind of clicked with me? And I very quickly realized why, which ended up being my secret to getting through it: this album sounds a LOT like Frank Zappa's jazz work. Now, that isn't an original observation; I've seen a ton of other reviews, from here and on AllMusic, that point that out. It keeps getting made, though, because it's just true. It's a lot looser than a lot Zappa's jazz works could be, true, but tonally it's very close. Hell, there's even a part somewhere on one of these songs that sounds a lot like the electric violin used on "Willie The Pimp". (Forgive me for not knowing exactly which one; these are long and dense songs and I'm going off of only one listen.) With that framework in mind, anyway, my favorite and least favorite tracks don't exactly fall into it, 100%? I've seen a lot of people single out "Moon In June" as their favorite, but on initial listen, I'm not exactly feeling the hype myself. It's the one that sounds the least like Zappa jazz, and at this point that's what I'm listening to this album for. As a result, it ends up being a bit of a disappoint for me. Meanwhile, my favorite cut, "Out-Blood-Rageous", opens with these electronic tape loops and they're actually really pretty. It sounds nothing like Zappa would compose, albiet in the best way possible. If all that could've been in its own song, absolutely it would've been the one I'd come back to. And as a brief note before I conclude, part of me hates that I keep bringing up Zappa here instuead of considering the bang's music on its own. Part of me feels like it's disrespectful. But I don't mean it as disrespect, like I've seen at least one person use the compairson. I really like Zappa's jazz work. It's not my favorite section of his discography, but it's still an important one with a lot of great tunes. Anything that sounds like it gets positive points in my book. Although, with that in mind, I'm not sure if I'll give it another listen. For a one time listen, it was a pleasant surprise, and it was nice music to have on and not fully pay attention to while I played the Nintendo 64 DR. MARIO for the billionth time. The songs are still all twenty minutes, however, and I don't really usually have much room in my regular song rotations for it. So, with all that, it's a three for me, but if I do come back to again I could see it growing into a four over time. FInally, two spare thoughts that don't have anything to do with anything: ~ For the longest time I'd assumed that Soft Machine was a band that made music like The Flaming Lips did on THE SOFT BULLETIN or YOSHIMI BATTLES THE PINK ROBOTS. Just sounds like the perfect band name for that? ~ I totally mistook this band's THIRD for Big Star's THIRD.
Some good moments, but Christ, you could've cut off a few minutes, huh?
This was pretty decent background music.
Psych rock jam band 70's stuff with flutes. YEOW! Groovy baby.
Dug it if you got time. Liked it better than the band’s first album. Jazz? Hmmmm. Might listen again.
It was alright!
Initially pretty annoying but has nice experimental and more conventional Jazz segments.
Instrumental jazz good - did not like vocals.
Opened my mind. Will listen it again soon.
I typically enjoy Prog rock. King Crimson. Early Genesis and such. But something about this just didn't really click with me for some reason. I didn't hate it by any means and can recognize the musical genius. I just don't think I was in the mood for it.
I've heard the band mentioned in a few different contexts over the years, but I don't think I'd ever actually heard any of their music. The album started in a way that made me roll my eyes at first because I was worried it might be yet another psychedelic experimental album that probably sounded so cool to the musicians while they were making the music but doesn't hold up so well these days, but I readily admit I was quite wrong. There is some great music here with some genuine jazz and jazz-influenced composition and performance. Very interesting stuff.
Psychedelic, enjoyed it.
soft, psychedelic altrock vibes, I should have paid attention a bit more but I let this album gently wash over me for my afternoon work sesh and enjoyed it in general without any part really standing out except the length of the tracks (wowow 21 mins?? pink Floyd vibes)
20 minute instrumentals are just not for me during the work day
This was actually okay for having such long songs. They had kind of a Pink Floyd thing going on. Not super compelling but not bad either
I’ve never heard of this group before and when I read the description I expected more of a psychedelic rock record than a jazz record. Great musicianship throughout but just not my personal taste. The vocals also really took me out of it when they came in in the last track but did bring the record back to where my expectations were initially. High 3.
interesting stuff 3 stars
El màxim que s'ha apropat el rock al jazz. Costa de pair, però la digestió es disfruta
The first song got the album off to a bad start. The first 7 minutes of avant- guard intro was hard to take. It was better when it got into the psychedelic stuff and the later songs that were more jazz were quite good.
It was good in parts
I thought the songs were a bit long but pretty enjoyable as background music especially while driving. I really enjoyed moon in June probably a 3.5 album for me
This was fairly forgettable for me.
3/5. I listened to this for another list and it has no notes, but I gave it 3/5 then and I'll just stick with that.
Cool but a little overlong for my tastes. I’d rather play something like King Crimson who usually had tracks half as long, but I can’t deny the talent here. C
Chill.
This was fine. Nothing particularly good jumped out at me. It was a little noisy sometimes—if there's noise rock, can there be noise jazz?
Not something I'd put on in my free time, but super interesting. Sort of like if Kraftwerk were into jazz.
Cool, instrumental album
5/10. Not bad as naptime albums go, but can't say it made much of an impression on me.
Jazzy and proggy and would fun to play Risk to
très instrumental, expérimental. not sure how i felt about it. devrait réécouter pour mieux comprendre le sens de l'album 6.5/10
Did not enjoy
I felt pretty done with this not long into the opening live piece, but I came around for it somewhat as the album went along. Still a little too much Prog Jazz for me.
Again, kinda weird but I kinda like it
The production on the remastered version is fun. The stereo separation and sub-bass sounded great on my bookshelf speaker system. Overall there are some interesting parts but it is long and I found myself losing interest by the middle of the third track. Better editing could have made this a four-star record for me.
This gave me King Crimson vibes. Pretty crazy, music like this was getting created and stayed relatively obscure. I loved it though.
Weird, but the kind of weird that if you keep listening it pulls you in. Probably won't listen again
Soft Machine, 1970, Double LP (4 songs) 2nd Listen (3) Genre: Jazz rock, Progressive rock, Electronic The bonus CD ups the song total to 7. The original double album contained one song per side and it is very much a prog rock album. That being said, it is not for everyone. The first song, Facelift, is the most difficult to get through. The rest of the album is better. The first two tracks seems great to put on in the background when you are studying or just want to relax or sleep... The third song, Moon in June, is more progressive rock than jazz. It's probably the best song on the album (to me). Solid 3/5
First Listen. Never heard of Soft Machine. Genre: Jazz Rock, Prog Rock. 1970 Standouts: Out-Bloody-Rageous, Slightly All The Time, Moon in June Tracks: 2/5 1. Facelift 3/5 2. Slightly All The Time 3.5/5 3. Moon in June 3/5 4. Out-Bloody-Rageous Overall: 3/5 This one would take many listens to really get into..
Ahh... Avis plus positif à la fin qu'au début (j'ai même failli abandonner au bout des cinq premières minutes de pur bruit) Pas mal dans l'absolu, j'ai bien aimé les côtés jazz, mais je trouve que ça manque un peu de mélodie par rapport à King Crimson ou autres trucs du même genre, que j'aime mieux.
In the end just a bit too unorthodox to be enjoyable
What an album for the weekend.
Don’t think be ever heard of them. Very Genesis-Traffic-esque. 3.5/5
Impressive but too jammy for my taste
un album qui commence vraiment mal mais qui s'écoute bien par la suite. du rpog un peu dejanté. 3.25
This was an interesting listen, somewhat challenging. I didn't fully enjoy it, it felt a bit like listening to someone's half baked manifesto. I liked the moments of prog / jazz.
I like this a lot better than most prog, maybe because it's Jazz-adjacent. The instrument choices also helped, but still is a bit of a long play.
Interesting
I was unable to listen to the live part. Otherwise I really only enjoyed the second track
I remember purchasing "Third" at a music festival. I listened to it once, maybe twice, and sold it back. Listening to it 20 years later, I know why. I also know why people mock "Tales From Topographic Oceans," which I like quite a lot. 4 songs, a double album is quite a lot. And if there isn't a lot of THERE there, it does tend to go on and on. There are some good bits in each of the songs, and some parts where I'm like "this could have been edited out." Easily trim these down to about 10 minutes each and it would have been much better. The songs just meander too much for me. Still, the good bits in each of the songs make me think there's something to them. So I feel like they have something better in them. This isn't it.
Strangely melodic. Jazz rock is it? I guess, as there's definitely jazz. Not quite sure where the rock is other than side C, but then I don't know what else I'd call it because it's not just jazz. Not the worst thing I've ever heard though side A was a slog. Sides C and D were better.
Surprisingly, I was kind of in the mood for this.
Interesting album. Reminds me at times of Miles Davis In A SIlent Way and Ornette Coleman The Shape of Jazz to Come. Not really finding the rock part of the equation. Seems to me like a collection of 4 jazz suites. All 4 have something to offer. 3.5 stars
fook me that’s some weird shit
Not very good
Experimental and very long songs. Could see it as ok background though, the music wasn’t necessarily bad. 4/10
You can argue all you want about jazz being incredibly wise, but for me, it's mostly just a few musicians inventing their own completely different parts and then playing them simultaneously. This double album has only four tracks, each nearly twenty minutes long, taking up one side of the record. Within the first five minutes of the first track, the album could easily have been a one star — I haven't heard such cacophony in a long time, but fortunately for the band, it gets a little better. The second one is simply unremarkable jazz-rock, the third is a bit simpler and slightly reminiscent of the band's psychedelic roots, and the flowing saxophone on the fourth is actually enjoyable, despite the long ambient intro. This album, like the entire genre, is for a very dedicated audience, but putting this nightmare as the first track was a crime.
Robert Wyatt, you've done it again you sly dog you.
This is so long, and so uninspired. Judging by how sloppy the horns are on the last track, even the band was tired by that point.
Endless Jam, Boring.
Ehhhh… too weird for me
No fav song
Forgettable.
I thought I remembered these guys being more like Syd-era Pink Floyd? I was all ready for some whimsy about elves, and did not want over an hour of jazz rock!
Meget spesiell psykedelisk prog, dyktige folk Catcher meg ikke sånn sykt
Facelift: might be the worst 18m of music i’ve ever heard 1/5 Slightly all the time: yk i kinda fwt its like jazz. Comping is rlly Bill Evans ngl. 4/5 Moon in June: meh it’s a bit of a mess ngl 2/5 Out bloody rageous: just white noise w annoying beeping ngl but then gets interesting and not that bad 3/5 overall: 2.5 but minus points for putting that trash as the opening song bc it was just unlistenable. Also way too long.
I probably would have enjoyed the live song if I was there and high on LSD. As it is, I was not a fan. It got pretty decent at about minute 9 or so. The second song was good though. And I thought the rest of the album would be pretty decent. Then the singing started in the 3rd track.
Me by the third track: "They sing now?" .... "They sing now"
Had a few fun bits but just didn’t click with me.
Track 1 was a trippy slog to get through, and then the album alternated between that and somewhat digestible. Slightly All The Time with its swing influence brings this up to a 2.
- It was okay? I just can't get into jazz... - I liked the third song... It was a little more psychedelic, and I liked how it moved forward. - The songs and album were all too long, imo. - I can't see myself ever listening to this again, but it was good enough as background music while I worked.
I audibly groaned when I saw that Robert Wyatt was on this album This is so much better than Rock Bottom; I know the bars basically on the floor but yeah turns out when you get actual talent on board you can cover up the dudes shortcomings. Slightly All the Time was genuinely a solid song, a bit too freeform for me to truly love but I enjoyed it. Saxophone track is nice There’s plenty to dislike though; Wyatt’s vocals are a bit better in this one but unsurprisingly the only song he sings on is my least favorite of the ones on this album, just does not have a great voice. Not a huge fan of the guitar sound in the first song, just feels sloppy and a bit ear grating at times. Variety’s pretty bad on this one, which isn’t too surprising since there’s only 3 songs on this one (I know there’s more songs on this album but Spotify only has 3 and I really didn’t feel like searching the web to find more of this shit) Pretty crazy to say I’m “pleasantly surprised” about an album I’m about to give a 2 star review for, but that grudge over having to listen to Rock Bottom is still strong. I just strongly dislike Robert Wyatt, and although his influence is diluted pretty heavily with actual musicians working their ass off to make this record sound good, you can’t help but notice his rancid lack of musical talent
No. Just, no.
Jazz isn't something I'd listen on a regular basis, this is a good listen, but I don't think I'll get back into it.
If a band like Yes made this stupid album, I’d be like, “whoa, what a genius concept and execution.” But if Yes made this album, it would be so much better because it would have genius execution. Instead, this is a four song double album of self indulgent jazz drivel. Good, but forgettable.
This album had some good moments. Tracks 2 and 4, had some nice jazzy elements which I enjoyed. Overall, however, it was far too long-winded and impenetrable to be truly enjoyable.
Not really for me. I can kinda get bits of it - and I like the idea of each band member writing a song/ side.. Mostly, I didn't like the vocalist.
I mean this was better than the Playing With Fire album we reviewed before it. But I couldnt be arsed with the self indulgence of this typa jazz after that. Generous 2.
Don’t get it
I didn’t know Keyboard Cat made an album in the “70s! Seriously, once I saw Robert Wyatt’s name in the band lineup I knew I was in for a long one. It actually ended up slightly better than Wyatt’s solo work, so cheers to his band mates.
It kind of feels like dudes just noodling on their instruments for an hour, and I'm someone who likes instrumental music a lot, but these songs don't feel like they're going anywhere on rhis,
I'm usually a sucker for this type of music and while I did like this one, I wasn't as drawn in as expected.
Phew, listening to this album was a real slog. What’s surprising is that it’s a live album. It was certainly innovative for its time. I doubt, however, that it was as influential on the genre as the accompanying article claims. In the end, I couldn’t bring myself to listen to the whole thing. The first track, in particular, is downright nerve-wracking and ear-splitting. 2/5
None of these songs are savable or worth revisiting. There are plenty of good moments, but I don't want to sit through any of these songs again to find them. 2.1/5
Favorite songs: There were passages in most of the songs that I liked but as a whole the songs on this album were not for me.
Best Song: Slightly All The Time. This had some nice jazz sax to counteract the sludgy prog. Worst Song: Out-Bloody-Rageous. I just don't find this kind of "everything but the kitchen sink" songwriting style compelling at all. Overall: Not great psychedelia. 20 minute sprawling songs, without much purpose or unity between them. Instrumentals are okay but nothing particularly memorable. Vocals are weak. Electronic aspects sound particularly dated. Very meh.
Glad that half of this album wasn't available on Spotify. Nearly an hour was about all I wanted to hear of this one. Some segments were decent but overall I did not like this one.
You cannot deny this is an album. I like prog a lot more than the average guy but this isn't good in any sort of way.
gosto mt da vertente do jazz "free peidinho molhado"
I don't think this is for me. This album (and the songs) are LONG. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but this just didn't keep me interested all that much. I fund myself wishing it was over several times throughout, so that is not a good sign.
Look I don’t think any of these are bad but I don’t have 2 hours to listen to an album at the moment so the rating goes down on that one
Starts out dogshit Then gets less bad Never gets good
This feels like a very "you had to be there" album. I was not there.
Na een radiostilte van drie weken head first in een prog jazz album duiken. Ik kan er niet eens boos om worden dat dit geen succes was. Dat eerste album van ze had nog enigszins een normale structuur, wat toch wat meer houvast biedt als je geen prog rock liefhebber bent. Dit daarentegen registreert mijn brein moeilijk. 5/10
Zoals vaak bij progrock werd ik hier niet warm van. Er zaten hier en door nog wel wat leuke fusion dingetjes in maar over het algemeen niet een plaat die ik perse had willen horen alvorens ik sterf. 5/10
Way too long and the first track was borderline unlistenable
Too obscure for me... And the songs are extremely long
Kinda scary honestly.
i don't have a problem with longer songs, i quite like the buildup in them, but nothing on here besides moon in june really piqued my interest. i'm not opposed to doing this one again sometime, i think with time it'd grow on me
Melekosta jatsia, kauheen hyviä ukot varmasti on soittamaan, mutta ei ehkä omaan makuun tämmönen pitkään junnaava jatsailu. Sinänsä musiikissa ei mitään vikaa, kävi vaan vähän tylsäksi pidemmän päälle
Improvisational jazz, by it’s very nature, will have some really nice moments. But the best you can say about the rest is “interesting “.
This is fine for a soundtrack. Or elevator music. The one song with lyrics/singing is Moon in June and it’s still to experimental to be what I’d call “enjoyable”. Pass.
hated it
Might have been great/groundbreaking at the time of relaese. But not something I enjoyed at all. Really basic
That's three for three absolutely terrible album recommendations.
I couldn’t get through this. It’s just too much. There wasn’t enough holding it together to make it a proper progressive record. The talent is there, I just don’t think I like this bridge between psychedelic rock and progressive rock. Maybe if I was insanely fucked up.
Not for me but not offensive. Just a little unmemorable.
ANGER is what i felt 5 mins into this "album", incoherent scales and an 18+ minute live opening track are not a good way to draw me in. It did get better though i must admit, hints of Pink Floyd in the later tracks. Still, I'm convinced some of the albums on this list are some sort of social experiment, we'll see the results soon enough.....
Orket ikke alt for å si det sånn
I should have known that evil elf robert Wyatt was involved. Not as bad as his solo stuff at least
++
Album 1082 of 1089 Third- Soft Machine (1970) Rating : 1.5 / 5 This one was a bit of a tough listen for me this morning. The album leans heavily into experimental territory, and a lot of it feels more like sound exploration than what I’d typically think of as songs. There are long stretches where it comes across more as sound effects and abstract ideas than something built around melody or structure. That’s not to say there isn’t intention behind it - there clearly is. You can tell this is a band pushing boundaries and trying to do something different. It just didn’t line up with what I was in the mood for today. Sometimes with this 1001 Albums journey, you get something that immediately clicks. Other times, it’s more about just showing up, pressing play, and seeing it through. This one fell into that second category for me. I turned it on, I listened, I finished, and I turned it off. And that’s part of the deal with doing this. You take the ones that hit, and you take the ones that don’t quite land. On to the next one… let’s knock this last week out.
Tried to get through this, but it's just too jazzy.
Soft Machines third movement (like bowel) is all fluff with no guff. The "jazzy bits" are all lovely and that, but it takes so bleedin long to get to the point that I no longer care. Not in the mood, good day to you.
A bandmate who was into Prog showed me this in high school. Prog is usually pretty rough to listen to but this is hard even for prog. this is probably closer to Avant-garde jazz. If you're not into prog or avant-garde jazz i wouldn't say it is a must listen. But it might be a fun experience if you're curious and have the ability to tolerate non diatonic harmony. When the music briefly slips into diatonic harmony it can be satisfying in a sense. Music technical aspect aside and being in more touch with my more regular music side.... This sucks majority of time and is very hard to appreciate if you aren't a person who are stuck in avant garde. Facelift is the worst one so if you get through that one the rest of the album is more pleasant
viste cuando estas cayendo en un episodio de demencia o cuando empezar a sentir el ataque de pánico? asi se siente este album.
Nothing inspiring or shitty🤷
Only 3 playable songs, was ok
nicht schlecht aber mal wieder langweilig, unnötig lang, nur instrumentals und manchmal ein bisschen lost
Had to pause the first listen as the first minutes are a bit difficult. On second attempt though it calmed down and I even low-key enjoyed some of the noodling. Ultimately it’s unlikely to be any more than background music for me
Only had access to Disc 1 on Spotify, so only had to endure 2 hours of this stuff. Gets pretty interesting later, but c'mon, you cannot start an album off like that. It's just dissonance at the beginning, and it turned me off for the entire duration.
Enerverande
De var för upptagna med att se vilka ljud de kunde göra för att överväga om de borde göra dem. Blev något bättre efter första låten, så räddas ändå från absolut bottenbetyg.
Vad gör ens detta här? Andra halvan var slightly osämst så jag är väldigt snäll med mitt betyg nu.
5/10
Type shi my aunt will play on the speakers on Thanksgiving instead of the audio for the football game
Very few nice parts among mostly not so nice noise
I don't even like live albums of bands I like. I'd hate to be the kind of person who finds this enjoyable.
This one was tough for me. Yeah, I get the technical skill and why some people think it's the peak of prog rock, but those 18 minute long tracks like "Facelift" felt more like a test of my sanity than actual songs. Like, four songs spanning an hour and a quarter? Come on! It often just felt self indulgent, getting lost in boring drones and repeats that make you zone out before the side's even over. But, it wasn't a total bust. After the weird intro, there were some cool moments in "Slightly All The Time" and "Moon In June" where the jazz fusion stuff actually worked. It's an adventurous, mind-bending trip if you're patient enough, but for me, the good stuff was buried under too much boring stuff.
Taking jazz and dragging it into the seventies with a more modern palette is a noble thing. This is done well, but suffers from not being one of the classics, a bit long and a bit bland so it was difficult to get too excited about it. Good background music
There were parts of this that I liked but because it was split into such long tracks there were no songs that I enjoyed all the way through. I don’t think I would listen again but I didn’t hate it tbh, just wasn’t massively my thing. Fav song: Out-Bloody-Rageous Least fav: Slightly All The Time
What I liked: there was a lot of cool jazz moments in this !!! What I didn’t like: everything else holy crap what a bad prog album. I love a bit of experimental stuff but this ain’t it chief
This album is so annoying because it teases in great elements of jazz-rock that actually sound really cool, only to go into 20 minutes of boring prog. It's funny, though, because the start of Moon In June sounds like a prog version of Split Enz before completely losing the plot. This has all of the fundamentals of a great album, but fails completely.
Interesting. I didn’t think I would like it by the second side it’s grown on me. Definitely a good thing to play for background music during work or cleaning
No standouts
It's not you, it's me. I have a hard time sitting through 18+ min songs. I am sure this is great to someone and when it was originally released.
The first four minutes of freeform, electronic noise-noodling made me want to toss my phone off the roof of my office. The subsequent 71 minutes and 19 seconds sort of assuaged that feeling, but it never really went away. I just don't think I'm a fan of noise-free jazz-psych or whatever this is. If I'm going to listen to noise, I want it to be brutal, loud and cathartic (i.e., early Swans). If I'm going to listen to free jazz, I want saxophones motherfucker (a la Ornette Coleman), not Keith Emerson noodling on an early Casio with a butterknife. And, if I'm going to listen to psych, well then goddam it, it better have some droning guitars at a minimum. So yeah, I didn't find this music challenging or enjoyable or groundbreaking, I just found it annoying.
This was headed right for the 1 star pile, but the last two songs had moments that made me feel something. Moon in June had psych/prog rock vibes that even if I didn't out right like creeped me out a bit. The last one made for an enjoyable 8 minutes that started slow and overstayed it's welcome.
I only listened as long as it took for our dog to wake up, bark, run around the house, and demand to be let out. And to figure out that this is like the parts of King Crimson albums that I skip past to get to the good stuff. Not for me, even though there are good grooves from time to time.
Too machine-y
Why were the songs so long
Psychedelic jam band with some really interesting jazz influences and some not so interesting prog behaviours. Honestly, on second listen to Facelift, I thought it was really interesting and well done, especially the second part of it. But overall my your mileage on this album with depend on how much you're able to deal with jazz and prog rock. I like jazz, but even for me 18 minute songs is a rough ask for anything but the best. And prog, well I like some songs but I am certainly not an aficionado. I've listened to some Yes and King Crimson, and Soft Machine they are not. Honestly you can jettison Moon in June entirely and I wouldn't miss it at all. Overall, not great, though certainly not bad. It's just... tiring. It's not an easy album to get anyone to listen to a four song album that lasts almost an hour and a half. Maybe if I was in the mood for it I would have liked it more. The instrumentation after all is astounding. But that'll take a while to get back into the mood to listen to this again. The highlight is Facelift (though I have yet to decide whether to add it to my highlights playlist).
I'm not mad that I heard this record, but it's very much something that is put on in the background while you are entertaining or doing something else, at least the first half. Not something you need to pay particularly close attention to which is unfortunate. They are clearly talented musicians. Unfortunately the vocals are terrible. And I do not say that lightly, I think I would rather listen to a toddler scream over this than what we got here. Fortunately that's only on one (20 minute!) track and there's almost 40 minutes of music until they kick in. So it seems they knew better, which is nice.
Not my style
First listen, won’t listen again
jazzzzzz
Well that was wholly unnecessary, now wasn’t it?
Starts off pretty scary, that first track was something else. The rest of the album was actually good. This type of experimental jazz seems like it's an acquired taste, and not something I particularly like, but it was interesting and mostly enjoyable.
I respect what it's doing, but jeezus is this hard to listen. I feel like this would be better served as OST of something rather than a standalone music.
I’m intrigued by this artist though I don’t understand why this album specifically was included. After the first track it settles into a more ambient jazz mode that is relatively tolerable. But I just don’t see the bigger picture or project here
Might find it aceptable with the appropriate number of listen but why bother ! There's enough music which sounds good on first listen ! If it wasn't for the guitar, it would have been a 1
This mostly sounds like the montage music from a 70s TV show or movie. It’s fine background music but I’m not finding it very interesting. 2 stars since it’s better than some of the other albums we’ve been hearing lately.
It’s a really long record. I’m not convinced in this case that quantity helps make up for lack of quality. It’s a kind of dull jazz rock album and I know there are better albums out there in this genre.
not my style but not terrible.
Really liked the noisy parts; didn’t care much for the jazzy bits.
Eh a little forgettable. Nothing really stuck out
Super long songs that sounded like guys jamming in their garage. Too many weird sound effects as well. Not for me.
I didn’t listen to this in the best setting. A reasonably busy office turns out is not conducive to listening to soft machine. Sounded a bit messy which, in a different context, might have just sounded experimental and avant garde and possibly more enjoyable as a result. Struggled to get much from it by the end. Sounded like it was trying to play both prog rock and jazz at the same time but not really playing either brilliantly well and committing more to either would have helped.
Just a strange groove.
There was one song I enjoyed but 18 minutes for one song is insane if I don’t love it
Wandering, rambly jazz rock
Really really weird prog jazz stuff. I have respect for creating this in the time it was made. But the atonal sax really destroyed any joy I could find in the music, when the dude started "singing" I was really starting to get annoyed. A fever dream of an album
Not very good. Seems like half of this 75 minute album is orchestral warmup tuning & just plain noise. This wholly eclipses any of the potentially worthwhile music. An agitated, annoying & unfulfilling listening experience.
Thought I was near the end just to realize I was only halfway through the second track. It's just too much.
Really ungood. I can't believe I made it through.
It wasn't *bad* per se, but I didn't need 70+ minutes of it either.
Some fantastic motifs and jazz lines in there loved the 9/4 groove on the second track when it got going in , and numerous other great bits of Jame but all in all the album was like a big Jam nothing jumping out at me too much to think to listen to it again and again A 2 for me
Started off poorly and quite annoying in places, but there were parts in here that I enjoyed.
Really struggled with this one. I think the genre is just not for me. I enjoy a lot of post-rock, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Mogwai etc - agenre that was certainly influenced by this stuff.
There’s fun prog, and then there’s that.
Opening: You know music? Yeah. Do the opposite of that. It does however improve. Then someone starts "singing" and oh my god why. Then more atonal noise and finally some actual good jazz. This is a mess.
My only other jazz rock album that I've heard is Pain to Power by Maruja, and this is a very different type of jazz rock album than that one. That leans much heavier on the rock, and this leans much heavier on the jazz. And I think jazz albums just aren't really my thing.
I just couldn’t get into it. 1.5 star
They had no business making those songs so long. 1.5 stars.
Ich habe mir wirklich Mühe gegeben, diesem Werk eine Chance zu geben, aber leider war das ein Schuss in den Ofen. Wer hier musikalische Raffinesse oder wenigstens ein bisschen Harmonie erwartet, wird bitter enttäuscht. Das hat so viel mit Musik zu tun wie die Bibel mit dem Weihnachtsmann an Ostern – also rein gar nichts. Die Komposition wirkt zusammengewürfelt, als hätte jemand wahllos Töne in einen Mixer geworfen und gehofft, dass dabei etwas Hörbares herauskommt. Die Texte? Entweder kryptisch ohne Tiefgang oder so platt, dass man sich fragt, ob sie aus einem Generator stammen. Selbst mit viel gutem Willen bleibt da nicht viel hängen – außer vielleicht ein leichtes Ohrenzucken.
Not for me
Um. There may be something of significance but I’m not sure, something related to prog I think. Very noodly.
"We're not going to do a freeform jazz exploration in front of a festival crowd." -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap. "Hold my beer." -- Mike Ratledge, Soft Machine
Interesting listen. One of those that just seems to tread along for a bit, like most prog rock records. Although this was a bit more jazzy than the rest. Not really unpleasant overall, but I preferred the instrumental tracks over the one vocal track.
I understand why this is on the list, but too osycodic for me, and I like Zappa.
A journey through intricate soundscapes woven with synths, percussion, organ and horns. I’m glad I heard it, but I doubt I’d be inclined to revisit it. It’s just not in my wheelhouse.
this was painful to listen to
Was very worried during the first song, but the jazz eventually got decent. I love prog, but this was not my thing
This one comes and goes. I like parts of it...
This was the most baffling album I’ve had to rate so far. At times, I was so ready to give it a 1, but then I got hit by some really beautiful stuff. Then it turns to what sounds like half of the ensemble of a King Crimson song spliced and mashed around. Overall, it was still way too long to listen to some experimental nonsense, but there’s great stuff in here as well.
so weird and funky but a really interesting experimental work. I don't think I would listen on the day to day but it's good background and its sounds like my brain when I'm doing work or need to
The lead track is garbage, but it got better as it went. Not at all for me.
I tried to listen to this twice on an airplane and turned it off twice. I then put it on to drown out noise during a hospital visit and that didn’t make it better. Maybe this album entered my life during the wrong time, but it’s not hitting.
I don't like it very much. Sounds like they wanted to make something original and didn't care if it sounded good.
long AND bad. Perfect recipe for a terrible time. Not terribly offensive but it sure is grating, I'm not sure this was mixed properly at all.
The music is bad but on the plus side the album is really long!
Hey, Soft Machine. I've seen this album cover before, though what I really know these guys from is Gitaroo Man - one of my favourite games of all time. The opening theme for that game is "Soft Machine" by Coil (the Japanese one), which I assume is named after this band. Truth be told, I know next to nothing about these guys as far as their music is concerned. I think I remember reading somewhere that these guys have a bit of a freaky sound, so I'm hedging my bets on either proto-punk or gothic rock. YouTube Music has this album listed as an EP, which is absolutely diabolical. I thought I had a short listen on my hands today. I guess I wasn't entirely wrong in my freaky sound assessment - the opening to the first track was quite abrasive. I'm not entirely sure what causes this album to fall into the "jazz rock" genre, though I can believe that it boils down to this album sounding like a bit of a sonic mess. I'm not gonna lie - I spaced the fuck out while listening to this one. I suppose it made for some solid background noise, though you're kind of setting yourself up for abject failure when your album is comprised entirely of long as fuck songs. Alright-to-listen-to long as fuck songs mind you, but long as fuck songs all the same. Anyways, most of the tracks have a decent, bassy sound to 'em, and I appreciated the warbling saxes. I'm curious to look into Soft Machine's earlier psychedelic works as there is some craft to this album, though much later down the line, I'd imagine. "Slightly All the Time" is alright. I can appreciate a nice, relaxing, subdued sound when I hear one. It has a bit of a noir sound to it as well which is always cool. You can bet your bottom dollar that the rest of the album was a bit of a snoozer, however. Book time. High point for the band. Underrated. That's it as far as the book entry is concerned. Wikipedia says that this album was a huge stylistic shift for the band, performed decently on the charts and has a mild critical acclaim. Sure, I can let this one through. I gotta hold onto my dwindling reserve of replacement albums, after all. I cosign this inclusion.
A bit annoying, loud, listened only to the first 2 songs
a bit too avant for my garde
Weird and surprisingly interesting.
Are they still warming up?
Who was the audience for this album? I can appreciate improvisation and eclecticism, but this was throwing instruments at a wall and seeing what would stick. Hopeful elements, but they were snippets that never went anywhere.
Avant- guard art rock, sounding a like recorded in a tin can, at its peak the instrumentals are influential, at worst there are lacking emotion and can sound ambivalent. Vocals drag it down
Man I swear all lesser known prog rock all sounds exactly the same. The first track was so ear screeching my girlfriend came and told me to turn it off - and she likes prog rock more than me. I did enjoy the jazzier elements to this. Slightly All The Time was clearly the best song on here. I can't find myself coming back to that song because I'd rather just listen to 'real' jazz. Fuck this thing went on FOREVER as well.
Slightly All The Time
It has it's moments, but those moments aren't worth the rest of the time spent testing the listener.
Weird shit or elevator music. There's nothing in between.
First song was proper shite, it takes a serious set of brass balls to open your album with 18 minutes of incoherent noises. Next one was much better but we still didn't listen to all of it. Like if your psychedelic jazz album is going to be 2 hours long it has to be really bloody good and this just wasn't.
Yeah I mean that was ok, just by nature of this kind of music I didn't find it to be hugely memorable. One I can see growing on me, although from a first listen it did feel like a chore to listen to by the end.
Was not really into it. For the must part, just synthetic noise.
the original mathrock (I'm assuming :P) -- I haven't listened to this since I was a child definitely sent me back in time. I love acid jazz as much as the next person, which is to say, it's really hit or miss. haha. I'm ready for some zappa. :D
Seems random but sure
The Third song some is one of the worst things I have ever heard. Chaotic jazz with some genuinely annoying effects. Only 4 songs.. 20 minutes each. 3/10
Wild, bold exploration of avant-garde jazz fusion, but I'm not convinced that this album was vital enough that it needs to be heard by future musicians and music fans of which this list serves. Having said that, I'm glad the list turned me on to them, as I'm not sure I would have discovered them any other way. On the other hand, after hearing THIRD, does anyone else feel Angelo Badalementi's LOST HIGHWAY tracks, and chunks of Barry Adamson's LOST HIGHWAY tracks, and his late 80s and early 90s albums were influenced by an appreciation for Soft Machine?
This was NOT GOOD.
2.5
2.5
Really didn’t care for this. 5 songs all 20 minutes a piece.
Omg tooooo long. If you're going to fill a 2 hour album with 18 minute tracks, you better bring it. They didn't. 2/5
Пять песен по двадцать минут?....местами это было довольно-тауи прикольно, но в основном просто ..зачем.. особенно первая половина первого трека, я была вот настолько близка к тому, чтобы выключить это все нафиг
A little too much droning for me.
This really needs the right circumstances to be enjoyed for me.
Facelift and Out-Bloody-Rageous have really nice grooves once they finally get going...but I nearly turned the album off after its first two minutes (looking at you, "gloopy space synth noise").
what the heck? a bunch of sounds
Guhhhhhhhhhhhhh whyyyyyyy?! Kinda cool, but not 1001 albums worthy.
Ha sido bastante pesado y lo he sobrellevado por que en el fondo me gusta más o menos esta música. Este es otro disco de cultura musical. Check.
Pretty spacey
I'm glad disc 2 isn't on Spotify - way too long and nothing too special here.
some interesting ideas in here but this album is so long that they are separated by chasms of 60s psychedelic garbage
This didn’t speak to me.
pick: slightly all the time
Long and boring
Background music, at times it's just background noise. I hate songs longer than 15 minutes. 2 outta 5
I’d rather be listening to Zappa
65
Jazz rock I guess? Kind of interesting, didn’t mind having it on in the background.
the intro was awful, and the songs way too long even though they were good it doesn't make up for it
I mean, wtf. This is the kind of album that makes people hate jam bands. No structure, no melodies, no progression in the songs, they just seem to meander forever with no resolution.
Unstructured, random noises for so much of it. I'm not a jazz person and the jazzy stuff is actually the better part of this record. I don't want 18 minute songs.
Two minutes in and I was thinking dissonant and pretentious. Then, whale sounds? By the time it got to the second track, it fell into more of a free jazz groove, which is better, but not much. That would be my least favorite style of jazz. I just can’t get into it. By the third track, it’s fallen into what I guess would be progressive rock, like ELO or early Genesis, only not nearly as good. I never quite finished this album because by a couple minutes into the last track I had lost all interest. I just didn’t have another 15 minutes of this in me. So final thought: less dissonant than I expected, by a little bit, but still sort of pretentious and not terribly listenable. If you want free jazz, look to Coltrane and Davis, if you want progressive, early Genesis and King Crimson are better choices.
I can see the reason it is here, just very much so not my genre. 4 nearly 20 minute fully instrumental songs is rough.
Personal enjoyment: 1/5 Relevance to this list: 5/5
This is the band that are most responsible for me saying I can appreciate jazz. So they had to try to prove me wrong didn't they. It would appear that the compilers of this list believe that jazz can only be played on brass instruments. This is of course complete bollox. They are a band with some superb musicians. One founder member is Daevid Allen was multi-instrumentalist genius who I was privilaged enough to see live in the early 90's as part of another band. But back to the album in hand, sorry, not the best. I'm finding this really hard to review this album without taking others into account albums like Bundles and Softs are quite brilliant but this one is quite disappointing hopefully we may get them later. This one is only worth a very low 2, possibly rounded up from 1.7 to be honest.
Bloody long sprawling songs filled with just about every possible instrument known to humankind. I had it on in the background while doing things, which is fine. If I had to give it my full concentration, then I think I would get a headache.
Maso
My first time listening to progressive rock. I loved the jazz elements and flute melodies being paired with the drums. The first song, ‘Facelift’, was too in-cohesive for my taste. The following songs however were quite enjoyable and sonically intriguing.
Probably better if you’re on drugs.
Quite ok, but a little too much of the same...
Track 2 was so good it almost made me forget how poor the rest of the album is, especially track 1.
jazz? discordant, random shit.
Its 4 tracks around 20 ish minutes each and you really do feel it 2/5
There are quite a few albums from 60s and 70s in this book that could be dropped. I think this is one of those albums. I don't know if this a must listen. Sounds alright and nothing to write home about.
I'd never heard of Soft Machine, so started reading up about them and noticed Robert Wyatt's involvement, suddenly it makes sense, except it doesn't - this is a soundscape for an (experi)mental asylum!
Too impromptu.
Begin met het tweede liedje, dan is het soort van te doen
I still don't get jazz. I like prog pretty well, but this was too much jazz and the tracks were too long. 20 minutes is just too much. It ranged from actively annoying at worst to fades into the background at best.
19 minute long tracks of experimental rock are just not my cup of tea
There are moments of really cool stuff on this, but the full effect was not great for me. If I had thought of this as a jazz album first I may have liked it a lot more. I thought of it as a rock album first, though, so I found this quite frustrating and even annoying at times.
This was just not my thing. A 10+ minute long song is pushing it for me - having four nearly-20 minute songs was too much. It was too far out there at times. It did seem to get better at times, but I found myself counting the minutes between those moments.
I’m getting real tired of this
This is a weird and difficult one to rate. It’s eclectic to the extreme. I felt like the first song was the high watermark. There was some interesting jazz-rock stuff going on and the tonal shifts were at that point intriguing. But each track is so long that you lose the plot a bit. Some sections put me in mind of Pink Floyd but only if they were trying to find a particularly obnoxious opening sequence. The vocals really don’t help and prefer when it’s instrumental (fortunately most of the time). I think both the second and third song had a very jarring climax shortly before the end with eerie electronic sounds. So all told I applaud the experimental nature and there is musical quality involved but it was an album I pushed through rather than enjoyed. Just don’t think I can give it a 3 (on my own personal scoring).
I just can’t get with it. Great musicians I’m sure, but for me it’s just a headache inducing hodgepodge.
Facelift - 19 minut muzyki wleciało jednym a wyleciało drugim, nudna piosenka i zmarnowany czas. 2/10 Slightly all the time - Przyjemna muzyka jazzowa jednak za długa, nie słuchałbym tego często, może kiedyś w jesienne wieczory. Jest to najlepsza piosenka jazzowa jaką usłyszałem do dziś (27.07.25). 7/10 Moon in june - Pierwsze wokale na tym albumie, nie genialne ale złe również nie są. Znowu przyjemna piosenka dla ucha, przy końcówce zjebali. 5/10 Out-bloody rageous - Elevator music, nudne tyle mam do powiedzenia. 3/10 O całym albumie mogę powiedzieć, że był przeciętny. Dało by się według mnie skrócić każdą piosenkę o 10 minut ponieważ album się przedłużał.2 przeciętne piosenki 2 nudne, raczej do tego albumu nie powrócę. 4/10
Probably some 3 star, possibly 4 star parts to this, but, as an album, I will never, ever be able to listen to 1hr16mins of this without skipping or taking a break.
This is the kind of meandering stuff that gives prog a bad name. If an album is two hours long and has four songs, it has to do quite a lot to be worthy of the level of listener investment required. This record didn't at any point rise to that challenge. At times in the first song it sounded like they were riffing on Larks Tongues In Aspic, which unfortunately just reminded me how much I'd rather be listening to King Crimson.
Cool understated album cover for what the songs are. Wild jazzy, psychedelic sounds. Unfortunately not my cup of tea, but can see how talented Soft Machine is.
пойдет для нарезки сэмплов
2 maybe different instruments would make me enjoy it more?
*Bizarre album. Basically a jam band experiment, but all over the place. *Only 6 songs of about 15-20 minutes each. *All over the places - lots of experimental noise, then some melodious parts. Instrumental except one track. *Not my jam. RATING - 3/10
Highly experimental album that was fine, but I just didn’t get that into it.
#630. I can't say that I'm a fan of this at all. Just some fuckers noodling about for a bit. 2/5: no
I feel like this album can't get out of it's own way. Large portions of it are unbearably obtuse. Then for brief periods it seems to start pulling something together. Something that might actually be good. But then it loses the thread and meanders into obscure noise again. Most of the songs would be better if broken into individual songs for each idea and focused.
The tracks are very long (~20 minutes). Some are jammy, some are jazzy. Some parts sound like background music for a science documentary. There were parts Iiked (e.g. track 2: Slightly all the Time) but on the whole I'm not inclined to hear it again.
I feel like I'm doomed to be the dum-dum who never fully understands the appeal of an album like this, because I listen to the 80ish minutes of them noodling around and think "great, you've produced some great raw material, now go make some songs using it." Its not that I expect every song to be a tight 4.5 minutes of verse-corus-verse, but the general lack of structure here just doesn't draw me in to the music, at all.
Mycket underlig, långdragen musik på 20min per låt. Kanske fungerar i en konstig restaurang eller så. Inte i mina hörlurar hur som helst.
The first three tracks were pretty hard for me to get through, but Out-Bloody-Rageous kind of saved it for me. I'm a sucker for tippy tappy guitar doodly doos, I just wish the rest of the album was in the same arena.
70s jazz rock apparently. But really experimental noise rock with 70s synths and jazz instruments. Awful. Gets better after first experimental track. Don’t like prog rock.
Enough with the prog. Show me the best 2-3, maybe, and then we’re done.
Dit zijn geniale muzikanten. Er zijn momentjes dat je dat hoort tijdens het luisteren van dit album, maar er zijn ook momenten dat je denkt dat je naar een soort jostiband aan het luisteren bent. Dat laatste met name tijdens die valse start van een track 1. Met name die eerste track (1/4e van het album) slaat dus teveel door in het experimenteren. Daarna lijkt het album iets meer improvisatie jazz met prog te worden. Gelukkig zou ik haast zeggen. Uiteindelijk blijft het voor mij een album lang vissen naar lekkere stukjes (track 2 vanaf 8:06 tot 12:02) in een grote ketel soep waarin teveel grove brokken ronddrijven. Ik zou willen dat ik dit meer kon waarderen, maar ik mis iets van houvast en daardoor duurt het me al gauw veel te lang allemaal. Als het allemaal iets meer recht toe recht aan was had ik dit wel gaaf gevonden, want de juiste ingrediënten zijn er. 2 sterren. Dit is wel zo'n VPRO Vrije Geluiden album wat je hier af en toe gewoon hoort aan te treffen. Dus dat is top.
First track was an assault on my ears. The rest didn't do much better. This really takes the Rock out of "Prog Rock", and I'm not sure about the Prog either. 1.5/5
I'm not really into this kind of experimental, jam prog whatever.
I’ve now listened to a few examples of this style of music, prog rock, which I had never heard of before. It’s fine, even kind of interesting, but none of it grabs me as anything I will choose to listen to again.
None of the tracks justify their runtime Very monotone and doesnt go anywhere Cool drums tho
2- Stars (4/15)
Bit experimental for me but appreciate the vibe
Early psych jazz fusion not for me
Never heard of this “most influential British jazz-rockers ever”. And kind of wish I never had. Definitely a late 60’s early 70’s vibe I could skip. Maybe if the songs were a tad bit shorter, like by 10 to 15 minutes.
Creo q tengo q estar muy drogada para disfrutar de esto.
Well that was a trip. Parts were alright, but it was overall a noisy and unpleasant experience.
There is something happening here. Every time it grabbed me, it immediately tried to run away again. I don’t doubt this hugely influenced a series of better albums. Ahead of its time, but I’m still gonna be mean and 2/5
Take rock band, add jazz, and watch your enjoyment slowly rot away to boredom. The third track was tolerable for two minutes, and then I realized that there were 15 more minutes. I am completely confident that there are good reasons for this album to be on the list, but I can't see them because I fall asleep before I can form a coherent argument against it.
The lowest 2 I could give.
First 7 minutes sound like an orchestra warming up rather than playing any tangible music. After that somebody reminds the band they are recording an album, still not great but at leastfeels like its meant to be music. Picks up slightly with the middle two tracks before track 4 returns to near five minute warm up and my delight at the fourth track ending quickly dashed by it starting up again It’s the sound of Jazz meets Rock but this is far from a happy marriage of styles
It was some cool jazz but wasn't really my thing
Noodling
I didn't get on with this at all. I don't know why; I'm not against prog rock. Maybe it's the acid jazz. The only track I can say that I liked was Moon In June.
Hard to underestimate how little i was interested in listening to 4 x 20 minute prog sessions today. It's fine, but it really didn't hit
too avant garde for regular listening imo, but it was an interesting listen. possibly groundbreaking for its time.