not really been able to get into Soft Machine much

but i like them significantly more than Gong, merely because of SM's more jazz-oriented sound

Been listening to Soft Machine Vol.2 album and I`m still deciding on whether I`ve just heard a classic or something masquerading itself as a classic:confused:

another thing is of course, i'm of the view that jazz should be purely instrumental, unless you can phrase like Frank Sinatra

i had the same problem with some tracks on Tony Williams' Lifetime's Emergency and i have the same problem with SM

I think that was one of the problems on Third, in that the members of the band refused to have much to do with the Robert Wyatt sung compositions, as they wanted the whole album to be instrumental.

yeah, i'm hearing the problem

Some of the best vocalists in history were jazz singers, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Nina Simone for example. Wyatt's vocals fit perfectly in with SM's first two albums, often they're used as an instrument itself. I think without them the music would lose a chunk of it's edge.

Anyway, as I said, first three album's - gold.

I listened to the first yesterday and liked it (hadn`t heard it in years) but it wasn`t the Jazzy SM that I know, so didn`t like it as much as I could`ve done.

As you seem to be a SM fan, whats your overall opinion of the first four albums and your order of preference?

Volume I - Third - Volume II - Fourth

Fourth is decent, but I'm not a massive fan of jazz-fusion unless it incorporates other things into the mix too. The reason the first three are better for me is the space rock, psychedelia and dadaism that's more evident. There's also quite a bit of humour in I and II, which I think fits, whilst Third is just a fucking trip.

Interesting, what I like most about Vol.II is the B-side, the first couple of songs are great, but the stand out track is the 11 minute "Esthers Nose Job" I know this album was inspired by Frank Zappa`s Absolutely Free album.

I have to say I feel this thread is in the wrong forum. I find early Soft Machine pretty hard to classify, but what they did most of was jazz-fusiony stuff and so if they belong in any genre forum, it should be the Jazz one and not here.

Anyone like Bundles? Allan Holdsworth is pretty brilliant :)