Release date: June 15, 1976
Label: Harvest Records
Production: Soft Machine
Length: 44:55
Genre: Canterbury scene/jazz rock fusion
Rating: 8/10
“Softs,” the ninth studio album from British prog rock pioneers and jazz rock fusion champions Soft Machine, gave no sonic hint that relations inside the band were slowly heading south. On “Softs,” Karl Jenkins finally cemented himself as Soft Machine’s main composer, while the last original member, keyboardist Mike Ratledge, who’d had enough of it all, left before the album was even finished and played keyboards on just two tracks. Jenkins, who would work with him again several years later, got his revenge by demoting him to a guest member in the credits for “Softs.”
Ratledge’s (un)expected exit forced Jenkins to focus entirely on covering the keyboards, while he found his new saxophonist in Alan Wakeman, cousin of the much more famous Rick Wakeman (Yes). John Etheridge (ex-Icarus, Darryl Way’s Wolf) took over guitar from Allan Holdsworth, who had left soon after the release of the previous album, “Bundles” (1975). The no less talented Etheridge turned out to be an almost ideal replacement for the better-established Holdsworth, and that’s one of the main reasons why today, along with drummer John Marshall and bassist Roy Babbington, he’s the only long-serving Soft Machine member who played on their seventies studio albums. With Jenkins as the central composer, “Softs” featured more symphonic elements drawn from classical music, which, in Soft Machine’s quest for the ideal jazz rock fusion approach, moved them closer to progressive rock again after a long time.
The short, acoustic-leaning intro “Aubade,” with its acoustic guitar and oboe, sounds more like something from former Genesis guitarist Anthony Phillips than Soft Machine, and also reminds you of Jenkins’ love of classical music. Steeped in a secretive, mystical atmosphere, “The Tale of Taliesin” features Etheridge’s piercing guitar passages and ethereal ambient curtains laid over densely branching keyboards. After a twisty transition into a wild rhythm section, Etheridge gives himself over completely to guitar improvisation and shows that even back then he was one of the most exciting English jazz guitarists around. The dynamic “Ban-Ban Caliban,” one of the central pieces on “Softs,” brings colorful experimentation with the electronic sound of synthesizers, witty sax interjections and all kinds of percussion.
“Song of Aeolus,” whose title nods to Aeolus, the ancient Greek god of the winds, is a deeply melancholic piece with “weeping” guitar passages that David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) and Andy Latimer (Camel) would also approve of. The melancholic mood carries on in “Out of Season,” a harmonious interplay of subtle piano arrangements and inconsolable guitar. “Second Bundle” is a purely ambient daydream sustained on keyboards. “Kayoo” was Marshall’s by-now-traditional drum solo spot, while “The Carmen Tandem” was a furious showcase of Etheridge’s untamed guitar soloing. “One Over the Eight” is a witty, rhythmically super-varied number where a lively saxophone calls the shots. “Etka” is a subtle acoustic guitar closer that nicely reflects Etheridge’s versatility on the instrument.
“Softs” was a thoroughly solid effort from the Jenkins-era Soft Machine, but a few less inspired ideas kept it from making the leap into their canon of classics. Still, they weathered Ratledge’s departure pretty well. After Babbington and Wakeman left, which happened soon after “Softs” came out, Jenkins, Marshall and Etheridge pressed on with a string of unstable lineups that included, among others, future Fairport Convention violinist Rick Sanders and Brand X bassist Percy Jones. What Soft Machine sounded like in this period you can hear on the live album “Alive & Well: Recorded in Paris” (1978). “Land of Cockayne,” recorded without Etheridge and with a crowd of guest musicians, came out in 1981 and had little to do with Soft Machine in their best jazz fusion incarnations. For a long time it was the swan song for the progressive rock pioneers and key representatives of the Canterbury scene, at least as far as new studio releases went.
review by: Peter Podbrežnik
Track list:
1. Aubade (1:51)
2. The Tale of Taliesin (7:17)
3. Ban-Ban Caliban (9:22)
4. Song of Aeolus (4:31)
5. Out of Season (5:32)
6. Second Bundle (2:37)
7. Kayoo (3:27)
8. The Camden Tandem (2:01)
9. Nexus (0:49)
10. One Over the Eight (5:25)
11. Etika (2:21)
Soft Machine:
John Etheridge – electric and acoustic guitar
Karl Jenkins – keyboards, orchestration
Alan Wakeman – soprano and tenor saxophone
Roy Babbington – bass guitar
John Marshall – drums, percussion
Guest musician:
Mike Ratledge – synthesizer (3, 4)
