Soft Machine - Bundles (CD)

Bundles original vinyl LP

By GEO  Sep 2, 2006 | 1 out of 1 found this Bundles review helpful

Pros: EnErgy that won't stop, a buzz to be had.

Cons: NONE even after 15 years of listening.

I in my own opinion up to the point of not hearing about Soft Machine and then hearing it was floored. I thought Allan Holdsworth seemed like a god even though I was into drums. I didn't know Allan was in that band. I just thought he did gratuitu...s solo albums in roughly the same genre though more modern. I was suprised to hear Allan playing acoustic guitar on this. I had never heard him do that and was suprised that he was indeed a good guitarist all over. Say what you will about him now, but back then at that age he was untouchable by anyone, even Phil Keaggy. David Torn is another Guitar god too, voted the worlds best Effects guitar player and should be checked out by anyone listening to "out there" stuff. Davids best work to date imho is probably Polytown. Terry Bozzio and Mick Karn are doing improv that sounds like evil middle eastern meets India rasha. Anywhoo, drumming on Bundles is OK and what makes me say that is the lack of tuning he did to his drums. Sounds flat, but then again, when Bundles AS A WHOLE is listened to, musically, I have a hard time finding anything to this day that is as cohesive in continuity than Bundles and always will have a special place in my heart for this LP. That truely was another time that bands like Aerosmith and the Stones and Kiss pretty much ruled. Another fairly unknown band is Mahavishnu Orchestra from that era with yet another good guitar player that wrote music and did improv with actually very famous musicians like Miles even though only in spirit by the time of Vishnu, Carlos Santana when he was just starting out, Billy Cobham argueably the most influential drummer alive who brought double bass drumming into a more creative spotlight by doing snaredrum rudiments with his feet while his hands were doing combinations over the top of it. Nobody else was doing that then and for a long time after too. I could go on and on about this seemingly secret genre only really being discovered now some forty years later by the same cats listening to top forty back then now looking for the real deal. Zappa comes to mind really and I don't evoke the Z-man's name lightly. Zappa wasn't on par with Holdsworth's guitar ever, but the other musicians were playing arrangements that Zappa may have liked or loved depending on if he listened to Softmachine. I compare Zappa to Stravinsky actually, and if you want to hear what Zappa did befor he died, listen to Yellow Shark. It will f you up. Bundles is a blast and flying fingers on both saxaphone and guitar abound, truely my favorite recording that I would take to that island if I could only take one. Later G. Read more Less