Return of a legend

[Balladeer]

 Soft Machine "Open Doors"

any comments?

[Balladeer]

Thanks for your considerations, rostasi. Of course you are right, strictly speaking it is  not  a "return". And musically I  can understand your reservations. Yet I find this albums hippiesque nostalgic vibe quite charming.
I like both,  old and new songs.  IMO it´s already one of the  remarkable albums of this year if only for its jazz-rock retro sound 
and my admiration for those artists involved.

Edited July 6, 2023 by Balladeer

[Niko]

I was at a Soft Machine concert in 2019 or so and thought that the overall level of nostalgia was higher than what I'm used to from jazz concerts, like an elderly stranger approaching you about how his band opened for Zappa in some village in Brabant (or sth like that, pretty amazing no doubt), other strangers chiming in... And the concert was not bad at all

[sidewinder]

I saw them live about a week ago - it was very enjoyable. The band announced that Marshall and Babbington had now taken a very well earned retirement, with their places taken by Asaf Sirkis and Fred T. Baker (which is the lineup I saw). Both Sirkis and Baker, highly experienced in their own rights, fitted in well.

Edited July 5, 2023 by sidewinder

[mjzee]

My favorite edition of the band was the quartet who recorded SM 6 & 7.  It was nice to see Karl Jenkins participate in the King's Coronation ceremony - he wrote a piece for it.

To me, Mike Ratledge was the heart of the band.  I lost interest after he left.

In a way, Soft Machine is emblematic of the Grandfather's Axe paradox: is it still grandfather's axe when the handle's been replaced 3 times and the head's been replaced 4 times?

[mjzee]

I generally don't complain about older artists - everyone has to make a buck, old age isn't for sissies, and I recall Hugh Hopper's health woes.

The real problem is that new music kinda sucks.  If there was a healthy crop of new music coming out, we wouldn't be so obsessed with reliving our pasts.