Soft Machine: The Harvest Albums 1975-1978, 3CD Remastered Clamshell Boxset Edition

• REMASTERED 3CD CLAMSHELL BOXED SET EDITION FEATURING ALL THREE SOFT MACHINE ALBUMS ORIGINALLY RELEASED ON THE HARVEST LABEL BETWEEN 1975 & 1978.

• FEATURING THE ALBUMS ‘BUNDLES’, ‘SOFTS’ & ‘ALIVE AND WELL, RECORDED IN PARIS’, REMASTERED FROM THE ORIGINAL MASTER TAPES.

• WITH REPLICA ALBUM SLEEVES & A POSTER.

After recording five highly acclaimed albums for the CBS Records label, Soft Machine signed a licencing deal with EMI’s “Progressive” imprint, Harvest Records in 1974 and would record two further studio albums and a live album for the label over the next three years.

‘Bundles’ was the band’s first for Harvest and featured a line-up of MIKE RATLEDGE (keyboards), KARL JENKINS (Oboe, Piano, Soprano Sax), JOHN MARSHALL (Drums), ROY BABBINGTON (Bass) and new member ALLAN HOLDSWORTH (Guitar). An accessible collection, ‘Bundles' featured Holdsworth’s considerable guitar playing talents and opened a new chapter for the band, and attracted much praise upon release. By the time ‘Softs’ was recorded, Allan Holdsworth had departed the group. The album would feature KARL JENKINS (Keyboards), JOHN MARSHALL (Drums), ROY BABBINGTON (Bass) and new member JOHN ETHERIDGE (Guitar), along with Saxophonist ALAN WAKEMAN. The album also saw the final appearance on a Soft Machine album by Mike Ratledge whose synthesiser contributed to the pieces ‘Ban-Ban Caliban’ and ‘Song of Aeolus’.

Soft Machine’s final album for Harvest was the classic 1978 live record ‘Alive & Well Recorded In Paris’. The band’s line-up had changed once more by this point and comprised KARL JENKINS (Piano, Electric Keyboards, Synthesiser), JOHN MARSHALL (Drums), JOHN ETHERIDGE (Acoustic and Electric Guitars) and new members STEVE COOK (Bass Guitar) and RIC SANDERS (Violin). The album was the result of several nights of excellent concerts staged at Le Palace Theatre in Monmartre, Paris in July 1977.

The Harvest Albums 1975 – 1978 features these classic albums along with a special poster.

TRACK LISTING

DISC ONE

BUNDLES

ORIGINALLY RELEASED AS HARVEST SHSP 4044 IN APRIL 1975

1.  HAZARD PROFILE PART ONE

2.  HAZARD PROFILE PART TWO

3.  HAZARD PROFILE PART THREE

4.  HAZARD PROFILE PART FOUR

5.  HAZARD PROFILE PART FIVE

6.  GONE SAILING

7.  BUNDLES

8.  LAND OF THE BAG SNAKE

9.  THE MAN WHO WAVED AT TRAINS

10.  PEFF

11.  FOUR GONGS TWO DRUMS

12.  THE FLOATING WORLD

DISC TWO

SOFTS

ORIGINALLY RELEASED AS HARVEST SHSP 4056 IN JULY 1976

1.  AUBADE

2.  THE TALE OF TALIESIN

3.  BAN-BAN CALIBAN

4.  SONG OF AEOLUS

5.  OUT OF SEASON

6.  SECOND BUNDLE

7.  KAYOO

8.  THE CAMDEN TANDEM

9.  NEXUS

10.  ONE OVER THE EIGHT

11.  ETIKA

DISC THREE

ALIVE AND WELL – RECORDED IN PARIS ORIGINALLY RELEASED AS HARVEST SHSP 4083 IN APRIL 1978

1.  WHITE KITE

2.  EOS

3.  ODDS BULLETS AND BLADES PART ONE

4.  ODDS BULLETS AND BLADES PART TWO

5.  SONG OF THE SUNBIRD

6.  PUFFIN’

7.  HUFFIN’

8.  NUMBER THREE

9.  THE NODDER

10.  SURROUNDING SILENCE

11.  SOFT SPACE