HIDDEN DETAILS

At some point every musician has got to realize that they're too old to keep going. Having seen the Soft Machine live on the tour in support of this album, I can confirm that this time has not yet come for the current band members who still somehow keep the spark going at their old age. Unfortunately, this spark does not carry over to the recording studio. Forgettable themes, lifeless uninspired improvisations (Theo Travis's playing is especially disappointing) and two re-recordings of old Soft Machine songs, one pointless and one far inferior, that just make you wish you were listening to the originals again instead. Not an essential release by any means.