the Soft Machine vs Weather Report

'Best' jazz fusion......? To me they are both talented bands....I really like the first 6 or7 Soft lps and the first 6 or 7 Weather lp;s......hard to choose in that they are fairly different from one another in style.

I prefer Weather Report for their albums up to Sweetnighter, especially the first two and the Live in Tokyo double-set - peak spacy fusion with a great blend of electric Miles and the Third Stream tradition. 

Weather Report, no contest.

I was going to say Softs but then thought about the recent 5 cd boxset I got from Weather Report. I used to only really dig their first three albums but am now getting into the Jaco-leg of their journey. Still..nothing with Jaco beats those two first records. I Sing The Body Electric is a masterpiece imho.
Both I guess.

It’s the Softs.

Soft Machine gets my vote.

Weather Report were proper jazz virtuosi from the start, and their first few albums are often dazzling, but after a certain point (Heavy Weather or 8:30) they became increasingly formulaic. Live and Unreleased shows that even the later line ups could still find the spark on stage, though.

The Softs evolved into a fusion band, and by the time Karl Jenkins took the helm they boasted a similar level of virtuoso musicianship, but they have a greater stylistic range than Weather Report, and their music is more enjoyable.

I'm listening to Third right now.