Why is the Soft Machine missing in the Top 100?

I bet Khan's Space Shanty album isn't in the Top 100 either, even though it's a highly-regarded Canterbury Scene album. 

Hi,

In general, you have to drop off any ideas about "music" and what it is supposed to have or not have. 

In those days, the "difference" was important, and helped make the music come alive, but what you are saying is that there weren't any bands in NY, SF, LA, Paris, Tokyo. Rome ... that did not do the same thing or differently so.

If you listen to ANYTHING with ideas or thoughts about the things that "you like" ... too many of the new things you hear will not click. 

One of the highlights of my career of having music around me, has been ... when you hear so much and enjoy so much ... you can not even decide which is better or worse ... because you learn to fly and flow with all of it regardless ... and SOFT MACHINE was not a weird one ... it was a well defined thing that changed a lot and made sure it did not get stuck in "jazz standards" ... let's just say that it was Miles non stop ... something that a lot of folks here can not handle at all! But they can handle RW repeating his riffs on another synthesizer to give you an idea of what "musicianship" is all about! 

You can also get a better idea about all this if you read Robert Wyatt's book ... one of the best ever written, and the understanding and appreciation for something different, comes alive ... but, sadly, it is not something that most "progressive" folks can stomach ... how sad that is ... the end of progressive music!

Don't worry, you're not the only one. I much prefer Bundles to Soft Machine's earlier albums too. 

I've never had a problem with the first 4 PG albums (it's actually one of my go-to music quiz questions) in fact I never knew they had these other titles such as "Melt" until I joined PA.

I'm ok with So but still get confused by Up and Us.

But actually Land of Cockayne is not really a SM album. It was a solo album by one of their members, who btw  wasn't one of the legendary original members, and that album was just sold under the SM moniker, and nobody cared for that then.

Hmm, I never tried to hear that. I actually stopped with Seven (which is already way weaker than the previous albums), and have only a CD sampler of their later output, and this sampler rightfully does not contain material from the Cockayne land.

Paul Hertzog if I'm not mistaken .

I just saw this, about a year late. What about Peter Gabriel? His first few albums just had odd pictures on the cover, and folks just shrugged and gave them equally weird names after the fact (Car, Scratch, Melt). Then he started using two-letter adverbs, adjectives and pronouns: So, Up, Us.