BUNDLES

A few years ago, I purchased several Soft Machine albums. I like how they numbered them with chronological simplicity. When I absorbed this one, Bundles, I was amazed. I now know why this is not numbered, as it's different than any other Soft Machine album, before or since. For the first time they went total fusion with electric guitar. They hired probably the greatest guitarist of the 20th century. Mr. Allan Holdsworth delivered as he always does. He played his heart out, and then some. Bundles is essentially an Allan Holdsworth album with a great backup band. After this project finished Allan split for other bands always looking for that quintessential format that would express his desire in music. He finally went solo in the early 80's and produced a major output of beautiful improvised music based on his own theory of harmony. This album of the mid 70's is 5 stars in my book.