THE HARVEST ALBUMS 1975-1978

Soft Machine's output on Harvest is compiled here on three no-fuss discs in cardboard sleeves in a reasonably nice clamshell box, of the sort we've become used to over the years from Esoteric. The material here is all from well into the era of the band where they'd essentially become "Nucleus by other means", with sole remaining founder member Mike Ratledge fading away and Karl Jenkins steering the group in a much more middle of the road fusion direction with little of the whimsy of the band's early years in evidence.

It's not my favourite era of the band, but it's one that I have warmed to over time; Bundles, in particular, I think is quite good on its own merits, and to my ears Esoteric's remaster of Alive And Well Recorded In Paris here notably improves the sound quality as compared to pre-2010 CD releases.