In the extensive discography of Soft Machine, albums from the band's mid- to late-'70s jazz-rock period are sometimes afforded the least respect. Fans all have their favorite LPs representing a particular "classic" lineup -- as well as opinions about other albums signifying that Soft Machine's best days were behind them. Some feel it was all over when Robert Wyatt left after Fourth (or stopped singing after Third), and it's probably even possible to find somebody somewhere who lost interest when Hugh Hopper replaced Kevin Ayers after Volume One. However, nearly everyone agrees that the band's heyday was over by the time the three late-period Soft Machine albums on Harvest were released. And yet, these albums have much to recommend them. The first, Bundles, had the feeling of a new beginning for Soft Machine, for reasons including the label switch from Columbia to Harvest and even the LP's name -- not merely a number like Six or Seven this time around. But the biggest change came from the addition of hotshot guitarist Allan Holdsworth to the lineup, the first time in the band's history that an electric guitarist would be given such a prominent soloing role. Like three other members of the Softs' Bundles incarnation -- reedman Karl Jenkins, drummer John Marshall, and bassist Roy Babbington -- Holdsworth had played in Nucleus along with trumpeter Ian Carr, and like those three Nucleus alumni, Bundles introduced him to his largest audience thus far. Holdsworth wasted no time in making an impression. Playing single-note runs on "Hazard Profile, Pt. 1" (based on Jenkins' Nucleus composition "Song for the Bearded Lady," first heard on We'll Talk About It Later) so insanely fast that even air guitarists might have trouble keeping up, Holdsworth seemed to be a viable Brit entry into the fusion guitarist sweepstakes dominated by the likes of John McLaughlin and Al di Meola.

1		Hazard Profile, Pt. 1
2		Hazard Profile, Pt. 2
3		Hazard Profile, Pt. 3
4		Hazard Profile, Pt. 4
5		Hazard Profile, Pt. 5
6		Gone Sailing
7		Bundles
8		Land of the Bag Snake
9		The Man Who Waved at Trains
10		Peff
11		Four Gongs Two Drums
12		The Floating World