This album is essential for any Soft Machine fan. The first 12 tracks are from a live gig in Amsterdam in '69 and are one continuous song, with excellent sound. Wyatt's singing is top notch and the repetitive keyboard riffs are trance-inducing. The remaing bonus tracks, however, are of poor quality but the album is more than worth it for the live set.

I wonder if I will ever stop feeling old and decrepit, but these guys have reason to probably never do that. I have no idea where and when this concert was. I don't know anyone who has any idea of what they were doing that far back, but for some reason these guys ran the tape machine at just the right time, and recorded what now are their very young selves.

The result is brilliant. I can't put it any better than the other fan from Victoria - it's one continuous song, permuted and multiplied and divided, and never anything other than elegant.

Trouble is, it makes you rather sad that this just doesn't seem to happen any more. None of these guys were any older than 20 odd when this was done, and just listen to the pyrotechnics and imagination! Will we ever get that good? Will I? I doubt it... But thanks very, very much young fellas. Sure like to see you some day.

This 1969 live recording documents the early, pre-fusion Softs performing their 2nd LP in concert. The performance is quite excellent though occasional technical difficulties like microphones cutting out, leading to some missing vocals, make it less than technically perfect; but that is what it's all about, a bare bones sound board tape re-ceating a real live gig without any touch ups. Recommended for serious Softs fans.