Crucial to the development of the “Canterbury Scene” and British progressive rock in the late ’60s, Soft Machine quickly developed into a semi-improvisational, jazzy avant-rock outfit. Featuring material recorded by several different line-ups, including the classic Dean-Ratledge-Hopper-Wyatt quartet as well as the short-lived, brass-augmented septet, Backwards (so-called because the tracks are presented in reverse chronological order) does not contain any exclusive material but does capture the band at its most creative. Several of the tracks suffer from questionable sound quality, but there’s no denying the warmth and energy of these performances.
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