The Soft Machine
by Soft Machine
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Soft Machine bestography
The Soft Machine is ranked 2nd best out of 41 albums by Soft Machine on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Soft Machine is Third which is ranked number 1163 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 1,500.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
Listen to The Soft Machine on YouTube
The Soft Machine track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 79 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
The Soft Machine rankings
(Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). (Last updated: 1 hour ago).
Leonard
AAL2014
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dihansse
Wasinski
FischmanThe Soft Machine collection
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The Soft Machine ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 208 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 07/04/2026 14:06 | Olli | 7,711 | 62/100 |
| ! | 05/22/2026 14:30 | mids | 937 | 80/100 |
| ! | 04/18/2026 22:08 | davidleewrong | 2,357 | 81/100 |
| ! | 04/14/2026 19:22 | Hyggevinyl | 4,448 | 72/100 |
| ! | 03/19/2026 21:50 |  Milhaud | 2,126 | 71/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 3% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 77.1/100, a mean average of 76.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 77.3/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.5.
The Soft Machine favourites
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The Soft Machine comments
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Great psychedelic album, the solo drum part goes on a bit too long but apart from that I like it. One of those albums where you hear more with each listen.
Amongst the weirder albums that I own, not that that is a bad thing. Great musicianship and imaginative song structure. Free your mind and your ass will follow.
Terrific album to learn to trip to-- or teach someone else.
A hypnotic listen that just flows smoothly from the opening track right to the closing track. A much more accessible album compared to their later work but is still definitely among their best. It also perfectly encapsulates the psychedelic rock era of the 60's and is a great gateway album for people who are unaware of Soft Machine.
At first this album sounded kind of weird and unsettling to me, but in a way that I couldn't stop thinking about. After I quit worrying about what is normal and just accepted it for how fun and expressive it is, I now consider it one of the most enjoyable listens ever.
Oh my gosh this stuff is so hypnotic and engaging. Sort of unsettling but irresistible. Probably the epitome of psychedelic music in my opinion.
Best Tracks: A Certain Kind, Why Am I So Short?
A much more straightforward(if that's the right word)from Soft Machine, considering their later material. It really is all over the place, in a good way, with some excellent musicianship. Great freak out sounds.
Antonio-Pedro 03/22/2014 14:23 | #107159 | TOP COMMENT
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I listened to this after a tiring test, and believe me there is just a few things better to relax than this. Maybe for relaxing, maybe for making you enjoy the time, this album destroy your life expectations, building everything in a beautiful psychedelic orchestra. I like the vibes that it transmitted, but you the sensation that the time is stopped is the biggest highlight of this album, and the Instrumentation is amazing, with a huge quality. Very good
"A Certain Kind" might be the most purely beautiful song I've ever heard, a perfect mix of 17th century organ and Robert Wyatt's sincerely emotive singing style. Oh and the rest is pretty great too.
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