The Soft Machine
by Soft Machine

Album
The Soft Machine by Soft Machine
Year: 1968
Release date: 1968-12-00
Overall rank: 2,154th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
77/100 (from 211 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1968 (36th)
Award Top albums of of the 1960s (198th)
Award Best albums of all time (2,154th)

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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 1186 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 1,474.

Soft Machine album bestography « Higher ranked (1,186th)
Third This album (2,154th)
The Soft Machine Lower ranked (5,519th) »
Volume Two

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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The Soft Machine rankings

The Soft Machine rankings summary
Overall rank: 2,154th | 1960s rank: 198th | 1968 rank: 36th  Overall chart history
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings).Help Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 5 hours ago)

The Soft Machine collection

The Soft Machine ratings

Average Rating: 
77/100 (from 211 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
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 3 ratings for this album.  | Show all 211 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
55/100
 !		4 days ago iann97  Ratings distribution  2,23574/100
 
70/100
 !		10/16/2026 14:17 BurndenAce  Ratings distribution  1,36276/100
 
85/100
 !		09/17/2026 00:23 stangetzaway  Ratings distribution  2,34083/100

Rating metrics: Help 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 77.0/100, a mean average of 76.4/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 77.2/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.5.


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The Soft Machine favourites

Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite  | Show all 31 members

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The Soft Machine forum mentions

This album has been referenced 35 times on the forums, Explore the wider forum discussion to see what members have said about it.
From stangetzaway 09/16/2026 23:37 in What album are you listening to? (cont.)
“What album are you listening to? (cont.)”
View topic (7 mentions) →

From stangetzaway 08/02/2026 06:37 in Albums You Added To Your Collection Today
“Albums You Added To Your Collection Today”
View topic (3 mentions) →

From BestEverAlbums 07/06/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5365): By amirmishali
“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by ) 1. by by (1985) 3. by (1969) 4. by (1970) 5. by (1975) 6. by (1972) 7. (1972) 8. by (1967) 9. by (1970) 10. by (1966) 11. by (1968) 12. by (1970) 13. by (1969) 14. by (1974) 15. by (1966) 16. by (1975) 17. by (1971) 18. by (1970) 19. by…”
(1 mentions across Chart of the Day topics)
View latest topic →

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The Soft Machine comments

Showing latest 5 comments | Show all 11 comments |
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
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Rating:  
85/100
From 03/22/2014 14:23 | #107159 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
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 (Edited)
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Rating:  
80/100
From 06/29/2021 11:00 | #271144 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
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. (Edited)
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Rating:  
100/100
From 03/05/2012 18:03 | #37859 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
A quintessential masterpiece of British psychedelia, I always enjoy every seconds of the album.
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From 02/22/2014 01:27 | #103952 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
"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. (Edited)
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Rating:  
80/100
From 07/05/2016 20:13 | #170615 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
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. (Edited)
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Best Albums of  1968
1. The Beatles (The White Album) by The Beatles
2. Electric Ladyland by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
3. Astral Weeks by Van Morrison
4. Odessey And Oracle by The Zombies
5. The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society by The Kinks
6. Beggars Banquet by The Rolling Stones
7. White Light/White Heat by The Velvet Underground
8. Bookends by Simon & Garfunkel
9. Music From Big Pink by The Band
10. At Folsom Prison by Johnny Cash