Ratledge composed a trio of connected tracks for Seven, a mini-suite beginning with the modal 9/8 "Day's Eye," including a solo feature for him to cut loose with his patented fuzz organ tone, bridging through the brief burst of "Bone Fire" (which puts Jenkins through his paces on baritone sax) to the truly heavy "Tarabos," its bass/keyboard vamp pulling upward and resolving at skewed points along an 18-beat sequence while Jenkins solos wildly with a signal splitter on his horn. But Jenkins sets the album's pace, beginning with the upbeat fuzzy riffing of the opening "Nettle Bed" and the drifting, dreamy "Carol Ann" through his own suite of connected tracks during the second half, including the trance-inducing "Penny Hitch," the full-throttle "Block" (building to an abrupt staccato unison conclusion), and the comparatively relaxed 5/4 vamp of "Down the Road" (featuring a fine arco acoustic bass solo from Babbington). The album ends with three minutes of spacy looping keyboards, split in two with the first part, "The German Lesson," credited to Ratledge as composer and the second part, "The French Lesson," credited to Jenkins, but there is no discernable division or musical difference between them -- no doubt intended as a joke, but also an apt comment on the passing of the torch during Soft Machine's '70s jazz-rock years. by Dave Lynch
Tracklist:
1 Nettle Bed 4:51
Karl Jenkins
2 Carol Ann 3:45
Karl Jenkins
3 Day's Eye 5:03
Mike Ratledge
4 Bone Fire 0:35
Mike Ratledge
5 Tarabos 4:27
Mike Ratledge
6 D.I.S. 3:04
Jack Marshall
7 Snodland 1:51
Karl Jenkins
8 Penny Hitch 6:38
Karl Jenkins
9 Block 4:18
Karl Jenkins
10 Down the Road 5:44
Karl Jenkins
11 The German Lesson 1:51
Mike Ratledge
12 The French Lesson 1:03
Karl Jenkins
Credits:
Bass Guitar, Acoustic Bass – Roy Babbington
Drums, Percussion – John Marshall
Oboe, Baritone Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Recorder, Electric Piano – Karl Jenkins
Organ, Synthesizer, Electric Piano – Mike Ratledge
Producer [Produced By] – Soft Machine