Light On Dark Water

52 Guitars: Week 22

Allan Holdsworth

Holdsworth follows Eric Johnson for one simple and musically irrelevant reason:  I also heard him first on one of those thin floppy plastic recordings included in an issue of Guitar Player. Unlike Johnson, his recording didn't capture my attention. He seems to mainly work in jazz-rock fusion, which is not a genre that appeals very much to me. So I really haven't heard all that much of his work, and when I do listen to him I find myself just listening for the solos. But they're extraordinary. In case you are of similar mind, here's a clip which someone apparently extracted from a longer one just for the guitar solo.

 

 According to a reviewer at AllMusic, Metal Fatigue is Holdsworth's best album. Here's the title track; it's more on the rock than the jazz side of fusion:

 

 And if you're up to a 14-minute track, here's another from the same album. I really like this one, "The Un-Merry-Go-Round":

 

 

Maclin Horton
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6 responses to “52 Guitars: Week 22”

  1. Rob G

    I saw the Allan Holdsworth Trio live in 1983. He’s an amazing guitarist, but the music he was doing at the time was kind of a combination of prog and jazz fusion — very “modern,” almost experimental. I couldn’t make heads or tails out of it, and neither could the guys I went with, who were actually in a pretty good prog band at the time. His bass player was Jeff Berlin and his drummer Chad Wackerman, both top notch players.

    Reply
  2. Mac

    Metal Fatigue was released in 1985 and has the same drummer, so I wonder if what you heard was similar to the instrumentals on that album. I can’t say I make heads or tails of most of it musically, but I do like the guitar.

    Reply
  3. Rob G

    It was the album Road Games that he was touring in support of at the time. The title track was the only song that I can remember enjoying.

    Reply
  4. Rthguitar

    Eric Johnson, yes, this, no. I love guitar solos of almost every type, but this is too meandering and cerebral for my tastes.
    Like John Lennon said about jazz and losing the beauty of the melody, where does it go?

    Reply
  5. Mac

    At the risk of being pedantic, Chuck Berry said that first, in “Rock And Roll Music.” Worth quoting, because it’s so funny (I think this is right):
    I got no kick against modern jazz
    Unless they try to play it too darn fast
    And lose the beauty of the melody
    Until it sounds just like a symphony.
    I admit that this is a little cerebral for my taste, too, but I enjoy it anyway.

    Reply
  6. Mac

    “This” being the Holdsworth stuff, not Chuck Berry.

    Reply

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