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Reviews -- Allan Holdsworth
Against The Clock - The Best of (2CD Set)
Released March 2005 -- Includes 24 re-mastered tracks, including the alternate Japan version of "Tokyo Dream," and previously unreleased studio recordings, "Let's Throw Shrimp," and "Shenandoah."
(click on album cover to order)
Track Listing, Disc 1 (GUITAR)- 1.
Disc 2 (SYNTHAXE) 1. Spokes 3:29 2. Distance vs. Desire 5:14 3. Macman 3:59 4. Against The Clock 4:54 5. Eeny Meeny 4:37
6. Secrets 4:20 7. Bo Peep 3:41 8. Postlude 5:32 9. All Our Yesterdays 5:24 10. Eidolon 4:30 11. Sundays 3:55
Bonus Tracks:
12. Let's Throw Shrimp 3:26 13. Shenandoah 3:15
Musicians Featured: Bass: Dave Carpenter, Jimmy Johnson, Skuli Sverrisson, Gary Willis
Drums: Vinnie Colaiuta, Kirk Covington,
Gary Husband, Gary Novak, Chad Wackerman, Tony Williams
Keyboards: Gordon Beck, Billy Childs, Steve Hunt, Alan Pasqua
Reviews Excerpts / Links from 2005...
MixOnline -- Announcement (click on links to see full review)
ProgressiveWorld.net -- "All the tunes are great and the only true description of this album is "best of" artist, "best of" class. He definitely earns the distinction of magna cum laude among his musical peers.... If Allan's trying to meet a deadline, he's really in no hurry to do so as this collection takes a little more than two hours to traverse. It happens over the course of 26 separate topics, most around the four or five minute range. Not sure why this is against the clock. The pieces sound fresh, youthful, and refined. They don't appear to be rushed and I didn't check the time once while it was playing..."
JAZZ TIMES MAGAZINE
On “Let’s Throw Shrimp,” one of the two unreleased songs tacked onto this over-view of 11 Allan Holdsworth albums, bassist Jimmy John-son and drummer Chad Wackerman help the guitarist blow through a groove that lacks a blatant downbeat and still sounds funky. As this spontaneous piece winds down, Holdsworth cuts loose with the kind of high-register scorch that makes guitar fanatics swoon. These lines are incredibly fast, but they also possess clarity and a logical sense that tech heads often lack. It’s also one of the few tracks where Holdsworth steps out from behind the sheet of synths to reveal why he earned such reverence from guitar players from Pat Metheny to Eddie Van Halen.
Against the Clock draws on albums Holdsworth recorded between 1985 and 2001. Rather than taking the chronological route, it devotes one disc to Holdsworth’s guitar and one to his SynthAxe. While providing a trajectory of his catalog, it also charts the evolution of electronics in progressive jazz, an important aspect to consider when approaching this music... the SynthAxe disc features some of Holdsworth’s more interesting compositions like “Eeny Meeny,” whose melody is almost boppish, and “Spokes,” where funk, fast solos and taste meet equally. Among the revolving door of sidemen, drummer Vinnie Collaiuta adds some organic legs to the tracks.
The guitar disc has some fine moments, especially when Holdsworth reunites with Lifetime bandmates Tony Williams and keyboardist Alan Pasqua (both on 1986’s Atavachron). Each disc also includes bassist Skuli Sverrisson and drummer Gary Husband among the roster... -Mike Shanley
John Kelman / allaboutjazz.com:
"Careful remastering lends the programme a wonderful sonic consistency, and the inclusion of two newly-recorded tracks and one piece previously only available in Japan make Against the Clock essential for newcomer and experienced listener alike. "
Ron Sibley / abstractlogix.com:
...Holdsworth’s guitar playing can by characterized as a demonic hammer-on/pull off legato style that uses wide intervals of note clusters for his single-line soloing and arppegiated chord voicings that mere mortals cannot play. The phrasing and sonorities of his playing resemble a saxophone or violin being played at the speed of light by someone not of this world. And I’m not exaggerating.
“Against The Clock” is a compilation or material from 1985 to 2001. According to the liner notes, Allan feels this time frame represents a period “where he exercised full control of the productions”. The personnel for each track, and recordings they were originally released on, are also listed in the liner notes. The two CD set is also divided into categories: Vol.1 features Allan’s dazzling work on guitar, while Vol.2 features Allan’s playing on the Synthaxe. The Synthaxe was a MIDI controller/synthesizer interface that allowed Allan to create lush orchestrations and offered a wider sonic palette for his soloing. It was an odd-looking piece of equipment, but you could play it in a guitar-like fashion. Though Allan’s work with the Synthaxe could be regarded as pioneering, the instrument itself never caught on and the company went out of business...
...Allan Holdsworth is an artist with a distinct and unique voice on guitar. To say that his playing is innovative and influential would be pure understatement. Musicians (not just guitar players) and non-musicians alike owe it to themselves to become aware of Holdsworth, his playing, and his music. This collection offers a starting point for the uninitiated, and a way for hardcore fan’s to stop carrying around nine Holdsworth CD’s.
progarchives.com:
"This is a very excellent collection for any fan of electric guitar... Shenandoah, an old American classic, is covered with spectacular grandeur and emotion. This may be the most powerful statement from Allan since Secrets. Shenandoah alone is worth the price of the disc. Simply sublime. "
Rich Murray's Guitar Channel Blog:
Overall, this is an excellent best-of collection... Against The Clock features tracks from all of Holdsworth's solo releases except the original I.O.U. album and Road Games. The liner notes indicate Holdsworth was unhappy with the lack of creative control on Road Games, and he is currently re-mixing the I.O.U. album, so he did not want to include any of those tracks. Road Games is represented by way of an alternate version of "Tokyo Dream" which was included on the Japanese release of Wardenclyffe Tower. This is one of the highlights of the album for me. Other highlights include the 2 bonus tracks - "Let's Throw Shrimp" (an improv jam with Chad Wackerman and Jimmy Johnson) and "Shenandoah" (Holdsworth's version of the American folk song). Another gem is the Synthaxe tune "Bo Peep" from the out of print Flat Tire album.
The booklet includes some rare photo's, and quotes from John McLaughlin, Pat Metheny, Bill Bruford, Joe Satriani and other great players. I would highly recommend this album to people who are new to Holdsworth's music, but also to existing fans. This is a tremendous collection of music from, arguably, the greatist guitartist ever.
Questions? Comments? Drop us a line at: info@alternityrecords.com
©2005 Alternity Records Inc.
