Allan Holdsworth

[Ducky]

Seeing as I mention him in the Danny Gatton thread. My favourite musician ever. As a young fella I went from "what's the fuss" to "no one else comes close".

Has a varied discography as both a sideman (UK, Bill Bruford, Soft Machine, Tony Williams, err, Level 42, and a bunch more), to his own solo gear (which is where the meat of my enjoyment lies.

His albums are impossible to find, so I've resigned myself to the idea that I might never own them (I have his "Against The Clock" compilation but that's it. Was talking to a vendor at a record fair a year ago who brought up Holdsworth as I was wearing a tee, said he sold all his Holdsworth albums recently as he got offered stupid money for them).

He's had an influence on metal - you can hear his playing all over Fred Thordendal from Meshuggah. Could well imagine the likes of Paul Masvidal and Ron Jarzombeck owning a few of his albums.

[Mooncat]

He's someone I've been meaning to give a proper go for a while. Watched a little bit of that live performance there, he's definitely an effortless player. Similar to a lot of Danny Gatton stuff though there's also often a vocalist kind of tacked on where every time he opens his mouth you're like, "Man will you shut up so the guy can play!" 

[Bürggermeister]

He's someone I've never totally clicked with, despite adoring a lot of players who were clearly influenced by him. I first heard him on Alex Masi's bizarre Attack of The Neon Shark (the stylistic right-turn between track one and the rest of the album is totally fucked up in a great way  ) album a long, long time ago. I have the first U.K. cd, which I like, but I still don't fully get Holdsworth. I will still always give the cunt some ear time when he pops up, for sure.

[Mooncat]

I've given him an admittedly tiny bit more of a go and I'm still undecided. On an intellectual level he's amazing, what he's doing is so far beyond almost anyone else. But there's also something a bit, I don't know, emotionless about it all? It's not really grabbing me on that level. I would still have to try a lot more stuff though.

[Ducky]

I've given him an admittedly tiny bit more of a go and I'm still undecided. On an intellectual level he's amazing, what he's doing is so far beyond almost anyone else. But there's also something a bit, I don't know, emotionless about it all? It's not really grabbing me on that level. I would still have to try a lot more stuff though.

I'm 100% on board with this assesment as it's exactly where I was until the magical "click" happened. Dunno how or why, exactly, but I was listening to "Letters of Marque" from his (proper) debut and had a genuine "holy fuck" moment that I've only experienced a few times in my life. That gorgeous bassline underpinning the solo didn't hurt either.

Edit - The Sixteen Men of Tain didn't do any harm either!

[Ducky]

He's someone I've never totally clicked with, despite adoring a lot of players who were clearly influenced by him. I first heard him on Alex Masi's bizarre Attack of The Neon Shark (the stylistic right-turn between track one and the rest of the album is totally fucked up in a great way  ) album a long, long time ago. I have the first U.K. cd, which I like, but I still don't fully get Holdsworth. I will still always give the cunt some ear time when he pops up, for sure.

That Alex Masi album had me thinking "oh it's cock-rock-lite... via Shrapnel"

My sole contribution to Metal Ireland's "From The Vaults" was a fanboy rant about Frederick Thordendal's Special Defects "Sol Niger Within", and I wrote some horseshit to the effect of his lead playing being akin to Holdsworth filtered through some alien Rosetta Stone.