Search - Allan Holdsworth :: Against the Clock: The Best of Allan Holdsworth

Great music mastered too loud!!!

El Marco | SF Bay Area USA | 06/13/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I like the selection of tracks on this collection. However the sound quality is impaired compared to some of the originally released versions of these tracks. The mastering engineer used too much compression/limiting when assembling this collection. The sound lacks subtlety and texture as a result. (Try comparing the "Spokes" track with its original version on the Secrets CD)



Don't get me wrong - this is great music by a great musician. It's just that it could have been sonically better. Non audiophiles are unlikely to notice."

Pretty good compilation of Allan.

Jan Thore Ramsvik Frostad | Norway | 02/18/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This double-album is a pretty good compilation of Allan's stuff, but I felt like some of the songs could've been switched. I missed e.g. Letters of Marque, Panic Station and Metal Fatigue. I never listened much to Bo peep, Let's throw shrimp or Mr. Berwell.



Other than that though, it's a great album. It shows Allan's musicianship in both guitars and with the synthaxe. Devil Take the Hindmost, Looking Glass and Tokyo Dream might be (imo) the best guitar-centric songs (though the Looking Glass backing melody is played with a synthaxe), and Eidolon really makes you see the completely different side of Allan's playing. The song is haunting and unique, and the name Eidolon is quite fitting, as that's what I see the "synthaxe-Holdsworth" to be in comparison to "guitar-centric Holdsworth".



Overall a great compilation, and a great way for new fans of Holdsworth to get exposed to the full extent of his music."