Search - Allan Holdsworth :: None Too Soon

The first guitar record to blow me away in a long time.

Ben | Durham, NC USA | 08/16/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Last night, I slowed down Holdsworth's solo on Isotope to half speed and tried to understand what was going on. I could hear the lines in my head, and everything seemed musically logical, but it wasn't until I tried to play it on the guitar that I fully appreciated the depth of his playing. The last time I had an experience like that was about five years ago, when I heard Wes Montgomery for the first time.



Holdsworth's guitar playing here is absolutely stunning. Although he has seemingly limitless technique, he uses it musically, as evidenced on his well-paced outing on Nuages. He has a great command of Coltrane's harmonies and chord substitutions, but it sounds intuitive and melodic, not forced or clinical. Simply put, I can't think of any other guitar player who could conceive of, or execute, the music that Holdsworth creates on this recording.



The supporting musicians are great as well, especially the bass player.



Unfortunately, the digital piano on this recording sounds dated, as do the tones that Holdsworth chooses for his SynthAxe work, and it can distract from the recording. So five stars for the playing and three stars for the sounds."