❉ Allan Holdsworth -- The Sixteen Men Of Tain ❉
Coming on the heels of some rather mediocre efforts, The Sixteen Men of Tain is startlingly superb. Allan Holdsworth has stripped away the distracting banks of keyboards and allowed his soaring, gliding guitar to shine through in a way it hasn't since the 1980s. Even the Synthaxe, Holdsworth's signature guitar synthesizer, sounds organic and immediate, not to mention far less prevalent than on previous albums. Dave Carpenter's acoustic bass is a r...
❉ Allan Holdsworth -- The Sixteen Men Of Tain ❉
Coming on the heels of some rather mediocre efforts, The Sixteen Men of Tain is startlingly superb. Allan Holdsworth has stripped away the distracting banks of keyboards and allowed his soaring, gliding guitar to shine through in a way it hasn't since the 1980s. Even the Synthaxe, Holdsworth's signature guitar synthesizer, sounds organic and immediate, not to mention far less prevalent than on previous albums. Dave Carpenter's acoustic bass is a radical departure (check out his solo on the title track), as are Walt Fowler's (ex-Frank Zappa) two guest appearances on trumpet. The Drums Were Yellow, a burning guitar/drum duet tribute to the late Tony Williams, is also a first. Gary Novak's drumming is appropriately complex and riveting on this and six other tracks. {Holdsworth's old compatriot Chad Wackerman (ex-Frank Zappa and many others) sits in for Downside Up.}
In short, this album is full of fresh ideas and unadulterated improvisational brilliance -- just when it was beginning to seem that Holdsworth's best work was behind him.
Credits
Duncan Aldrich -- Engineer, Mixing
Chris Bellman -- Mastering
Dave Carpenter -- Bass (Electric), Bass (Acoustic), Caricatures
James P. Carse -- Liner Notes
Eddie Coralnick -- Photography
Walt Fowler -- Trumpet
Mark Gleed -- Art Direction, Design
Richard Heath -- Liner Notes
Allan Holdsworth -- Guitar, Producer, Engineer, Mixing, Synthaxe
Eddie Jobson -- Executive Producer (ex-UK / ex-Frank Zappa)
Gary Novak -- Drums
Kevin Quinn -- Art Direction, Design
Shawn Smith -- Art Producer
Tom Voli -- Executive Producer
Chad Wackerman -- Drums Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
