FUSION
Allan Holdsworth – The Man Who Changed Guitar Forever! [2017] (12 x CDs)
This twelve‑disc box set from Manifesto Records gathers every major solo album Allan Holdsworth recorded between I.O.U. (1982) and Then! (2003), remastered from the original tapes and presented with a forty‑page booklet. It is less a retrospective than a complete map of a musical language that few others could speak. Across these recordings, Holdsworth’s guitar becomes a voice without boundaries, bending harmony and time until they feel fluid rather than fixed.
The early discs show him refining the vocabulary that first startled listeners in the late seventies. I.O.U. and Road Games balance angular phrasing with lyrical warmth, while Metal Fatigue and Atavachron introduce the SynthAxe, the instrument that allowed him to translate his harmonic imagination into new textures. The sequence moves naturally through Sand and Secrets, where the tone becomes more atmospheric, almost orchestral, yet still unmistakably human. Each album feels like a chapter in a single conversation between technique and emotion.
By the time the listener reaches Wardenclyffe Tower and Hard Hat Area, the music has become pure architecture. Chords unfold like shifting light, rhythms dissolve into motion, and the guitar ceases to sound like a guitar at all. The later discs, None Too Soon, The Sixteen Men of Tain, Flat Tire, and Then!, reveal a musician still searching, still questioning, still capable of surprise. The remastering restores clarity without taming the intensity; the sound remains alive, unpredictable, and deeply personal.
Holdsworth’s influence runs through generations of players, yet his work resists imitation. This box set captures the full arc of that journey, from the disciplined precision of his early recordings to the expansive freedom of his later years. It stands as both monument and reminder: the guitar was never the same after Allan Holdsworth. (B)
Special thanks to Capt. Hatemonger ...for sharing this ...
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Track lists
CD01
01 Allan Holdsworth - The Things You See 5:51
02 Allan Holdsworth - Where is One 5:38
03 Allan Holdsworth - Checking Out 3:39
04 Allan Holdsworth - Letter of Marquee 7:02
05 Allan Holdsworth - Out From Under 3:34
06 Allan Holdsworth - Temporary Fault 3:17
07 Allan Holdsworth - Shallow Sea 6:04
08 Allan Holdsworth - White Line 4:41
CD02
01 Allan Holdsworth - Three Sheets to the Wind 4:13
02 Allan Holdsworth - Road Games 4:14
03 Allan Holdsworth - Water on the Brain Pt. ll 2:48
04 Allan Holdsworth - Tokyo Dream 4:04
05 Allan Holdsworth - Was There? 4:09
06 Allan Holdsworth - Material Real 4:41
CD03
01 Allan Holdsworth - Metal Fatigue 4:56
02 Allan Holdsworth - Home 5:33
03 Allan Holdsworth - Devil Take the Hindmost 5:36
04 Allan Holdsworth - Panic Station 3:36
05 Allan Holdsworth - The Un-Merry Go Round 14:08
06 Allan Holdsworth - In the Mystery 3:48
CD04
01 Allan Holdsworth - Non-Brewed Condiment 3:41
02 Allan Holdsworth - Funnels 6:13
03 Allan Holdsworth - The Dominant Plague 5:44
04 Allan Holdsworth - Atavachron 4:44
05 Allan Holdsworth - Looking Glass 4:36
06 Allan Holdsworth - Mr. Berwell 6:24
07 Allan Holdsworth - All Our Yesterdays 5:24
CD05
01 Allan Holdsworth - Sand 5:25
02 Allan Holdsworth - Distance vs Desire 5:17
03 Allan Holdsworth - Pud Wud 6:43
04 Allan Holdsworth - Clown 5:13
05 Allan Holdsworth - The 415 Bradford Executive 8:28
06 Allan Holdsworth - Macman 4:00
CD06
01 Allan Holdsworth - City Nights 2:33
02 Allan Holdsworth - Secrets 4:22
03 Allan Holdsworth - 54 Duncan Terrace 4:34
04 Allan Holdsworth - Joshua 5:59
05 Allan Holdsworth - Spokes 3:32
06 Allan Holdsworth - Maid Marion 7:17
07 Allan Holdsworth - Peril Premonition 4:45
08 Allan Holdsworth - Endomorph 4:18
CD07
01 Allan Holdsworth - 5 to 10 5:36
02 Allan Holdsworth - Sphere of Influence 5:58
03 Allan Holdsworth - Wardenclyffe Tower 8:44
04 Allan Holdsworth - Dodgy Boat 5:38
05 Allan Holdsworth - Zarabeth 6:31
06 Allan Holdsworth - Against the Clock 4:58
07 Allan Holdsworth - Questions 4:04
08 Allan Holdsworth - Oneric Moor 1:42
09 Allan Holdsworth - Tokyo Dream 5:05
10 Allan Holdsworth - The Un-Merry Go Round Pt. 4 3:01
11 Allan Holdsworth - The Un-Merry Go Round Pt. 5 1:58
CD08
01 Allan Holdsworth - Prelude 1:35
02 Allan Holdsworth - Ruhukah 5:32
03 Allan Holdsworth - Low Level, High Stakes 9:05
04 Allan Holdsworth - Hard Hat Area 6:06
05 Allan Holdsworth - Tullio 6:02
06 Allan Holdsworth - House of Mirrors 7:47
07 Allan Holdsworth - Postlude 5:29
CD09
01 Allan Holdsworth - Countdown 3:09
02 Allan Holdsworth - Nuages 5:41
03 Allan Holdsworth - How Deep is the Ocean? 5:29
04 Allan Holdsworth - Isotope 5:42
05 Allan Holdsworth - None Too Soon (Part 1) 7:44
06 Allan Holdsworth - Norwegian Wood 5:55
07 Allan Holdsworth - Very Early 7:41
08 Allan Holdsworth - San Marcos 3:24
09 Allan Holdsworth - Inner Urge 6:12
CD10
01 Allan Holdsworth - San Onofre 5:48
02 Allan Holdsworth - 0274 7:45
03 Allan Holdsworth - The Sixteen Men of Tain 6:26
04 Allan Holdsworth - Above and Below 3:08
05 Allan Holdsworth - The Drums Were Yellow 5:58
06 Allan Holdsworth - Texas 5:44
07 Allan Holdsworth - Downside Up 7:06
08 Allan Holdsworth - Eidolan 4:36
09 Allan Holdsworth - Above and Below (Reprise) 4:08
10 Allan Holdsworth - Material Unreal 2:13
CD11
01 Allan Holdsworth - The Duplicate Man (Intro) 1:51
02 Allan Holdsworth - The Duplicate Man 4:41
03 Allan Holdsworth - Eeny Meeny 4:48
04 Allan Holdsworth - Please Hold On 3:59
05 Allan Holdsworth - Snow Moon 8:04
06 Allan Holdsworth - Curves 5:35
07 Allan Holdsworth - So Long 5:31
08 Allan Holdsworth - Bo Peep 3:46
09 Allan Holdsworth - Don't You Know? 9:11
CD12
01 Allan Holdsworth - Zone 1 4:08
02 Allan Holdsworth - Proto Cosmos 5:42
03 Allan Holdsworth - White Line 9:39
04 Allan Holdsworth - Atavachron 4:42
05 Allan Holdsworth - Zone ll 5:30
06 Allan Holdsworth - Pud Wud 8:05
07 Allan Holdsworth - House of Mirrors 4:26
08 Allan Holdsworth - Non-Brewed Condiment 5:46
09 Allan Holdsworth - Zone lll 7:40
10 Allan Holdsworth - Funnels 7:11
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Music weaves itself into the fabric of our emotions, dances through the corridors of memory, and whispers to the soul of who we are. Sharing these stories deepens the connection, turning the experience into something timeless and profound.
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Thanks Capt Hatemonger. I looked for these for a long time! Thanks BB!
ReplyDeleteHi Barbus8,
DeleteGreat to hear you finally tracked these down, the Capt. really delivered with this one. And thank you for the kind words. Holdsworth’s work can be elusive, so it’s always satisfying when someone gets the full set in one go. Enjoy the deep dive.
Cheers.
A surprise in a blog full of surprises. Frank Marino, a revered guitar player himself and rather selective with compliments, called Holdsworth's guitar playing "of technical perfection". And he played with Gong in the 70s I believe, always good in my book. To be honest, I don't know his music that well, so I guess I'm in for quite a ride. Thanks very much to the Capt and by extension to our host, the one and only BB. Take care, grtz.
ReplyDeleteHi J_M,
DeleteThat’s a great way to put it. When someone like Frank Marino, who knows the instrument inside out, calls Holdsworth’s playing “technical perfection,” it tells you just how far beyond the usual boundaries he really was.
If you don’t know his music well, you’re in for something special. This box set really shows the full arc of his ideas, from the early fire to the later, more fluid explorations. It’s a ride, but a rewarding one.
Thanks to the Capt. for the spark, and thanks to you for the kind words.
Cheers.