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Holdsworth was known for his distinctive guitar work both as a soloist and accompanist. His guitar solo work pioneered the use of legato technique combined with sophisticated signal processing, harnessing amp distortion, to create a fluid sound recognized by fast and harmonically complex scalar runs, which has drawn analogies to John Coltrane. His chordal work is recognized by a pianistic approach, with the use of close intervals and unusual chord voicings, and a sophisticated use of delay, chorus and pitch shifting, to create a lush, etheral sound.
Allan came from Bradford in Yorkshire and played in local bands there. In the early 70s, he moved to London and played with a wide assortment of group, notably [[Tempest]] and [[Soft Machine]]. In the mid 70s, he also stayed a period in the U.S.A., recording and touring with [[Tony Williams]]. On returning to England, he recorded with [[Gong]], [[Bruford]], [[U.K.]] among others. He released his official debut album, |[[I.O.U. (album)| "I.O.U."]] , independently in 1981. Frustrated by a lack of opportunities in England, he migrated permanently to California in the early 80s. There, he started a long-running solo career, releasing several solo albums and doing several world-wide tours, in addition to doing scattered work as a session musician and guest performer. His last studio album featuring a band was |[[The Sixteen Men Of Tain (album)| "The Sixteen Men Of Tain"]] (2000), followed by the mostly one-man SynthAxe solo album |[[Flat Tire (album)| "Flat Tire"]]. In later years, his recording output and touring diminished, partly due to health reasons. In April 2017, shortly after the release of the box set |[[The Man Who Changed Guitar Forever (album)| "The Man Who Changed Guitar Forever"]] , Allan passed away at his home.
