Hard Hat Area (album): Difference between revisions
From Allan Holdsworth Information Center
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"Quite often, I’ll do that with my music. I’ll have a scene, as if I’m watching a movie. And I could see this structure going up, with clouds of dust and all. Skuli came up after a good night and said, "I think we should have handed out crash helmets to the audience.” I started thinking, ‘Oh, "'''Hard Hat Area'''," that’s not too bad a name," he laughs. | "Quite often, I’ll do that with my music. I’ll have a scene, as if I’m watching a movie. And I could see this structure going up, with clouds of dust and all. Skuli came up after a good night and said, "I think we should have handed out crash helmets to the audience.” I started thinking, ‘Oh, "'''Hard Hat Area'''," that’s not too bad a name," he laughs. | ||
==[[One Of A Kind (Guitar Shop 1995)]]== | ==[[Allan Holdsworth: One Of A Kind (Guitar Shop 1995)]]== | ||
From his early records with Tempest, Gong, Tony Williams, and Soft Machine to the groundbreaking work with Bruford and U.K., and further to his noted solo career, Allan Holdsworth has remained an enigmatic and singular soloist who has always been years ahead of his time. Nearly a decade back, the jazz-rocker also made major inroads into the world of guitar synthesizers, but due to 90’s economics and a new musical wind, he’s back to standard electric, as is amply demonstrated on his superb new disc, '''Hard Hat Area'''. Along with his monster bassist, Skuli Sverrisson, Holdsworth is playing at near-peak form these days, often on custom equipment he’s designed himself. So if his solos and knuckle-stretching extended chords haven’t already fried your mind, wait til you hear him verbally tear his rig apart top to bottom. It’s truly a virtuoso performance.
Originally identified in the 70s with the Gibson SG and the Fender Stratocaster fitted with a humbucker (a radical move for the time), Holdsworth has largely been seen holding one of two instruments during the past decade: a SynthAxe or a Steinberger. Today, he virtually uses neither. As he explains, guitar synthesis is no longer an affordable option for the working musician – even one as gifted as Holdsworth – while the Steinberger has changed corporate hands, causing the guitarist to look for headless guitars elsewhere. | From his early records with Tempest, Gong, Tony Williams, and Soft Machine to the groundbreaking work with Bruford and U.K., and further to his noted solo career, Allan Holdsworth has remained an enigmatic and singular soloist who has always been years ahead of his time. Nearly a decade back, the jazz-rocker also made major inroads into the world of guitar synthesizers, but due to 90’s economics and a new musical wind, he’s back to standard electric, as is amply demonstrated on his superb new disc, '''Hard Hat Area'''. Along with his monster bassist, Skuli Sverrisson, Holdsworth is playing at near-peak form these days, often on custom equipment he’s designed himself. So if his solos and knuckle-stretching extended chords haven’t already fried your mind, wait til you hear him verbally tear his rig apart top to bottom. It’s truly a virtuoso performance.
Originally identified in the 70s with the Gibson SG and the Fender Stratocaster fitted with a humbucker (a radical move for the time), Holdsworth has largely been seen holding one of two instruments during the past decade: a SynthAxe or a Steinberger. Today, he virtually uses neither. As he explains, guitar synthesis is no longer an affordable option for the working musician – even one as gifted as Holdsworth – while the Steinberger has changed corporate hands, causing the guitarist to look for headless guitars elsewhere. | ||
