Metal Fatigue (album): Difference between revisions
From Allan Holdsworth Information Center
No edit summary |
|||
| Line 53: | Line 53: | ||
Even with the large number of musicians involved, "Metal Fatigue" is a surprisingly cohesive album. But it straddles a rare kind of musical landscape. The title track is a rock song in format, albeit with very fancy chords, and a short yet blistering guitar solo. "Home" is a delicate instrumental with Allan's last recorded acoustic guitar solo. "Devil Take The Hindmost" is all-out instrumental jazz-rock, with one of Allan's signature solos. "Panic Station" is a pop tune in format, but with a bass solo. "The Un-Merry-Go-Round" is a long instrumental suite, which has jazz and rock elements, but which also belies Allan's inspiration from classical music in its form and some of its harmonies. "In The Mystery" wraps up the album with another bright pop tune. | Even with the large number of musicians involved, "Metal Fatigue" is a surprisingly cohesive album. But it straddles a rare kind of musical landscape. The title track is a rock song in format, albeit with very fancy chords, and a short yet blistering guitar solo. "Home" is a delicate instrumental with Allan's last recorded acoustic guitar solo. "Devil Take The Hindmost" is all-out instrumental jazz-rock, with one of Allan's signature solos. "Panic Station" is a pop tune in format, but with a bass solo. "The Un-Merry-Go-Round" is a long instrumental suite, which has jazz and rock elements, but which also belies Allan's inspiration from classical music in its form and some of its harmonies. "In The Mystery" wraps up the album with another bright pop tune. | ||
It is the instrumental tracks which are best remembered, and although it was probably completely natural for Allan to juxtapose pop tunes with instrumental jazz-rock, this would be the last album to try to fuse these disparate styles. | It is the instrumental tracks which are best remembered, and although it was probably completely natural for Allan to juxtapose pop tunes with instrumental jazz-rock, this would be the last album to try to fuse these market-wise disparate styles. This decision was probably first and foremost dictated by Allan's artistic vision. But he probably also decided it was just easier to focus on instrumental music, as he would have a very hard time breaking through in the pop market. | ||
"Metal Fatigue" was released on the independent label Enigma. Allan had misgivings about the music industry overall, and record companies in particular. Enigma would not interfere with the creative process in any way, and they had reasonably good distribution. However, they did not have the financial muscle to promote the albums. With such an eclectic album, it would probably be hard to promote anyway. But Allan did not profit from his releases. | "Metal Fatigue" was released on the independent label Enigma. Allan had misgivings about the music industry overall, and record companies in particular. Enigma would not interfere with the creative process in any way, and they had reasonably good distribution. However, they did not have the financial muscle to promote the albums. With such an eclectic album, it would probably be hard to promote anyway. But Allan did not profit from his releases. | ||
