Tales From The Vault (album): Difference between revisions
From Allan Holdsworth Information Center
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
| Line 3: | Line 3: | ||
https://www.facebook.com/AllanHoldsworthArchives/posts/749330075240888 | https://www.facebook.com/AllanHoldsworthArchives/posts/749330075240888 | ||
==[[Allan Holdsworth Archives review]]== | |||
TALES FROM THE VAULT - a review | |||
A Youtube video has surfaced with excerpts from Allan’s “Tales From The Vault”. This was a Pledge Music crowdfunding campaign, with the intention of releasing “previously recorded but unreleased studio material compiled over the last 10+ years”, in a quote attributed to Allan himself. The finished project didn’t come out like advertised, for a variety of reasons. The first update in the Pledge campaign was posted in March 2015. In Aug 2015, the track “Earth” was released. Then, it took almost a year before the remaining tracks were released. | |||
There seem to be various accounts of the events that took place, so for now we’ll just focus on what was actually released. | |||
Here’s the video with excerpts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1fg5Sz3U20 | |||
Roughly speaking, the released files consisted of seven tracks of what I call “previous partially released recordings”, and five tracks of previously unreleased recordings. Of these, only three are previously unreleased compositions. Here is a brief list of the tracks released as “Tales From The Vault”, followed by a brief review of the tracks. | |||
Recordings previously partially released: | |||
Road Games outtakes ft Joe Turano on vocals: Material Real, Road Games, Was There, Water On The Brain (otherwise same recordings as previously released) | |||
Road Games, Mark Pinske Mixes: Material Real, Three Sheets, Tokyo Dream (same recordings as previously released) | |||
Previously unrelased recordings: | |||
Allan Holdsworth: Abingdon Chasp - demo with Bill Bruford, Francois Moze, Ray Warleigh | |||
IOU outtake: Water On The Brain, vocal version ft. Paul Williams | |||
Solo SynthAxe pieces: New Dawn, Poochini | |||
Allan Holdsworth: Earth - new recording with Virgil Donati and Jimmy Johnson | |||
I use the term “previous partially released” as all these tracks contain previously released guitar, drum and bass tracks, with different vocals or mixes. There are NO NEW GUITAR PARTS OR SOLOS on these. The previously partially released recordings all stem from the Road Games sessions. Four tracks feature Joe Turano on lead vocals, the recordings are otherwise the same as the previously released album versions. Three tracks are mixes made by Mark Pinske in Frank Zappa’s studio. These contain the same recordings as the previously released album versions. | |||
The previously unreleased recordings are a mixed bag. The version of “The Abingdon Chasp” features Ray Warleigh on sax, and Francois Moze of Gong on bass, in addition to Bruford, but is otherwise very similar to the version released on “One Of A Kind”. It’s likely this was a demo version recorded prior to “One Of A Kind”, but no dates or further info is provided. The version of “Water On The Brain” was recorded for the IOU album, the tapes stolen, and only retrieved after the album was released. It’s freer and loser than the Road Games version, and in my opinion should be added to a deluxe version of the IOU album. (This version might have been available on the internet in the form of a hissy cassette tape rough mix.) Two SynthAxe pieces are included, much in the vein of “Flat Tire”, although no dates are given. "New Dawn" was written by pianist and sometime collaborator Pat Smythe. | |||
The track “Earth” is not included among the excerpts, but is perhaps the closest thing we get to hearing what a new Allan Holdsworth solo album would have sounded like, even though it is a Virgil Donati composition. You can hear excerpts of “Earth” in the following video: | |||
Allan Holdsworth Sessions with Virgil Donati 4/14/15 Tales from the Vault Pledge Music Campaign: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X07gDIfR1z0 | |||
In the end, this project turned out to be somewhat underwhelming. Most fans probably expected to hear more than mostly new mixes and versions with different vocals. For this listener, the IOU version of “Water On The Brain” was the artistic high point. The free flowing interplay between Gary, Paul and Allan, wonderful chord voicings, Paul Williams’ voice being a perfect fit for the music, and a short but sweet guitar solo were worth the price of admission alone. It’s uncharacteristically short at a just a little over two minutes, but would have fit perfectly into the original album. | |||
At present, the project is closed, and the legal status of these tracks appear to be in limbo. You cannot buy these tracks legally anywhere, as the Pledge does not accept donations, and they have not been released elsewhere. Anybody who was too late in pledging will have to get these tracks on the grey or black market. Nobody knows what will happen to these tracks in the future. | |||
It’s fortunate that Allan was able to see the release of the box set “The man who changed guitar forever” on Manifesto records, as it is a much more fitting image of his legacy. Get your copy at https://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Changed-Guitar-Forever/dp/B01N5P4DLD | |||
Links: | |||
Pledge music site: http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/allanholdsworth | |||
A few promo videos from the project: | |||
Allan Holdsworth "Earth" Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQu_O4nKK0I (The title is somewhat misleading, as the track “Earth” is not in fact featured.) | |||
Allan Holdsworth Pledge - 'Tales from the Vault' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8I7NBoP27TQ (Pledge promo) | |||
==[[Liner notes]]== | |||
Allan's liner notes for the project are reproduced here: [[Tales From The Vault (liner notes)]]. | Allan's liner notes for the project are reproduced here: [[Tales From The Vault (liner notes)]]. | ||
=Quotes by Allan= | |||
==[[Allan Holdsworth: The final interview (Team Rock 2017)]]== | ==[[Allan Holdsworth: The final interview (Team Rock 2017)]]== | ||
