Allan Holdsworth Discography
Allan Holdsworth Discography: Vinyl, Compact Disc and Digital
This is a first draft for an Allan Holdsworth discography. At present, the main task is getting the list right. There are a few considerations to be made, as well as a few omissions, they are noted at the bottom.
There are many ways of doing a discography. For this version, the following applies:
The listing includes music released officially on vinyl, compact disc and digitally. Though some records were released officially, their legality was contested by Allan, and some were withdrawn from the market, such as reissues of “Velvet Darkness”. More information on this will eventually appear in the articles.
Outright bootlegs will not be listed. Films and books will go on a separate list. Allan in the capacity of producer, engineer or other tasks will go on a separate list.
The list is categorized by artist, album name, year of release, Allan’s role, and by the type of performance, as follows:
- Artist and album name are listed as it appears on the cover. This means that ”Belladonna”, for example, is listed as an Ian Carr release, and not Nucleus.
- The albums are listed chronologically on the year of original release. The chronology is sometimes dubious, but is intended to show the records roughly in the order they were released.
- Allan is listed according to whether he appears as a band member, a session musician, or a solo artist. These definitions are somewhat subjective, but as a general rule, albums with only one or two tracks will count as sessions. On these albums, the number of tracks where Allan appears is listed. Where Allan appears throughout the album he will generally be listed as band member. He is listed as a solo artist on recordings released in his own name alone.
- For the performance category, Allan is listed as to whether he contributed with guitar, SynthAxe, violin or vocals. Albums featuring his compositions are also noted.
The list does not contain albums with re-releases and compilations of previously released material, except where the new releases also contain previously unreleased music. That means that the Tempest anthology “Under The Blossom” is listed, as it contains previously unreleased recordings from the BBC. Also, “Wardenclyffe Tower +3” is listed.
Updates, errors and omissions: A discography will usually be based on some subjective criteria, which may also be revised. Some revisions are in order: Some albums by U.K. released after the band broke up need to be added to the list. There are special editions of some albums featuring previously unreleased material that need to be added for consistency, such as the special edition of “Sixteen Men Of Tain”.
Allan Holdsworth discography
Artist | Album name | Year | Role | Performance |
---|---|---|---|---|
Igginbottom | Igginbottom's Wrench | 1969 | Band member | Guitar, vocals, composer |
Ian Carr | Belladonna | 1973 | Band member | Guitar |
Tempest | Tempest | 1973 | Band member | Guitar, vocals, violin, composer |
Soft Machine | Bundles | 1975 | Band member | Guitar, composer |
The New Tony Williams Lifetime | Believe It | 1975 | Band member | Guitar, composer |
The New Tony Williams Lifetime | Million Dollar Legs | 1976 | Band member | Guitar |
Allan Holdsworth | Velvet Darkness | 1976 | Solo artist | Guitar, violin, composer |
Gong | Gazeuse! | 1976 | Band member | Guitar, violin, steel guitar, composer |
Bruford | Feels Good To Me | 1977 | Band member | Guitar |
Esther Phillips | Capricorn Princess | 1977 | Session, 1 track | Pedal steel guitar |
Jean-Luc Ponty | Enigmatic Ocean | 1977 | Band member | Guitar |
John Stevens | Retouch | 1977 | Band member | Guitar, composer |
Gong | Expresso II | 1978 | Session, 4 tracks | Guitar |
U.K. | U.K. | 1978 | Band member | Guitar, composer |
John Stevens | Touching On | 1978 | Band member | Guitar, composer |
Bruford | One Of A Kind | 1979 | Band member | Guitar, composer |
Gordon Beck | Sunbird | 1979 | Band member | Guitar, violin |
Pierre Moerlen's Gong | Time Is The Key | 1979 | Session, 2 tracks | Guitar |
Allan Holdsworth, Gordon Beck, Jeff Clyne, John Stevens | Conversation Piece | 1980 | Band member | Guitar, composer |
Soft Machine | Land Of Cockayne | 1981 | Session, x tracks | Guitar |
Allan Holdsworth & Gordon Beck | The Things You See | 1981 | Band member | Guitar, vocals, composer |
Allan Holdsworth | I.O.U. | 1982 | Solo artist | Guitar, composer |
Allan Holdsworth | Road Games | 1983 | Solo artist | Guitar, composer |
Jean Luc Ponty | Individual Choice | 1983 | Session, 2 tracks | Guitar |
Jon St James | Transatlantic | 1984 | Session, 2 tracks | Guitar |
Allan Holdsworth | Metal Fatigue | 1985 | Solo artist | Guitar, composer |
Rege Burrell | Victim Of Emotion | 1985 | Session, 1 track | Guitar |
Allan Holdsworth | Atavachron | 1986 | Solo artist | Guitar, SynthAxe |
Soma | Soma | 1986 | Session, 5 tracks | Guitar |
Jon St James | Fast Impressions | 1986 | Session, 2 tracks | Guitar, SynthAxe |
Krokus | Change Of Address | 1986 | Session, 1 track | Guitar |
Allan Holdsworth | Sand | 1987 | Solo artist | Guitar, SynthAxe, composer |
Stanley Clarke | If This Bass Could Only Talk | 1988 | Session, 1 track | Guitar |
Stuart Hamm | Radio Free Albemuth | 1988 | Session, 1 track | SynthAxe |
Allan Holdsworth | Secrets | 1989 | Solo artist | Guitar, SynthAxe, composer |
Alex Masi | Attack Of The Neon Shark | 1989 | Session, 1 track | SynthAxe |
Strange Advance | The Distance Between | 1989 | Session, 2 tracks | Guitar |
Jack Bruce | A Question Of Time | 1989 | Session, 2 tracks | Guitar, SynthAxe |
Allan Holdsworth | With A Heart In My Song | 1989 | Band member | Guitar, SynthAxe, composer |
Carl Verheyen | No Borders | 1989 | Session, 1 track | SynthAxe |
Various Artists | Guitar's Practicing Musicians | 1989 | Session, 1 track w/ Jeff Watson | Guitar |
MVP | Truth In Shredding | 1990 | Band member | Guitar, SynthAxe |
Steve Tavaglione | Blue Tav | 1990 | Session, 1 track | Guitar/SynthAxe |
Andrea Marcelli | Silent Will | 1990 | Session, 3 tracks | Guitar/SynthAxe |
Level 42 | Guaranteed | 1991 | Band member | Guitar |
Chad Wackerman | Forty Reasons | 1991 | Band member | Guitar |
Paz | Love In Peace (Amour Empaz) | 1991 | Session, 1 track | Guitar |
Jeff Watson | Lone Ranger | 1992 | Session, 1 track | Guitar |
Andrea Marcelli | Oneness | 1992 | Session, 2 tracks | Guitar/baritone guitar |
Allan Holdsworth | Wardenclyffe Tower | 1993 | Solo artist | Guitar, SynthAxe, composer |
Allan Holdsworth | Wardenclyffe Tower +3 | 1993 | Solo artist | Guitar, SynthAxe, composer |
Various Artists | Come Together | 1993 | Session, 1 track | Guitar |
Chad Wackerman | The View | 1993 | Session, x tracks | Guitar |
Allan Holdsworth | Hard Hat Area | 1993 | Solo artist | Guitar, SynthAxe, composer |
Allan Holdsworth | Just For The Curious | 1993 | Solo artist | Guitar, composer |
Gongzilla | Suffer | 1995 | Session, 4 tracks | Guitar |
Allan Holdsworth | None Too Soon | 1996 | Solo artist | Guitar, SynthAxe |
Anders Johansson, Jens Johansson & Allan Holdsworth | Heavy Machinery | 1996 | Band member | Guitar |
Gorky Park | Stare | 1996 | Session, 1 track | Guitar |
Allan Holdsworth | I.O.U. Live | 1997 | Solo artist | Guitar, composer |
Steve Hunt | From Your Heart And From Your Soul | 1997 | Session, 1 track | Guitar |
Allan Holdsworth | The Sixteen Men Of Tain | 2000 | Solo artist | Guitar, composer |
Allan Holdsworth | Flat Tire | 2001 | Solo artist | Guitar, SynthAxe, composer |
Allan Holdsworth | All Night Wrong | 2002 | Solo artist | Guitar, composer |
Soft Machine | BBC Radio 1971-1974 | 2003 | Band member | Guitar |
Soft Works | Abracadabra | 2003 | Band member | Guitar, composer |
Atlantis | Pray For Rain | 2003 | Session, 1 track | Guitar |
Allan Holdsworth Group | Then! | 2003 | Solo artist | Guitar, composer |
Derek Sherinian | Mythology | 2004 | Session, x tracks | Guitar |
K2 | Book Of The Dead | 2004 | Session, x tracks | Guitar |
Riptyde | Sonic Undertow | 2004 | Session/featured soloist | Guitar |
David Hines | Nebula | 2005 | Session, 2 tracks | Guitar |
Allan Holdsworth | Against The Clock | 2005 | Solo artist | Guitar, SynthAxe, composer |
Tempest | Under The Blossom: The Anthology | 2005 | Band member | Guitar |
Soft Machine | Floating World Live | 2006 | Band member | Guitar, composer |
Bruford | Rock Goes To College | 2006 | Band member | Guitar |
Planet X | Quantum | 2007 | Session, 2 tracks | Guitar |
Jean-Luc Ponty | The Acatama Experience | 2007 | Session, 1 track | Guitar |
Dan Carlin | Prowlin’ | 2007 | Session, 1 track | Guitar, SynthAxe |
Chris Buck | Progosaurus | 2008 | Session, 1 track | Guitar |
Holdsworth, Pasqua, Haslip, Wackerman | Blues For Tony | 2009 | Band member | Guitar, composer |
Danny Thompson | Propensity | 2009 | Band member | Guitar, composer |
Snew | Highway Star | 2009 | Session, 1 track | Guitar |
Paul Korda | Early Years | 2009 | Session, 1 track | Guitar |
Eric Keyes | No One Knows My Thirst | 2009 | Session, 1 track | Guitar |
Gary Husband | Dirty And Beautiful Volume 1 | 2010 | Session, 3 tracks | Guitar |
Corrado Rustici | Deconstruction Of A Postmodern Musician | 2010 | Session, 1 track | Guitar |
Level 42 | Living It Up | 2010 | Session, 1 track | Guitar |
Gary Husband | Dirty And Beautiful Volume 2 | 2012 | Session, 1 track | Guitar |
Chad Wackerman | Dreams Nightmares And Improvisations | 2012 | Band member | Guitar, SynthAxe, Starr Switch |
Soft Machine | Switzerland 1974 | 2015 | Band member | Guitar, composer |
Allan Holdsworth | Tales From The Vault | 2016 | Solo artist | Guitar, SynthAxe, composer |
Allan Holdsworth | Eidolon | 2017 | Solo artist | Guitar, SynthAxe, composer |
Allan Holdsworth | The Man Who Changed Guitar Forever | 2017 | Solo artist | Box Set |