Customer Reviews

Metal Fatigue

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is my first Allan Holdworth cd... probably the first of many. I'm not normally into jazz or fusion, but after hearing how amazing Holdsworth was and getting him recommended to me left and right, i finally decided to take a chance and, man, am i glad i did! Holdsorth is definitely one of only a handful of guitarists that can make a good claim to the "greatest living guitarist" crown and, quite frankly, i couldn't argue against him deserving it. I really thought i'd heard the best that a virtuoso guitarist could offer... Vai, Satriani, Eric Johnson, Malmsteen, Shawn Lane (among many others)... all amazing in their own right... but i wonder if any of them could do what Holdsworth does.

First, the title track opens the album in a very rocking way. A very cool opening riff that is soon accompanied by busy, jazzy drums and bass. The riff is expanded on throughout the course of the song, usually by Holdworth's stunning tremolo use and odd scale runs. The clean guitar work in the verses are equally as good. I can only begin to guess what chords Holdsworth are using, but they all sound note perfect. The vocals are pleasant enough... the lyrics... well, if you're buying this album, it isn't for the lyrics, so why make a big deal out of them? Just enjoy them for the melodic effect. The solo, like most on this album, feature THE BEST legato work of any guitarst i've ever heard. I've heard guitarists play this fast, but never, EVER this cleanly and precise. Holdsworth legato is second to none and heads and shoulders above any guitarist i've ever heard.

Home, the beauty of the album, begins with background chatter from people, but is joined by, what is, one of the most gorgeous guitar tones i've ever heard. It sounds as if tears are dripping from Holdsworth's guitar. These raindrop-like notes and chord progressions are just achingly beautiful. The bass and drums eventually come in to accompany the guitar beautifully. The acoustic guitar is the star of this song though. Holdsworth does some surprisingly excellent acoustic guitar soloing that perfectly fits the song. What's amazing about this song though, is there's very few repeated melodic lines, yet, it's still immediately memorable. Repeat listens will help piece all of the melodic parts together though.

Devil Take The Hindmost... what can i say except "oh my God friggin gee-golly wow!" Maybe the most astonishing work ever put to guitar. Starting off with with some great, off-kilter jazz chord progressions with an ever moving drum and bass line. The song shifts moods from flowing jazz, to softer ballad several times, both with some odd rhythms and timing. Even some very ethereal, moody parts. The bass playing is actually just as much of a highlight on this track as the guitar. But at 1:35 in the whole song changes... Holdworth signature legato lead work enters. Slowly at first, ever building, with some really odd, almost (dare i say?) demonic sounding runs. Holdsworth doesn't unleash the full fury of his soloing until about 2:25 in, at which point i think ANY guitarist will be blown away by the string of stunning runs Holdsworth puts together. The song finally ends where it begins, back with that awesome opening progression.

What's so good about that song though is, the runs never sound like wankery. They seem to support the tone of that song perfectly. They're always unique and never "same-sounding'. But as far as electric guitar goes, i've never, NEVER heard it played any better than in that song.

Panic Station is a calming number after the hell-fury that is Devil Take the Hindmost. A beauty in its own right, Station starts out with an appregiated clean guitar and accentuated bass that builds up to the vocal part. Perhaps the best vocal performance on the album, this song is just a pleasure to listen to. The solo features some great runs before leading into some excellent tremolo work. This is perhaps the catchiest song on the album as well.

The Un-Merry Go Round is 14 mins. of musical bliss. The only way i can describe it is Pink Floyd meets a guitar virtuoso. This song, for the most part, is very ethereal, atmospheric, and moody. The odd, muted guitar that starts the song leads into some swelling... uhhh, are those synths i'm guessing? When the drums kick in is when the fun truly starts. One of my favorite moments on the whole album in fact. The shuffling drums and rumbling bass add such a 3D quality to the song. Allowing Holdsworth background chord work and more up-front legato lead work to shine. This song shifts several times and almost works in seperate movements.

The drum solo is worthy of mention as well. Never have i heard a drum solo that i can not only sit through, but even ENJOY like the one in Un-Merry Go Round. After the solo we have more of the shuffling bass/drum work, which leads into some odd chord work, which then completely dies off and then the song heads into real Pink Floyd arena. With the swelling, ethereal sounds, it's an oasis against the chaos of the rest of the song. The song will eventually, but slowly pick up, and lead into some more great Holdsworth legato lead work.

The song pretty much ends with Holdsworth, i imagine, using his infamous "synthaxe" to simulate a flute. As silly as the idea sounds, it works quite well. Holdsworth manages to create an interesting sound and string some interesting runs together with it. The song comes to a close with some more great chord work and ends exactly as it opens.

The last track is really the only disposable track on here. As much as i can disregard lyrics on the album, In the Mystery is just too much cheese for even me. Musically it's not that interesting either. Though it does have another good Holdsworth solo.

In conclusion, this album is a must for fusion enthusiasts, guitar virtuoso enthusiasts, or just anyone interested in hearing how far the limits of guitar playing can be stretched. I've never heard another guitarists even remotely like Holdsworth BEFORE Holdsworth. Since him, countless guitarists have copied parts of his unique style. From EVH to Meshuggah's Frederick Thordendall whose lead lines directly rip off Holdsworth's soloing style (in a good way). Federick Thordendall and Meshuggah is actually what prompted me to check out Holdsworth. Anyone interested in hearing what Holdsworth would sound like in an extreme metal setting should definitely check out Meshuggah (who are geniuses in their own right).

Anyway, i can't wait to get some more albums from this amazing artist. I can't imagine why Holdsworth isn't more well known than he is. Perhaps his focus on trying to create his own style and stretching out musically has kept alot of listeners away, but i imagine more adventurous people will really dig someone as adventurous as Allan Holdsworth.

(...)

Holdsworth makes records that are really classics of their time and sells them to a kind of guitar/bass/virtuoso/instruction audience with prog-rock, metal, and fusion leanings. What was often frustrating about Holdsworth's mid-80's efforts was their overt and out-of place pandering to the market, when clearly Holdsworth wasn't really at home with those idioms. A good example of this was the title track from Metal Fatigue where an apparrent attempt to cajole his hard-rock fans results in a sort of heavy metal shuffle. Another example other reviwers have mentioned is the inclusion of embarassingly awkward prog-rock lyrics on the disk's three vocal tracks. That is about half the album in terms of cuts. Throughout these, Holdsworth's playing is fluid to the point of being somewhat limpid. He does play very very fast.

The other tunes are in a completely different aesthetic universe. Now, here's the rub for me. In each one of Holdsworth's records there are moments where you think you are listening to the next Liszt or Mozart. The music is that timeless and evocative. Holdsworth's command of melody and of form show his tenacious quest for balance between composition and improvisation, between variety and familiarity. Most serious music fans will know that these are THE unsolved problems in jazz. Holdsworth gives us many solutions although they lie outside the jazz aesthetic. His example here is "The Un-Merry Go Round" which, given it's brooding subtitle, should be enjoyed with attention to it's melancholic aspects. The sound - domintated by digital synthesis - is neither organic nor nostalgic, nor urbane. It's the sort of sound you expect to hear in promotional videos for Biotech firms, and Holdsworth and company are neither very out or very in jazz-wise. And yet "The Un-Merry Go Round" is both moving and cinematic. You barely realize you are listening to solos.

The more orthodox guitar jazz tracks on the record, "Home" and "Devil take the Hindmost", are not as catchy for me but they employ similar amounts of ingenious mathematics. Other Holdsworth fans find them extraordinarily catchy, especially the latter track. I give the record 3 stars because of the 3 brilliant tracks. This is from someone who doesn't know or care how hard it is to play the music. Aspiring guitar players will enjoy it even more, although Holdsworth sets up an almost impossible standard.

Metal Fatigue is an INCREDIBLE achievement that lingers in the mind for years after your first listen. Simply put, this recording is one of Holdsworth's best and exemplifies his incredibly unique approach to the guitar. So different is Holdsworth's sound that he essentially redefines the boundaries of the instrument. But understand this, you DONT buy a HOLDSWORTH recording to hear catchy lyrics or a typical song composition. What you DO get it for is to hear an unparalleled genius provide his take on the music, whatever it is, that's happening around him. That's what he he delivers and it's what makes him great. Holdsworth's amazing achievements can be appreciated stand-alone, or as MUSICAL INTEPRETATIONS by a genius. And make no mistake about it - Holdsworth is in every way a genius.

Whoever equated "Mr. Mister" to ANYTHING on METAL FATIGUE is completely out of line. Yeah, the lyrics drive me crazy sometimes and they don't always sound as cool as an 80's pop tune, but are you reviewing the lyrics or are you reviewing Holdsworth? Even if you take the approach that you must review the entire work and all supporting members, Holdsworth's is such a triumph of musical possibilities and sheer passion that he simply overshadows anything "Mr Misterish".

I can listen to Holdsworth over and over again, and each time take something different away from the experience. Holdsworth is an artist, and like many artists past and present, he is misunderstood and underappreciated by many whose brains have been turned to jello by what our collective FM radio stations pump out on a daily basis. Boring? Not at all - Holdsworth speaks through his music, and he has an incredible story, an EPIC story to tell with each musical passage, but nobody said understanding it would be easy.

Everyone criticizes Allan when he has vocalists on his recordings. I say, let them grow on you a bit. The melodies are as well thought out as his guitar or synth lines, and sometimes more-so. Allan's songs are often much better than the mainstream pop music of the era as well.

I found this CD for the first time in a used record store in Felds Point, Baltimore Maryland. It was pure chance on my part and the store's. They only had the one CD and didn't carry Holdsworth's CDs otherwise. At the time, Metal Fatigue was the only CD of his I could remember, and only because of the cover artwork. (I love robots!)

Anyway, I have probably listened to this CD 200 times since then. It's one of those "stranded on a desert island" items for sure!

The track listing on the page for this CD is wrong. It should be:

Studio Album, released in 1985

Track Listings
1. Metal Fatigue (4:54)
2. Home (5:29)
3. Devil Take the Hindmost (5:33)
4. Panic Station (3:31)
5. The Un-Merry-Go-Round (14:06)
6. In the Mystery (3:49)

Total Time: 37:22

Other important information is as follows:

Line-up/Musicians
- Mac Hine / drums
- Allan Holdsworth / guitar
- Gary Husband / drums
- Jimmy J

All right, lets get a few things straight! The reason Allan is so unique is that he is a TRUE ORIGINAL!! This is no small feat. He is definitely in that rarefied air shared by greats like Bob Dylan, Ornette Coleman, Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix, and Jack Bruce; What Allan has done is create something completely and utterly original out of thin air...his approach is so unique he seems to be speaking a new language, but instead of being some bizzare, unlistenable nonsence, what he seems to have done is completely done away with overt idioms and influences like the Blues or Bebop or any of the traditional styles and cliches that everybody else seems to fall back on, broken the elements of diatonic harmony down to its primordial emotional core and ever so brilliantly exploded it all into a new musical universe. And of course, like alot of brilliant music, it is challenging, complex, definitely in need of several listenings to take it all in. This is not ment for mass consumption--clearly many people will not have it in them to understand this music (including supposed competent professionals, eh Chip?) but to those with an open mind and a yearning for truly original music, Allan Holdsworth is essential! As for this record in particular, it does feature different approaches to the pop song form as well as more fusion and prog sounding tunes. And, to Allan's credit, the rhythm section is amazing--Chad and Gary H. of course on the drums and Gary W on bass, but especially the fantastically talented Jimmy Johnson on bass--wow--pure entertainment But killer musicians without great music to play becomes boring fast. Thats what makes Allan stand apart--he is an incredible composer as well as a player. There is an almost otherworldly melodic beauty that permeates much of his writing style, a sort of lyrical sense even to some really out-there pieces.

It's "Metal Fatigue's" 21st birthday this year, yet most of this album is as fresh and mindblowing as when I first listened to it. I have fallen in love with this album again.

Since its release I cannot think of another album that demonstrates the ability of a guitarist to squeeze and wrench the wonderful tones that Allan Holdsworth does on this album. This demonstrates how a whammy bar in the hands of a master musician can cajole and carees emotion laden sounds from the electric guitar. What Van Halen and Vai have done is fun and impressive. What Holdsworth has achieved is artwork of a master.

Yes, it's a short album but four of the six tracks are arguably some of the finest jazz-rock recorded. I use this term loosely as an attempted label for the reader who may not have heard of Allan Holdsworth. This music is hard to define - far too complex for the label rock, yet too distorted and straight to be labelled strictly jazz.

As I said I have fallen in love with this album again so even the artwork of that Judgement day like scrap heap reinforces the album title. The blue neon rays across the cover and Allan's photograph are all supportive of what makes a gem of a recording.

I love the production and although AAD, it's a crisp yet rich recording. I think the quality of the recording of the drums is the best on this album out of all of Holdsworth's 80's and 90's albums. Both Wackerman and Husband are incredibly supportive while there is some phenomenal bass work by Jimmy Johnson and Gary Willis.

The opening twenty seconds of the album are so startling that after many repeated listenings I still have a wry smile and marvel. That opening track finally comes to a blistering halt and the sublime sounds of a person's laughter in a pub juxtaposed against the achingly mournful guitar chords are as gentle as what the opening track is aggressive. 'Metal Fatigue' into 'Home' is a triumph. All the compositions bare repeated listening, including, dare I suggest, the weaker 'In the mystery' and 'Panic Station'.

There are vocals on two of the tracks providing some variety and intrigue but most of the time you are waiting for the guitar to be unleashed. The solos throughout are powerful and beautiful. In some ways it minimises Holdsworth's ability to say he plays solos as the guitar is interwoven throughout - a tapestry of sound. Listen again to the first four tracks and realise that no keyboards or synths are used - the wonder of Holdsworth is his stunning chord work that creates this tapestry of sound.

For guitarist rockers out there, if you have never heard a Holdsworth album - this is the album to buy. Ask Vai, Satriani - they list this album as one of their favourites.

Exciting, beautiful, emotion-laden and so melodic this is an amazing album that has stood the test of time.

...because there's a lot to enjoy on this CD. Yes, the title tune and the last song are sappy, with awful lyrics and little to enjoy musically--what a horrible idea, and it didn't exactly make for a hit record. If you needed proof that something as special as Holdsworth's talent is hard to market: the album isn't even available anymore. Are you surprised, record companies, if people turn to Napster et al? I stray.

Hey, one tune makes up for the two painful attempts at top 40: let me state, for the record, that "Panic Station" is a great tune, without King of the Forest lyrics, and musically very nicely developed--I love how it ends with a brief and lyrical bass solo, and then fades out. I don't have a lot of the live recordings here, only that "IOU Live in Japan" set, but Holdsworth liked this song enough to play it live also.

I don't have to sing his praises; other reviewers have done that well enough. Only this: no one I know of can do what Holdsworth does on a tune like "Un-Merry-Go-Round," and it's a treat every time I listen to it. I can't wait until that new live CD comes out in an affordable version, to see if he still has the goods (I don't doubt it). Mr. Holdsworth, this rare gift of yours may never make you rich and it may not save anyone from starvation or war--but it may just keep the hounds of despair at bay for some of your listeners: when I feel down, I pop in "Un-Merry-Go-Round" and I feel better instantly. Thanks for sharing!

There are several brilliant aspects to Metal Fatigue, particularly in the structure of the compositions. For example, the title track "Metal Fatigue" uses unusual harmonies. The opening/bridge motif is harmonized in major seconds; the verses are harmonized in fifths. The latter harmony, carefully constructed by clever control of the fifths is not too unusual, but the former harmony could sound terrible if not for Holdsworth's brilliant use of timbre and volume. In his hands it is pure genius, much like the opening figure of "Sand", on the album of the same name, which is harmonized in minor seconds! The chordal structure of "Metal Fatigue" starts at the top of the guitar's range and works its way about halfway down the neck.

"Panic Station" is for me the compositionl highlight of the album. In this piece Holdsworth demonstrates absolute mastery of tension and release. "Panic Station" is primarily an exercise in tension, with very little release. The piece extensively uses a motif of six over four, unstable chord structures, unresolved progressions, and syncopation. In the build-up to the solo, the tension increases unremittingly resulting in the first note of the solo giving the release. This is contrary to the normal practice of the last note of a solo giving the release. The tension starts to build up again until the fade out, a most appropriate way to end the piece since there is no resolution.

To keep this review of manageable length I'll stop here and let others give their two cents on the compositional structire of other pieces on the album.

I think Holdsworth will eventually be recognized for his contributions to harmony and compositional structure as much as for his supreme technical facility and artistry on his instrument.

Again a perfect CD, a trascendental recording of the unique Master. This recording is a perfect blend between Jazz and Rock stations because the Rock rhythmic and tempo formats against all the bizarre Jazz harmony that is accuratetly used song by song. The opening track "Metal Fatigue" begins with a great distorted riff with an intriging guitar efect (a pitch shifter pedal?) that makes sense when the rhythm section begins to play conducting this extraordinary riff to the first Paul Williams vocal lines... Then the clear chorused comping chords appear wonderfully. What a fantastic gimmick to begin a record! Only a talented genious like him would had done something like that...

"Devil Take The Hindmost" is another OUT OF THIS WORLD song that still is breaking standar listening formats. The solo is everything, it is perfection in every note, in every single bar, demostrating not only its sonic ambiguity but the fast liquid legato Holdsworth trademark... The solo of "In The Mistery" is a real "easy" one too, against the others, as well as the "Panic Station" song, just to give place to the science fiction suite "The Un-Merry Go-Round", another fantastic theme to continue with the emotion and take it to a highest level, the climax of the recording: Outstanding, Extraordinary, Trascendental...

Since the first day I heard this record, I thought ¿What is happening here?... I've already heard some years before to Allan Holdsworth in the first Bill Bruford solo album (1977), where the music gave birth to a new genre: the PROGRESSIVE JAZZ FUSION! music category, afterwards Allan Holdsworth had another big shot with Jean Luc-Ponty in "Enigmatic Ocean" and with U.K. near to Bill Bruford, John Wetton and Eddie Jobson. I was really amazed by the progressive statement that those four guys were doing there. It was a maravelous sensation!... If this 1977 and 1978 recordings are trascendental, then METAL FATIGUE (1985) is a higher stage into the mastery of Allan Holdsworth as solo artist, and as the years go by, the time will reveal this work, as the most important recording not only to the Rock station but to the Jazz station too... Good Luck!

The first time I heard Allan Holdsworth was when I was 15 at a guitar lesson. My teacher was working on the solo in "devil...." I was in utter awe hearing Allan's unbelievable lines, tone and beautiful chord voicings. 19 years later I'm still hooked and even more so. I still have the cassette version of Metal Fatigue. This is truly a classic. A must have.