Secrets - Allan Holdsworth

May

16

Secrets - Allan Holdsworth

≡ Category: 1980s, Fusion, Reviews, Worth A Listen |
≅ Written by: Michael Kydonieus

WORTH A LISTEN

Rating:

Oddly enough, the most engaging composition on Secrets was composed by Gary Husband. (He’s not listed as playing on the track, either.)

Maybe it’s not all that surprising, though. I’ve found that Allan Holdsworth’s compositional ideas are as otherworldly as his guitar playing. The combination of the two can sometimes be too much of a good thing. The music can be hard to relate to.

Take the title track for example. Vocalist Rowanne Mark does an incredibly good job of singing the inherently unsingable lines on Secrets, and making them sound almost passionate. The chord progressions seem arbitrary, although they are imbued with Holdsworth’s personality, almost as if they were disgorged from the Holdsworth composition factory.

Sometimes Holdsworth’s compositional choices can be just bizarre, like the way he ends 54 Duncan Terrace, a sensitive rumination, with a power chord.

On the other hand, take a relatively mundane composition like Steve Hunt’s Joshua. Allan Holdsworth is at his best here, finding triumphant emotions in his soaring guitar leads which are barely hinted at in the composition itself.

Holdsworth’s composition Spokes is actually fairly relatable, but he ruins it by playing the synthaxe.

Obviously, I have a hard time with the synthaxe, which Holdworth seems so fond of. On Spokes, the notes that come out of the instrument are beautifully chosen, but the tone is cold, even though it is undeniably nuanced, a testiment to Holdsworth’s wizardly skills.

I should say something about Alan Pasqua. He guests on acoustic piano on one track and his playing is gorgeous — he has certainly improved since his days with the Tony Williams Lifetime. He plays better with Holdsworth, too.

In fact, the musicianship throughout Secrets is technically immaculate, whether you’re talking about drummers Vinnie Coliauta and Chad Wackerman, keyboardist Steve Hunt, or bassist Jimmy Johnson.

Still, the overall impression left by Secrets is music made by machines, untouched by human hands. It doesn’t help that the production, also by Holdsworth, is so slick. Personally, I consider his pursuit of sonic perfection to be a little bit unhealthy. You could eat off of the surfaces of this music. I prefer a little more grit.

In a way, a release like Secrets is hard to review. If you were to judge it solely in terms of musicianship and technical expertise, it would be the greatest record of the decade at the very least. But music has to communicate to be effective. Sometimes, Holdsworth’s incredible melodic playing on guitar does exactly that, but too often, his amazing gifts are obscured by either by the synthaxe or by opaque compositions that seem like they were written by an computer program rather than a human being.

So, who is Secrets for? If you are a big fan of musical virtuosity, you’ll be like a pig rolling in slops. There’s always a chance that you will be able to see past the tonal quality of the synthaxe and be able to appreciate Holdsworth’s awesome melodic inventions. Who knows, you might even get what Holdsworth is trying to say in his compositions. If so, you are a better man/woman than I.

Check out the samples for Secrets. You’ll be able to tell soon enough if this music is for you.