Allan Holdsworth-Metal Fatigue (1985)

Allan Holdsworth is considered one of the greatest guitarists in history, yet at the same time, he remains unjustly unknown to much of the rock community. His beginnings in the 1970s led him to participate as a member of such iconic bands as Tempest, U.K., Gong, Soft Machine, and Jean-Luc Ponty's band, in addition to numerous collaborations on albums by renowned artists like Stanley Clarke, Jack Bruce, Carl Verheyen, and John Wetton, among many others. In 1976, he released his first solo album, "Velvet Darkness", which already showcased his technique in the service of progressive jazz. With his second album, "I.O.U.", released a few years later, Holdsworth created a work with an unpredictable and surprising sound, replete with a vast array of complex progressions, chords, and atypical tonal scales. In 1983 came "Metal Fatigue", considered one of the best jazz-rock albums of the 1980s, where he demonstrated his exceptional guitar mastery. With this album, he pushed the boundaries of genres and styles, blending an instrumental-oriented sound with vocals in some of the songs. "Metal Fatigue" contains six excellent compositions that straddle the line between rock and jazz, brilliantly performed not only by the brilliant guitarist but also by the musicians who accompanied him on this recording, including drummer Chad Wackerman, bassists Jimmy Johnson and Gary Willis, vocalists Paul Williams and Paul Korda, and keyboardist Alan Pasqua. Impeccably performed tracks such as the superb jazz rock “Devil Take The Hindmost”, “Home” and “Metal Fatigue” or virtuoso exercises like “The Un-Merry Go Round” or the more accessible “Panic Station” and “In The Mystery”, make up a truly excellent jazz rock album, with absolutely fantastic musicality and impeccable instrumental execution.

Blind Guardian-Nightfall In Middle-Earth (1998)

The eighth album by the German band Blind Guardian marked the pinnacle of their creativity, while simultaneously being their least accessible and most progressive record. Based on J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Silmarillion", Blind Guardian embarked on their most ambitious work, replete with vocal harmonies and multiple layers of guitars with dense and complex sounds. By the time they recorded this album, the band had gone three years without releasing any new material, years in which they had embarked on several highly successful world tours, performing complex songs from their albums "Somewhere Far Beyond" and "Imaginations From The Other Side". These albums, while not explicitly concept albums, followed a similar pattern with progressive leanings, if not so much musically, then certainly stylistically. “Nightfall In Meddle-Earth” is an exciting album from beginning to end, with great intros, outstanding epic compositions and a clear taste towards rock opera, with narrated parts, countless choirs and sublime instrumentation made up of 22 tracks, half of which are songs and the rest narrated or instrumental interludes.

John Mayall-USA Union (1970)

In the late 1960s, John Mayall moved to the United States, settling in the idyllic Laurel Canyon, California. His album "Blues From Laurel Canyon" expressed his fascination with the place. Influenced by American music, he soon formed a new band composed entirely of American musicians. Among them were former members of the blues-rock band Canned Heat: Harvey Mandel (guitar) and Larry Taylor (bass). Taylor had previously made a brief guest appearance on Mayall's album "Empty Rooms". Also joining the band was violinist Don "Sugarcane" Harris, who had recently played with Frank Zappa. Earlier, on his live album "Turning Point" (1969), recorded at the legendary Fillmore East in New York, Mayall had dispensed with the drums, a decision that would mark a turning point in his career. This shift towards a low-volume blues style, devoid of the heavy guitars and drums that were so popular at the time, seemed like commercial suicide, to say the least. However, with this album and its predecessor, "Empty Rooms" (1970), Mayall created a clever fusion of Latin rhythms, blues, jazz, and boogie, featuring musicians like guitarist John Mark, saxophonist Johnny Almond, and bassist Stephen Thompson, who complemented Mayall's vocals and harmonies. "USA Union", recorded with the Mayall-Mandel-Taylor-Harris quartet, recaptured the solid sound of jazz-rock with freer, ensemble-driven compositions, where Taylor and Mandel made significant instrumental contributions. Mandel added a rich color to the music with his electric guitar solos, which had a more subtle sound than those played by the band's previous incarnations (Eric Clapton, Peter Green, and Mick Taylor). However, the formula of "Empty Rooms" isn't repeated here. Although the original idea is quite similar, the instruments are slightly different (the violin and the electric guitar taking a more prominent role, replaced by the saxophone and flute), significantly altering the character of the music. Another important point is that all the compositions are highly expressive and interwoven. The typically rhythmic blues track "Crying" is one of the album's most memorable songs, with the violin taking center stage and sounding unlike anything Mayall has ever composed. Meanwhile, the jazzy "The Jazz Off The Road", despite its short duration, is a pleasant, relaxed, and easygoing musical journey. In "Nature's Disappearing", Mayall showcases his harmonica skills, complemented by the equally talented performances of the other instrumentalists. The rest of the tracks maintain an acceptable level within this experiment, which, due to the atypical instrumentation of the lack of drums and wind instruments, created a unique and exciting version of the best blues that John Mayall has ever made, something that is very difficult to affirm after so many great works by the so-called father of white blues.