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.