Wardenclyffe Tower

Artist: Allan Holdsworth
Label: Restless Records
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 018777253727
EAN: 0018777253727
ASIN: B000003BHI

Release Date: 1993-07-01

Wardenclyffe Tower

Related Categories:

General

| Jazz | Styles | Music

Jazz Fusion

| Jazz | Styles | Music

General

| Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Rock

| Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

General

| Rock Guitarists | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock

| Pop | Styles | Music

Tracks:

5 to 10
Sphere of Innocence
Wardenclyffe Tower
Dodgy Boat
Zarabeth
Against the Clock
Questions
Oneiric Moon

Similar Items:

None Too Soon
Secrets
Sixteen Men of Tain (Spec)
I.O.U.
Atavachron

Customer Reviews:

Again, the Genius At Work.......2007-01-18

It's been years since I've listened to this CD. I am literally brought to tears when I hear Allan's haunting solo on Sphere of Innocence. I cannot fathom where his creativity comes from. It's like trying to figure out where outer space ends and what lay on the other side. It is a complete mystery. His technique is perfect, and as always, NOBODY has better guitar tone than Allan. He is simply one of the Earths gifts.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Allan and the guys.
- Michael

What r u guys Playing ? JAZZ ?? Is that what you call that ?.......2005-03-13

This album is great and it has a very funny moment at the end of the first track:

"Hey !
(sound of toilet flushing)
Hey !
What are you guys Playing ?
JAZZ ??
Is that what you call that ?
I HATE Jazz !!"

I think all Jazz musicians can relate to that !

A Towering Musician.......2005-01-13

Allan' Holdsworth's Wardenclyffe Tower, the follow up to the great Secrets of 1989, a truly inspiring work, falls somewhat flat in that it never reaches new heights or attempts anything beyond those regions already explored. Except for a few surprises, the album lacks any envelop pushing that one expected from Allan in the nineties. Chad Wackerman and Gary Husband, drummers extraordinaire, show their talents on the keys. Husbands accomplished playing was intriguing and can further be enjoyed in his solo efforts.

Naomi Stars vocal's on "Against the Clock" are one of the highlights of this disc. A welcome addition to Allan's group of accomplished guests. Allan plays a slithery synthaxe solo before Vinnie Colaiuta's brief solo over some synth-chord washes.

I wouldn't suggest this album as a starting place to the Holdsworth catalogue, but it is worthy of inclusion to any jazz fan or musician who appreciates the overlooked beauty in modern music.

PS: I purchased the Japanese version of this disc, which features a remake of Allan's classic "Tokyo Dream." With Jimmy Johnson, Chad Wackerman and Gordon Beck on keys, this track is, IMHO, superior to the original from Road Games, and worth the added price of an import. Allan solos with passion and abandon that exceeds the earlier version's more spontaneous attack. The disc also includes part 4 and 5 of "The Unmerry Go Round" from Metal Fatigue. Gordon Beck plays a beautiful solo on part 4. Part 5 sounds like a clip, it has no intro or tag line, merely faded out, back in and out again.

A superb guitar album.......2004-01-11

Allan Holdsworth is a guitar player who has always and will continue to be a tangent away from all the others out there. This album has some beutiful compositions and whilst not all his records stand out, this one certainly is one of his better. But then again, commercialisation has never been his concern. Thats what makes his music so unique.

Giant Heart from a Great Musician.......2003-08-28

Holdsworth is an enigma. He's never really had the talent for writing music with universal appeal-- even the most accessible of his songs seems to fall, either gradually or all-too suddenly, into an other-worldly tangent, far from the beaten path. But interestingly enough, this is exactly what makes him a priceless gift to the seasoned musician who has "heard it all". I am a composer, pianist, and violinist. I've spent years studying not only classical scores but also jazz and world music. The first I heard of Holdsworth was back when I.O.U. was released. It was a breath of fresh air! His approach to jazz-fusion composition and his sense of melody were exotic and wonderful. I've watched him evolve over the years into what could only be described as a consummate guitar virtuoso.

Let's put aside the fact that Holdsworth threw away the acoustic sound nearly 20 years ago-or the fact that he has an unhealthy obsession for horn-like Synthaxe sounds which (let's be honest) make most of the dead, great jazz saxophonists roll over in their grave. It's not the "sound" that makes Holdsworth so great. It's his heart. On Wardenclyffe Tower, though I found myself shaking my head several times at his choice of instrumentation, I was also simultaneously jumping out of my skin at the raw emotions he was baring. A perfect example is in "Zarabeth". For those of you that don't know, Zarabeth is the name of a woman who lived in ancient times. Her story is told in a Star Trek episode as Spock goes back in a time portal and loses his "logic". He grows emotions and falls in love with Zarabeth and, as the story goes, eventually gives her a child. The pain of this story is when Spock must return through the time portal and leave Zarabeth behind, forever separated from her. I've never been a fan of Star Trek, but I can certainly say that "Zarabeth" perfectly captures the emotions of these two lovers. The song begins with a lilting melody supported by rich chordal guitar voicings. There is immediately the sense of a woman in the music, and Holdsworth's solo entrance is clearly the man entering the scene. Throughout the guitar solo in Zarabeth, Holdsworth paints a beautiful, deeply heartfelt picture of a man's feelings for a woman (Zarabeth). There is such a powerful feeling of love when Holdsworth hits the lowest note on his Baritone guitar and builds up from there one of the greatest melodies of his career. For anyone with a well-trained ear (and a wide-open heart), there is clearly more here than clever guitar work-there is all the makings for what will some day be a classic, regardless of what musical category it falls into.

Zarabeth is not the only gem, however, on this album. The next to last track, Questions, written by Chad Wackerman is another excellent example of Holdsworth's sensitivity to rhythm, form, and lyricism, tied together with an enormous amount of heart and feeling. Wardenclyffe Tower is still marred, in my opinion, by improper use of keyboards and Synthaxe. In the album Secrets, Holdsworth uses the Synthaxe to great affect, weaving a supreme extension of "theme and variations" on the title track. In Wardenclyffe Tower, however, it sounds as if he is trying to play a horn like a keyboard (with a guitar). WT's title track, though containing interesting rhythmic ideas, still comes off a little mechanical, losing the organic feeling that was beautifully developed in the previous track "Sphere of Innocence".

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