"The Best Of Allan Holdsworth: Against The Clock" has just been released by Alternity Records. It's a 2-disc set - The first CD features guitar tracks, the second features Synthaxe tracks and 2 bonus tracks. Alternity also released the recent Riptyde album which also features Holdsworth.
Overall, this is an excellent best-of collection. Against The Clock features tracks from all of Holdsworth's solo releases except the original I.O.U. album and Road Games. The liner notes indicate Holdsworth was unhappy with the lack of creative control on Road Games, and he is currently re-mixing the I.O.U. album, so he did not want to include any of those tracks. Road Games is represented by way of an alternate version of "Tokyo Dream" which was included on the Japanese release of Wardenclyffe Tower. This is one of the highlights of the album for me. Other highlights include the 2 bonus tracks - "Let's Throw Shrimp" (an improv jam with Chad Wackerman and Jimmy Johnson) and "Shenandoah" (Holdsworth's version of the American folk song). Another gem is the Synthaxe tune "Bo Peep" from the out of print Flat Tire album.
The booklet includes some rare photo's, and quotes from John McLaughlin, Pat Metheny, and other great players. I would highly recommend this album to people who are new to Holdsworth's music, but also to existing fans. This is a tremendous collection of music from, arguably, the greatest guitarist ever.
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