Coming on the heels of some rather mediocre efforts, The Sixteen Men of Tain is startlingly superb.
Holdsworth has stripped away the distracting banks of keyboards and allowed his soaring, gliding guitar to shine through in a way it hasn't since the 1980s.
Even the Synthaxe, Holdsworth's signature guitar synthesizer, sounds organic and immediate, not to mention far less prevalent than on previous albums.
Dave Carpenter's acoustic bass is a radical departure (check out his solo on the title track), as are Walt Fowler's two guest appearances on trumpet.
"The Drums Were Yellow," a burning guitar/drum duet tribute to the late Tony Williams, is also a first.
Gary Novak's drumming is appropriately complex and riveting on this and six other tracks.
(Holdsworth's old compatriot Chad Wackerman sits in for "Downside Up.") In short, this album is full of fresh ideas and unadulterated improvisational brilliance -- just when it was beginning to seem that Holdsworth's best work was behind him.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San OnofreAllan Holdsworth | Allan Holdsworth | Play | 05:48 | 13 MB | 37 MB |
| 2 | The Sixteen Men of TainAllan Holdsworth | Allan Holdsworth | Play | 06:27 | 14 MB | 41 MB |
| 3 | The Sixteen Men of TainAllan Holdsworth | Allan Holdsworth | Play | 06:27 | 14 MB | 41 MB |
| 4 | Above and BelowAllan Holdsworth | Allan Holdsworth | Play | 03:08 | 7 MB | 17 MB |
| 5 | The Drums Were YellowAllan Holdsworth, Gary Novak | Allan Holdsworth | Play | 05:59 | 13 MB | 38 MB |
| 6 | TexasAllan Holdsworth | Allan Holdsworth | Play | 05:45 | 13 MB | 37 MB |
| 7 | Downside UpChad Wackerman | Allan Holdsworth | Play | 07:08 | 16 MB | 47 MB |
| 8 | EidolonAllan Holdsworth | Allan Holdsworth | Play | 04:37 | 10 MB | 29 MB |
| 9 | Above and Below (Reprise)Allan Holdsworth | Allan Holdsworth | Play | 04:10 | 9 MB | 19 MB |
| 10 | Material UnrealAllan Holdsworth | Allan Holdsworth | Play | 02:14 | 5 MB | 14 MB |
| 11 | Track00274 | Allan Holdsworth | Play | 07:45 | 17 MB | 47 MB |
| 59 mins | 136 MB | |||||
| 59 mins | 374 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Duncan Aldrich | Engineer, Mixing |
| 2 | Chris Bellman | Mastering |
| 3 | Dave Carpenter | Bass (Acoustic), Bass (Electric), Caricatures |
| 4 | James P. Carse | Liner Notes |
| 5 | Eddie Coralnick | Photography |
| 6 | Walt Fowler | Trumpet |
| 7 | Mark Gleed | Art Direction, Design |
| 8 | Richard Heath | Liner Notes |
| 9 | Allan Holdsworth | Composer, Engineer, Guitar, Mixing, Primary Artist, Producer, Synthaxe |
| 10 | Eddie Jobson | Executive Producer |
| 11 | Gary Novak | Composer, Drums |
| 12 | Kevin Quinn | Art Direction, Design |
| 13 | Shawn Smith | Art Producer |
| 14 | Tom Voli | Executive Producer |
| 15 | Chad Wackerman | Composer, Drums, Guest Artist |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |