AGAINST THE CLOCK: THE BEST OF ALLAN HOLDSWORTH

Honestly, this is a great sampling of Allan's muse-driven soul over the decades, his compositional music the channel, his technical finesse the clarity without compare. It is hard to not say this "Best of" release is great because as a long-time fan of Allan, after hearing him stretch on U.K.'s first release and then his slaying me with his Bruford work -- well, every solo outing was just another fusion guitar oasis in the desert of corporate pop rock ennui. This collection offers that long-awaited Japanese version of "Tokyo Dreams" and then two more unreleased tunes -- and Allan's treatment of "Shenandoah" is exquisite, deep soul travel material there -- wow! This will be a great way for many to re-discover a well-kept secret -- the enigma, Allan Holdsworth.