ALLAN HOLDSWORTH & GORDON BECK: WITH A HEART IN MY SONG

This is more of a Gordon Beck album than an Allan Holdsworth album. The keyboardist wrote five of the seven songs on this album, and his solos tend to be more out front. And that's a good thing, as Holdsworth plays mostly the dreadful Synthaxe throughout the album. I've stated it before on other reviews that his synth patch selection on the instrument is usually terrible. He tends to use mostly, at least in solos, a sound somewhere between a harmonica and a violin. And it makes everything he plays sound sappy. Meanwhile, Beck's keyboards are lively and entertaining throughout.

On a happier note, Holdsworth does come up with some nice sounds backing his guitar on his solo piece, Sundays.

Not bad, but by no means essential.