ROAD GAMES

This is jazz fusion and the foreground instrument is electric guitar. The musicians involved here are virtuosos: Allan HOLDSWORTH on guitars, Jeff Berlin on fretless bass and Chad Wackerman (drummer of Frank ZAPPA in the 80's) on drums. The electric guitar is full of effects, and mainly it consists in swelling the chords with a volume pedal. This effect is more accentuated on his "I.O.U." album. It gives a beautiful modern sound, very atmospheric and dreamy: it almost sound as a keyboard note. But HOLDSWORTH here plays also a more conventional guitar sound, which is never dull. So it is fast or mellow electric guitars through tons of amazing drums and outstanding bass. The ensemble is never simple.

This is a great starting place for anyone wanting to Experience Holdsworth. Eddie Van Halen secured a record deal with Warner Brothers for Allan. After spending nearly twenty years in the WB vaults, Road Games finally made it to CD. This disc features some awesome bass work from Jeff Berlin, "Water on the Brain" sizzles. Jack Bruce, Cream, guests on two tracks. Chad Wackerman, former Zappa drummer, turns in a stellar performance. The star of this show, however, is Allan's pyrotechic guitar work. "Tokyo Dream" and "Three Sheets to the Wind" are firestorms of blazing fretboard magic, twists, dips, chills and pure excitement. An amazing statement from one amazing guitarist.

I was familiar with Holdsworth in Machine and UK and Tempest and thought of him as a super guitarist but had never listened to his solo stuff. I recently heard this one but with a different cover and chose that one because otf the guests J Bruce and P Williams. Alas , deception was around the corner because this was rather unexpected calm fusion all melted into some sort of soup. I fast forwarded throughout the whole album and never found a great momentbut not finding it displeasing . Had this album come out on the great German label ECM, this would have been apropriate , but I would still prefer Pat Metheny, John Surman , Terje Rypdal or Steve Tibbetts. I am not condemning Holdsworth and maybe i fell onto a weaker album.

Allan Holdsworth has been everywhere; starting his career at young age, from Tempest to Tony Williams' Lifetime, Gong, Jean-Luc Ponty, Gordon Beck, Jack Bruce, Bill Bruford, UK and Soft Machine. I was not quite sure when I herd his guitar playing at first time - it's probably when he joined Bill Bruford with "One of A Kind" album. For sure, after that I chased whatever album he contributed as I really like his guitar playing style. In the mid- 1970s, he began showing some solo albums with "Velvet Darkness", "I.O.U" and "Road Games".

"Road Games" is an album that characterizes the music of Allan Holdsworth. The music style is slightly different with his contribution with other musician's albums or bands he contributed to. In here I can see the combination between soft guitar work that sounds like a keyboard and nice riffs. Some tracks featured here show the jazz-rock fusion style and some of tracks like "Road Games" blend the jazz-rock music with classic rock style - it's a bit odd but it's nice. The bass guitar player for this album is no stranger at all: Jeff Berlin who also collaborated with Bill Bruford's early albums. To me personally, enjoying this kind of music is good for a change - especially when I want to hear how the music turns from simple fusion to a complex arrangement with dynamic drumming by Chad Wackerman during transition.

If you love jazz-rock fusion music or you like varieties of guitar styles, you may enjoy this album. Composition-wise, this is an album with neat arrangement and good songwriting. Each individual song forms the album in cohesive way. Keep on proggin' .!

Forget guitar heroes! Forget prog-rock! Forget fusion or jazz-rock! "Road Games" (as well as "I.O.U.", "Metal Fatigue" or "Secrets") is something DIFFERENT. No one plays guitar like Allan Holdsworth. OK, you may listen to some tapping or guitar-races by other guitar heroes, but Holdsworth has done something really special. His intention when he was young was to play guitar like a saxophone. Well, some of his phrases may sound as John Coltrane, but, I insist, Holdsworth in some of his earlier (and clearly best) works showed music that no one else was doing. Some traces can be found in the first UK and Bruford albums, but Holdsworth went beyond, exploring a new landscape and helped by some fusion musicians. Yes, there is something that relates this music to fusion or jazz-rock, but I believe that one may enjoy this music without beig a jazz fan (although it helps). And vice- versa, a jazz-fan may not like Holdsworth music... Fusion is not even a proper word for this kind of music. In less than 25 minutes "Road Games" takes you to an exciting and wonderful trip full of musicianship (and melody: there are some tracks with vocals), but avoiding some of the "masturbation" that features on a lot of fusion records. Discover a true genius!

Road Games is comprised of what could be thought of as a 'supergroup', with veteran bassist Jeff Berlin providing his unshakable foundation to Allan Holdsworth's confounding music, Jack Bruce and Paul Williams on various vocals, and the great Chad Wackerman drumming. This is also one of Holdsworth's quieter offerings with lots of bright light generally not found on his other albums and though rhythmically intricate, it isn't as eager to impress or exhibit. Consequently, the impact is gentler and understated, making Road Games one of this extraordinary player's most unique sets. And hats off to Eddie Van Halen for his pull with Warner in getting this released, a project that likely would not have had support from a major label. The full album appears to remain unfinished though the original EP was Grammy nominated for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. Holdsworth's tactile influence on Mr. Van Halen has always been evident (especially when hearing this record), and it was a fitting toast to a Grand Master.

He had not begun recording with a synthaxe yet, and the feathery quality of these cuts is contrasted by Allan's sharp-edged lead guitar with very few layers, extras or unnecessary effects, just clean and pure expressions of his special gift. As a young man, he had been a saxophonist enthralled by Coltrane and others, and that deep connection to the sax comes through in a way that must be heard to fully appreciate. The contemplative 'Three Sheets to the Wind' with its chordal swells reaches a fat solo packed with this player's fluid and furious pattern-making.

Former Tempest colleague Paul Williams handles the singing on the title track which features Holdsworth's own closed-voice chords and a squealing lead. 'Water On the Brain Pt. ll' just rocks, another little structural wonder of rhythmics with a nearly-perfect bass solo from Jeff Berlin and 'Tokyo Dream', though a bit frivolous, is pleasant enough and is rescued by another cutting guitar performance. Finally, Jack Bruce is up on voice for the halcyon 'Was There?' and two blistering but brief noodles from Allan, as well as the dreamy 'Material Real'. Looking back, this was one of A.H.'s more interesting and revealing sessions, and one of his very best for soloing.

Road Games may very well be my favorite album that is 24 minutes long. I can't think of another album in my collection around that length (though Wikipedia classifies this as an EP), so I suppose it wins by default.

Allan has assembled quite a lineup with Jeff Berlin on bass and Chad Wackerman on drums. IOU vocalist Paul Williams returns for one song, and Allan somehow even managed to get Cream's Jack Bruce to sing on a few songs. Holdsworth and Berlin previously played together in Bill Bruford's band, which explains how well the two gel together on this album. Wackerman steps in as if he too had been playing with them for years.

Bringing Jack Bruce in to sing "Was There" and "Material Real" was a nice touch, but when you compare the vocals on these songs to those done by Williams in "Road Games", it makes you wonder why they didn't have Bruce record all the vocals for this album. Besides my issues with the vocals, "Road Games" is a good song built around an unusual sounding guitar riff. Out of these three tracks, my favorite is "Material Real".

"Water on The Brain- Pt. 2" is highlighted by Jeff Berlin's fantastic fretwork via a lengthy bass solo, but I prefer the structure of the album's other instrumentals "Three Sheets To The Wind" and "Tokyo Dream". While my two preferred instrumentals are lower in tempo than "Water", Allan's guitar playing has more beauty in them and the compositions are more melodically interesting. I forget where I've heard it before, but I've heard "Water" with vocals (Paul Williams), and prefer it to this instrumental version.

Regardless of its shortcomings in some areas, Road Games is a 4-star album. If only it was a bit longer.

𝗚𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗿 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗶𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀

Yes yes I know, the title for this review can literally be put on every Holdsworth release. However, this is an EP so I have to give a bit more to explain my case. Anyways, the music is nothing completely different from what we heard on I.O.U, but it's got it's own flavor. The feel and emotion of this release would later be continued on the next release entitled 'Metal Fatigue'. I.O.U and Metal Fatigue might be great releases, but they are definitely different in terms of a song writing style, sound, production, and choice of elements used on each album. I.O.U had more of a traditional jazz writing style, where Metal Fatigue had an 80s Jazz Fusion style mixed with that Holdsworth genius we all know and love. This was just a taste of what Metal Fatigue would offer, so this has its style. In all honesty, Metal Fatigue could've been a longer album, or a double discer with the tracks found on here, and it would've been amazing still. Overall, the playing is immaculate, the chord structure and design is absolute genius, and the vocals are actually really good here.

Conclusion: This EP was the beginning of a new sound for Holdsworth. The more modern Jazz Fusion approach would end up improving his sound, and improving him as a writer and guitarist. Overall, this EP is great and I think that you can guess how similar my review of Metal Fatigue will be to this one.

Short but sweet . . . This 24:17 length re-release, never before on CD, 80's era solo effort originally appeared as an EP, (extended play), vinyl release. It is a unique mix of great vocals with a more rocking, bluesy jazzy, quasi- mainstream, song-themed, balladic thrust. This release showcases Holdsworth playing less "out there". Don't get me wrong -- the guitar is amazing, multi-voiced, fusion-fired, ethereally chorded, delightfully crystalline-clear-note flourished, and swooningly embellished. Then add in the vocals of Jack Bruce for that "Cream" flashback or the I.O.U. band feel of Paul Williams' crooning, back-to-back with killer bass by Berlin and tastefully poised drums by Wackerman and you have fusion-rock bliss.

Holdsworth addicts have waited a very long time for this to appear on CD format. So go for it. I was glad to see it happen but I bet many out there already had this on vinyl-to-CD-R copies at home. I did. Time to get the real deal folks. It sounds great all over again. Original album cover graphics and notes are included.