Jeff Watson/Allan Holdsworth - Forest of Feeling

[johnnyrocksable]

They both sounded great on this cut. Allan due to his high level of creativity was always 2nd guessing his work at a later date. He hated lyrics in his songs but the producers wanted it to sell more albums. I read in an article that Allan once said he hated the sound of the guitar and would never play one again. I think they are 2 very talented guitarists. One more than the other. One day when Allan is gone people will look back and be glad this recording was made.

[stefanakisguitar]

boring. boring. boring

[ShredReviews]

@stefanakisguitar

Better than badly-executed classic rock clichés :)

[stefanakisguitar]

@ShredReviews yes, you're absolutely right. Please note I didn't say that the man is bad.

[jimmessina]

that intro sound exactly like van halen's Top Jimmy

[pebberbrown]

Holdsworth has a much wider and deeper pallette of notes he can use and color a solo than ANY metal shred guy - way more patterns (and some of them are very very different and difficult for ANY guitar player to play) - Its like doing a math test on SPOCK - you have no idea how far his actual knowledge and skill go!!! AT least Jeff Watson got him to do it! Thats pretty cool of Allan to agree to it - maybe he likes Watson.

[CallistoAshus]

Holdsworth's playing is really strange here... which makes it more typical

[russdan22]

He is the best!!!

[SweeetPicker]

Jeff Watson Unicorn attack !

[YngtchieMusic]

This recording makes Allan sound human. And not in a good way.

[osobnipodaci]

no matter what, this song is more amazing every time i hear it

[Combat110]

That is the gayest album cover ever.

[MoRsE2000]

@Combat110: It could have been a unicorn with a rainbow trailing

[arroyomusic]

@Combat110 Lol!

[dragondix]

AWESOME!!!!!!

[vgraham44]

I don't give a lucky shit what anyone says,Including allan, who I personnally asked about this collaboration & he practically crinched, I think they both smoke on this, & it sounds ahelluva lot more coherent than that jam with Eddie Van Halen he did.I'll be hanging out with Al again this Sept,2 nites @ the Turning Point, were I get to roadie for him & play his guitar, again. Imagine playing guitar in front of the master & impressing him? I'm psyched.

[partlyshady]

With album art like that, you know that your group of potential buyers is relatively small. Great music though, a bit too shreddy for me however.

[depedro99]

@partlyshady You're right. the only people that are going to pick up this album are the people familiar with it or Jeff. The title's alright, kinda' clever, but the drawing is pure cheese!

[dragondix]

@partlyshady lol classic...

[Ireg2post1]

I was actually fortunate enough to see him and his new Lone Ranger outfit play at The Boardwalk in Orangevale CA back in '92 when this album first came out. I remember Jeff was sitting on a stool by the door as people came in. He was very humble and gracious. I shook his hand and told him I really liked his guitar playing. I wish their was video of it. It was phenomenal. Carmine Appice was on drums, I don't remember who was on bass. They did a mix of new and old stuff.

[CherokeeMusic]

On Allan's website, he says he regretted recording this. I can see why. I like Jeff Watson, but Holdsworth's playing reflects how. . . 'not at home' he felt. Not that it doesn't sound good. . . He probably didn't want people calling him a shredder. This is just like Eric Johnson performing on John 5's last album. Weird.

[MercutioUK2006]

Absolutely!

Jeff's production didn't seem to help and this isn't the best collaboration with a shredder Allan ever made.

[SevenCircles]

@CherokeeMusic

Sounds great to me but I think a lot of Allan´s albums are too jazzy.

[janderson2000]

Jeff...you lose

[VictorGuilherme]

Does anybody know what's Jeff Watson doing right now? I mean, he quit Night Ranger... And then?

[darkknight91]

Actually, he was fired along with Fitz. The 3 remaining members did it so they could get hired guns and make more money for themselves. Then they go around the country trying to sell it off as Night Ranger. Lame.

[MercutioUK2006]

Ach, that's not good. I know he's been doing some renovations at his home studio and a few acoustic gigs so at least he's making the most of his career.

[VictorGuilherme]

I see... What about Mother's Army? The project's dead for good?

[VictorGuilherme]

I didn't know he was fired... I just know that they toured with Reb Beach in his place for a while (who's also a great guitarist, but not as good as Watson).

[darkknight91]

About a year ago he had it posted on his website that he was fired. I saw them a few years ago and it was the 5 original members. I met Jeff, Brad and Fitz. The other 2 wouldn't come off the bus to meet the fans even at Jeff's beckoning. I didn't really give a crap about those 2 anyway. The three of them signed my guitar magazines with Jeff and Brad covers I had since the 80's. Jeff seemed to be the coolest one. Fitz didn't say much. Brad was ok.

[MercutioUK2006]

I have heard that Jeff is the most down to earth of the lot (which is nice) but I haven't got time for musicians who won't even walk 10 yards to say hello to fans.....

[darkknight91]

I was standing across the street from where the band came. When I saw Jeff I slowly approached him without saying a word holding my magazines up. The guard tried to hold me back and Jeff shouted out "hey, I'll sign them". Then Brad came out and he was nice too. Took pictures with them and they were really cool. Keep in mind, this isn't the first time Brad and the gang toured without the original guys. I just think it's an insult when they tour with hired guns and pass it off as the original.

[MercutioUK2006]

That sounds like an awesome experience dude - I'm quite jealous :)

To address your last point - yeah, I agree that touring without the original ine-up is just blatantly an effort to make money without integrity and that does annoy me.

Such is life I guess.

[giantrobot9000]

Also my favorite track on the album, mostly because of Holdsworth's contribution. He just tears into the solo like usual, but this time the backing is a little more "standard" so the effect is pretty awesome, hearing him playing over that kind of stuff. Watson himself is a beast, and this album is an underrated classic, in my opinion. Definitely one of the best rock guitar instrumental albums of that era.

Still trying to nail the Don't Tell Me You Love Me lick at his speed. Damn.

[MercutioUK2006]

Absolutely Sir :)

Jeff is such an great player and for someone with the track record he's had there's suprisingly little out there in terms of hard information on his style. I think that the contrasts between himself and Allan are quite stark and that really does add a depth to the track without descending into a competition.

I'm trying to track down "Rodo Lana" (Play that funky music) which was another collaboration of theirs.

[JebadiahCornbread]

This was my favorite song. I didn't realize Alan was on this. This is one of the best guitar albums that I bought thinking it would be just "ok" but ended up great. Another one that is a lot like this is CPR, it also has some good guests and the songs are really good like this album.

[macbethify]

Hi. I've been looking for this song since the great hard drive crash of '03 (my hard drive that is). Would have loved to be a fly on the wall of the studio while they were recording this one. Is there perhaps some footage?

[MercutioUK2006]

Not that I'm aware of - I think there's a couple of photographs on Jeff's site but no videos sadly. Jeff isn't the most well-documented of players....:(

[MercutioUK2006]

Glad you like it - and yes, the contrast leads Allan to wander really outside at times in order to match the intensity of Jeff's picking licks. Very cool :)

[pythonflying]

nice, this was also also featured on Guitar On The Edge vol1 1992 compilation CD put out by Mark Varney. It's a cool contrast with both styles of interplay.