I.O.U.

I.O.U. is one of Allan Holdsworth's best Jazz-Rock/Fusion albums and features his unique guitar playing in a band setting with bass, drums and vocals. The short Temporary Fault also features piano and violin which make the song a strong candidate for favourite moment on the album.

Jazz-Rock/Fusion is not my preferred type of music and I much prefer Holdsworth's work with Symphonic Prog bands like UK and K2 and also Hard Rock bands like Tempest. However, within the Jazz-Rock/Fusion genre in general, and Allan Holdsworth's discography in particular, I.O.U. is a strong album. Having only one vocalist makes I.O.U. a more consistent album than Metal Fatigue. But there are individual songs on Metal Fatigue that overshadows anything from this album. I give both these albums the same rating.

Holdsworth later made many albums in the same style as this one and unless you are a big fan of his, I.O.U. and Metal Fatigue are the only two of his solo albums you really need.

Letters Of Marquee is the longest track here and it features a drum solo. This should perhaps be the song titled Temporary Fault? However, it does not distract too much even if it is too long for its own good. The album as a whole also tends to drag a little bit towards the end, but overall it is a high quality piece of Jazz-Rock that can appeal to many progressive rock fans.

Good, but non-essential.

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