HOLDING PATTERN - BREAKING THE SILENCE - 2007

Presumably the name Tony Spada and that of his band Holding Pattern will be one of perhaps, heard the name, but that's about as far as it goes. Well it certainly was the case with me until the Breaking The Silence CD landed on the DPRP table a couple of month's back, where, like many instrumental albums they tend to languish a little longer than their vocal counterparts. A pity really as there are many treasures to be found in these non singing releases - and this album proves to be yet another. So if you have a soft spot for progressive rock instrumental albums of the highest calibre then you do your self a favour and check out this latest release from guitarist Tony Spada. And on that "guitar" note and before moving on, I would like to qualify one thing - this is a prog album and not just another guitar instrumental masquerading as prog and sneakily trying to find friends amongst the prog fraternity.

And maybe we should have heard of Holding Pattern as they can trace their origins back to the late 1970s, releasing their self titled, four track, debut album in 1981, followed some ten years later by Majestic. However like many prog acts to emerge in the 80s - times were hard and prog was certainly not the flavour of those times. So barring two solo offerings from Mr Spada we have to wait till 2007 for the next Holding Pattern release. And if I had been waiting, then the wait would certainly have been well worth it, as the nine instrumental tracks on offer here are definitely up my street. And if like me you are a fan of solo Steve Morse and also his work with Dixie Dregs then you will find much to your liking here. Now I'm sure Tony Spada will be somewhat tired of the Morse references, however the similarities in both the materiel and guitar style on Breaking The Silence are striking.

At this point I should also introduce the band, so as not to give the impression that this is purely a solo work. So guitarist Tony Spada is joined by Tony Castellano (bass, keyboards and mellotron), Mark Tannenbaum (keyboards) and Robert Gottfried (drums). Now whilst all the tracks a replete with lush multi-layered guitars, strong themes and blistering "in context" solos, the contributions made by the other three musicians are what makes this album a pleasure to listen to. The rhythm section is tight and fluid and with the inclusion of Mark Tannenbaum on keys the musical palette is somewhat broadened. The title track for instance has a great 7/8 feel bringing perhaps Rush to mind, whilst Tannenbaum's fluid solo has a Pete Barden's air about it. Lifeson & Co also spring to mind during the tricky Fishbulb - here though the keys take on an Emerson-like role. Once As One is certainly solo Morse in all it's glory and the interplay between Spada and Tannenbaum on the jaunty and aptly titled Blaster is certainly worth the admission.

The album concludes with a live cut recorded at the Poseidon Festival (Tokyo) back in 2005. Honor Before Glory opens with a sort of Focus era Jan Akkerman style violining guitar, (but with strings rather than organ providing the chordal background), before moving into a sweet Latimer-esque grandiose solo, (think a more animated version of Ice). I'm not sure if the album really needed this track, especially as the sound is a little grainier here and there are a few intonation problems in the melody line. But I'm sure this is a fan favourite and nice to hear Robert Hutchinson on the kit - great live sound.

Now there is no way, for me, I could get away from the Dregs/Morse influences on Breaking The Silence (not that this is bad thing, far from it), but there is certainly more to Holding Pattern's sound. The music is well written and executed with precision - you certainly get the impression the music has been honed well in advance of the recording. Mentioned in this review are some of the "influences" I detected and certainly if the likes of Happy The Man, Colosseum II, Kansas, Steve Hackett amongst others languish proudly in your collection then perhaps HP should to.

Hopefully my words will have whetted your appetite sufficiently to persuade you to check out Breaking The Silence, however if you still need convincing then perhaps you might want to click the following link and read Menno's recent interview with Tony Spada.

In conclusion it would be nigh on impossible to select any highlights from this CD, such is the quality of the music. So with the album cover by the celebrated artist Paul Whitehead, noted for his work, amongst others, on the early Genesis albums this nicely rounds off what is a neat, enjoyable and recommended package.
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