Heavy Machinery (album)

Heavy Machinery is a collaborative studio album by guitarist Allan Holdsworth, keyboardist Jens Johansson and drummer Anders Johansson, released in 1996 through Heptagon Records (Sweden), and on 12 August 1997 through Shrapnel Records (United States) and Pony Canyon (Japan).

Confusingly, on the album's European/US release, "Macrowaves" is made up of complete silence after 2:51, with an additional improvised "filler" keyboard and drum solo by the Johanssons at 23:46. On the Japanese release, "Macrowaves" only comprises the first part as normal without any silence; the silence has instead been moved to the bonus track, "The Moose Are Marching", where it fills the space from 7:59 to 20:45, after which the latter keyboard solo from "Macrowaves" ends the album.

Critical reception
John W. Patterson at AllMusic awarded Heavy Machinery three stars out of five, describing the album as "unforgettable fireworks of furious fusion" and "great jazz-rock fusion". He praised all three musicians for their intense playing, in particular comparing Holdsworth and Jens Johansson's jamming to the duo of guitarist Jeff Beck and keyboardist Jan Hammer, but remarked that the album is "just more intriguing than those Hammer/Beck excursions."

Personnel

 * Allan Holdsworth – guitar, SynthAxe
 * Jens Johansson – keyboard, bass synthesizer, engineering, mixing, production
 * Anders Johansson – drums, production

Technical
 * Nolan Moffitte – engineering
 * Yoram Vazan – engineering
 * Krister Olsson – mastering