I guess he's most likely to be called a jazz fusion guitarist but his music doesn't fit as comfortably in that genre as someone like McLaughlin. He also played guitar like instruments that weren't exactly guitars. Chula can obviously improve on this but he's one of those guys that no matter what you think of his music aesthetically his skill and technique are mind blowing. And I'm not calling the aesthetics of his music into question I'm just trying answer your question.

Fair enough.

Thanks Occult for the nod.

This guy is simply one of, if not THE, most influencial electric guitarists since Hendrix. And that's just touching on rock. He's a legend in pretty much all other electric genres too. Eddie Van Halen idolized him so much that he demanded that Warner Brothers give him a record deal.

The number of tributes from his peers pouring out in the last few days says it all.

Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Others Pay Tribute to Allan Holdsworth | Guitar World

I really don't want to sound condescending, but this is going to fly over a lot heads here.

Maybe so. It's actually a lot easier for me to see what's so jaw dropping about Steve Morse and Al Di Meola, for example.

That's because they use traditional scales. I've seen DiMeola, Morse, and Holdsworth each, live a number of times.

I can get within a few inches of DiMeola and Morse.

I can't get within a mile of Allan.

That YouTube is metal fatigue?

What one album is the most mind blowing?

Actually he was best when he wasn't writing the songs. Bruford's "One of a Kind" is going to crush your skull.

What does this mean: "fly over a lot [of] heads"?

This is the album with Mrs. Brian Eno on it. :D

I've heard that record.

Are saying what he does there is way beyond McLaughlin on Birds of Fire or Steve Howe on Topographic Oceans?