“This one really is a drumming album. Pretty much every drummer I know would have it on their list of desert island discs. I had heard Vinnie Colaiuta play on Frank Zappa’s Joe’s Garage, which really impressed me, and on some pop albums in the ‘80s with Nik Kershaw and Joni Mitchell. Then, out of nowhere, I heard him on this record, and it was like the same experience I had with Crawl Space: it was a whole new language he was using.

“It wasn’t so much tempo information he was playing; it was like John Coltrane on a saxophone. He was playing with wild abandon, although, in fact, it was all incredibly accurate.

“When I heard it, I thought, All right. No matter how way-out any of my ideas might be, they pale in comparison to what Vinnie Colaiuta is doing on this record. This is another world. It made me realize that I had to reach a lot further. It was such a kick in the ass. The way he was playing in 1989 was miles ahead of anyone else; it was like 30 years into the future.

“I still haven’t heard anybody play like this. Allan Holdsworth’s music can be quite quirky and odd, and Vinnie Colaiuta’s drumming makes some sort of beautiful madness sense out of it all. In fact, I seldom get past the first song, which is called City Nights. It’s so intense – there’s a lifetime of drumming in it. Normally, I’m worn out by the end of it, and I have to go and lie down.”