JETHRO TULL - Today Is The One Day I Would Change For A Monday

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THIS WAS

Released: 25th October 1968

This Was is the debut studio album by the British rock band Jethro Tull, released in October 1968. Recorded at a cost of £1200, it is the only Jethro Tull album with guitarist Mick Abrahams, who was a major influence for the sound and music style of the band's first songs. When the album was released the band were performing regularly at the Marquee Club in London, where other successful British groups, such as the Rolling Stones and the Who, had started their careers.[1]

Compared to the band's later discography, This Was contains significant blues rock and jazz fusion influences, owing to Abrahams' songwriting and playing style. The band would soon begin to abandon much of these influences upon Abrahams' departure after the release of the album, starting with follow up album Stand Up (1969).

From Wikipedia

Side 1

My Sunday Feeling

Some Day The Sun Won't Shine For You

Beggar's Farm

Move On Alone

Serenade To A Cuckoo

Side 2

Dharma For One

It's Breaking Me Up

Cat's Squirrel

A Song For Jeffrey

Round

I've spent the last few weeks dissecting the musical partnership of Lennon and McCartney (albeit with a level of knowledge and insight of a meat cleaver). They spent 7 glorious years developing their musical differences. Jethro Tull, however, and the partnership of Ian Anderson and Mick Abrahams, got it all sorted out over the course of their first album, after which Anderson ploughed on with the name and a brand of folk-rock, while Abrahams pursued the blues with Blodwyn Pig who fizzled out after two albums. I'm fairly confident that the musical progression that the Beatles made in their 7 years of studio recording will far outstrip Tull's development over the last 40, although I might be surprised.

You can already hear the schism in this first album. Anderson's flute lends a unique sound which anglicizes the standard blues structures. Also Anderson's characteristic rolling burr of a voice is there from the start. Having heard a lot of interviews with him I would swear he was from the west country, but apparently he was born in the Kingdom of Fife and schooled in Lancashire. Of course the fact that this example of a British rock dinosaur started out as a blues band should surprise precisely no-one, since this was the approved path for anyone who was going to last into the seventies and beyond. Tull mess around with jazz as well and there is quite a lot of purely instrumental stuff on here, although the first few tracks have vocals, including Anderson grunting and groaning through his flute on 'Beggar's Farm' and Abrahams on 'Move On Alone'.

Allegedly Anderson had only been playing the flute for a few months prior to this album, but his performance on 'Serenade To A Cuckoo' is pretty good. Probably his practice piece. It's a jazz standard and has the feel of Pink Panther-era Henry Mancini about it. Having no formal training means that he gets far more out of the flute than you'd expect. Things get heftier on 'Cat's Squirrel'. The Spotify version has some nice extra BBC sessions tracks. I find the cover a bit baffling, it has the feel of a renaissance painting, but Anderson assumes the form of a hobbity Noddy Holder in a canine sea. There's lots of facial hair, some odd hats and colourful weskets.

STAND UP

Released: 25th July 1969

Stand Up, released in 1969, is the second studio album by British rock band Jethro Tull. It was the first Jethro Tull album to feature guitarist Martin Barre, who would go on to become the band's longtime guitarist until its initial dissolution in 2011. Before recording sessions for the album began, the band's original guitarist Mick Abrahams departed from the band as a result of musical differences with frontman and primary songwriter Ian Anderson; Abrahams wanted to stay with the blues rock sound of their 1968 debut, This Was, while Anderson wished to add other musical influences such as folk rock.[2]

As a result of Abrahams' departure, Anderson was the sole songwriter on all of the album's tracks, with the exception of the jazz fusion cover of J.S. Bach's Bourrée in E minor. Anderson's songwriting sees the album shift musically away from the blues rock of This Was, instead favoring more layered and poignant songs drawing influences from folk artists such as Roy Harper, Pentangle and Bert Jansch. However, the album does retain some blues rock influences on tracks such as side openers "A New Day Yesterday" and "Nothing Is Easy".

From Wikipedia

 

Side 1

A New Day Yesterday

Jeffrey Goes To Leicester Square

Bouree

Back To The Family

Look Into The Sun

Side 2

Nothing Is Easy

Fat Man

We Used To Know

Reasons For Waiting

For A Thousand Mothers

One of my goals with these posts is to answer some of the questions that I've always had about music I love, but have never been bothered to investigate. So Stand Up, sends me to the intellectual scratching post that is the internet to relive the itch of "What is a bourée?". My guess would have been some exotic dish, probably prepared in a pestle and mortar, but it is much simpler than that, it is a gavotte-like dance and Anderson's instrumental here is a version of Bach's E Minor Bourée which was originally written for the lute. It's quite telling that Anderson was openly taking inspiration from classical music and traditional instruments. His version on the flute is compelling, and he's unafraid to improvise a rock song out of it.

For this album Abrahams had been replaced by Martin Barre, who carried on throughout the rest of Tull's career. I was going to claim that that made This Was something of a false start, and maybe this is the first Jethro Tull Album, but This Was is a good album and tells you lots about where Anderson was coming from. The blues framework is now overlaid with lots of heavier rock sounds. I think the thing that grabbed me about Jethro Tull when I first heard them was that they seemed to define that time on the cusp of the sixties and seventies better than anyone else. I'm of an age where I was a very small child at that time, so my memory and experience of what was going on in the world was drawn in very broad strokes. Hearing 'Folk rock' later in life pushed buttons for me and evoked shabby young men with beards, pottery, macramé and brown décor, which is what the late sixties and early seventies in Britain was all about wasn't it?

Jethro Tull always had a ribaldry about them too. Here it's 'Fat Man', which today would probably be banned, or at least cause a minor twitterstorm (which is worse) for being insensitive to the obese. Anderson's view is that fat men are stereotyped as being "just good fun" and are not able to get a woman, he'd rather be a thin man thanks. It's a great song and even The Beatles could have learned something about effective use of Indian instruments in a rock context.

Spotify includes 'Sweet Dream' (and loads more) which was a single but not on the album and carries a fair amount of menace. The artwork on this is great too. It looks like it has been drawn by Maurice Sendak and was indeed intended to have the look of a children's book, with some kind of complex pop-up arrangement going on I believe (so that the band would 'Stand Up'). Also, another one that could be coloured in during a boring Webex meeting on a Wednesday afternoon.

BENEFIT

Released: 20th April 1970

Benefit is the third studio album by the British rock band Jethro Tull, released in April 1970. It was the first Tull album to include pianist and organist John Evan – though he was not yet considered a permanent member of the group – and the last to include bass guitarist Glenn Cornick, who was fired from the band upon completion of touring for the album. It was recorded at Morgan Studios, the same studio where the band recorded its previous album Stand Up; however, they experimented with more advanced recording techniques.[2]

Frontman Ian Anderson said that he considers Benefit to be a much darker album than Stand Up, owing to the pressures of an extensive U.S. tour and frustration with the music business.[3]

From Wikipedia

 

Side 1

With You There To Help Me

Nothing To Say

Alive And Well And Living In

Son

For Michael Collins, Jeffrey and Me

Side 2

To Cry You A Song

A Time For Everything

Inside

A Play In Time

Sossity You're a Woman

I had this all those years ago (it always seemed to be going for a low price), but I hardly listened to it. It ain't particularly easy, but the mellowing effects of time have made me more tolerant and having listened to it over the past week, I can now appreciate it for being a quietly masterful album. It isn't what you'd call pacey, and Tull could go at it hammer and tongs if they wanted to. Anderson's vocals are measured and almost monastic in places. Barre's guitar is often fuzzy and sometimes he rocks out like a good 'un.

The first three albums all contain song titles that refer to 'Jeffrey' ('Song For Jeffrey', 'Jeffrey Goes To Leicester Square' and 'For Michael Collins, Jeffrey and Me'), but the titular Jeffrey Hammond actually joined the band in 1971 as bassist. Here that instrument is handled by Glenn Cornick and all you devotees of the four thick strings would do well to listen to what is going on in the background of 'Inside'. There is some mucking around with playing instruments backwards on 'Play In Time' which I could have done without. Extras on Spotify include singles 'Witches Promise' and 'Teacher'. I don't like the artwork, it's dull and you can't really make the band out especially on the tiny cassette version I had.

AQUALUNG

Released 19th March 1971

Aqualung is the fourth studio album by the English rock band Jethro Tull; it was released in March 1971 by Chrysalis Records. Though it is generally regarded as a concept album, featuring a central theme of "the distinction between religion and God", the band said that there was no intention to make a concept album, and that only a few songs have a unifying theme.[4] Aqualung's success signalled a turning point in the career of the band, which went on to become a major radio and touring act.

Recorded at Island Records' new recording studio in Basing Street, London, it was their first album with keyboardist John Evan as a full-time member, their first with new bassist Jeffrey Hammond, and last album featuring Clive Bunker on drums, who left the band shortly after the release of the album. The album utilises more acoustic material than previous releases; and—inspired by photographs of homeless people on the Thames Embankment taken by singer Ian Anderson's wife Jennie Franks—contains a number of recurring themes, addressing religion along with Anderson's own personal experiences.

From Wikipedia

Side 1

Aqualung

Cross-Eyed Mary

Cheap Day Return

Mother Goose

Wond'ring Aloud

Up To Me

Side 2

My God

Hymn 43

Slipstream

Locomotive Breath

Wind-Up

Jethro Tull vehemently deny that this is a concept album, so, as a public service let me offer some pointers to any bands starting out as to how to avoid this kind of confusion.

1. Do not include references to characters that appear in more than one song.

2. Do not have those characters interacting with each other

3. Do not give titles to each side of your album, this can be misconstrued as an indication that there is an underlying theme.

4. Do not thematically link the songs on each side so that they reinforce the misapprehension that the listener might suffer from point 3.

5. Do not ply your trade in the early seventies when concept albums were the done thing (admittedly this is quite an easy one to avoid in 2016).

6. Do not follow up your album with another one which does all of these things again and which you say is a parody of a concept album.

By following these simple steps, embarrassment can be easily avoided. Unfortunately JT make every one of these schoolboy errors. However, why they should disown the CA tag is beyond me. Is it a kind of inverted snobbery on Anderson's part - "We're not up ourselves like everyone else"? Even if it wasn't intended, there's no shame in admitting that you wanted a degree of coherence to feature in the album as a whole is there?

One thing that sets Tull apart from their contemporaries is an earthiness bordering on the obscene. The title track itself is a tale of a rather unsavoury down-and-out and is followed by 'Cross-Eyed Mary' about a schoolgirl prostitute. Later on 'Locomotive Breath' pulls no punches as the deconstruction of a man's life is told through the metaphor of a runaway train. They also do a nice line in whimsical balladry with 'Slipstream', 'Mother Goose' and 'Wond'ring Aloud'. Musically I'd say that the Anderson's flute makes way for Barre's guitar, which, despite being Tull's USP, is a good thing, and Anderson still manages to fit in a good blow on 'My God'. The chuggy guitar scratching on 'Hymn 43' is particularly good.

THICK AS A BRICK

Released: 3rd March 1972

Thick as a Brick is the fifth studio album by the British rock band Jethro Tull, released on 3 March 1972. The album contains one continuous piece of music, split over two sides of an LP record, and is intended as a parody of the concept album genre. The original packaging, designed as a 12-page newspaper, claims the album to be a musical adaptation of an epic poem by fictional eight-year-old genius Gerald Bostock, though the lyrics were actually written by the band's frontman, Ian Anderson.

The album was recorded in late 1971, featuring music composed by Anderson and arranged with the contribution of all band members. The album was the band's first to include drummer Barrie "Barriemore" Barlow, replacing the band's previous drummer Clive Bunker. The live show promoting the album included the playing of the full suite, with various comic interludes. Thick as a Brick is considered by critics to be the first Jethro Tull release to entirely consist of progressive rock music. It received mixed reviews upon its release, but was a commercial success and topped various charts in 1972. Today it is regarded as a classic of progressive rock, and has received several accolades. Anderson produced a follow-up to the album in 2012, focusing on the adult life of the fictional Gerald Bostock, and being released as Anderson's solo album instead of as Jethro Tull's album.

From Wikipedia

 

SIde 1

Thick as a Brick

Really Don't Mind/See There a Son Is Born

The Poet and the Painter

What Do You Do When the Old Man's Gone?/From the Upper Class

You Curl Your Toes in Fun/Childhood Heroes/Stabs Instrumental

Side 2

Thick as a Brick

See There a Man Is Born/Clear White Circles

Legends and Believe in the Day

Tales of Your Life

Childhood Heroes Reprise

Stung by criticism that Aqualung seemed to be about something, Anderson and company decide to make an intentional concept album as a kind of parody. In interviews he suggests that he was tapping into surreal, British humor of the Monty Python kind. If so, then rather like Shakespeare, the jokes are sometimes quite hard to spot. The underlying idea is that the lyrics are written by an 8 year old prodigy, Gerald Bostock. The album also consists of just one song, which, due to the technological constraints of the time (2 sided LPs) is split into Part 1 and Part 2. Tull's big mistake? They made it all too good. The lyrics are both fatuous and profound, the music is inventive and compelling and the production is really pretty groundbreaking. The 'concept' is so adaptable, that they don't really need to establish any real themes at all. Anderson has returned to Bostock twice in recent solo projects 'Thick As A Brick 2' and 'Homo Erraticus' (I was going to cover his solo albums as part of the whole JT canon, but there are enough to justify a separate posting) although I was surprised to hear snippets that turned up in very similar form in 1987's Crest Of A Knave. On that album, the song 'Mountain Men' contains the line "The poacher and his daughter throw soft shadows on the water in the night" whereas TAAB contains "The poet and the painter casting shadows on the water" sung to the same melody in each. The reference in the later song must have been intentional, but it is difficult to find any discussion of why the link is there on the internet. Wikipedia constantly refers to Jethro Tull as a progressive rock band. I'm inclined to disagree, but they do give it some musical complexity here with the keyboard breaks in particular reminding me of Tony Banks in same-era Genesis. In addition, Anderson uses overlaid vocals to produce a more echoey, choral effect, and the transitions from muddy to sparkling sound clarity is sometimes startling.

Of course, back in those days, album packaging ruses were all the rage. Zips, scratch n' sniff, rotating discs under the outer cover, anything went. Jethro Tull have always been quite good on packaging, particularly early on, but this took  the form of a full blown newspaper,"The St Cleve Chronicle and Linwell Advertiser" wrapped around it with full coverage of Bostock and his controversial entry into a local poetry competition.

A PASSION PLAY

Released: 13th July 1973

A Passion Play is the sixth studio album by British progressive rock band Jethro Tull, released in July 1973 in both the UK and US. Following in the same style as the band's previous album Thick as a Brick (1972), A Passion Play is a concept album comprising individual songs arranged into a single continuous piece of music (which was split into two parts across the original vinyl release's two sides). The album's concept follows the spiritual journey of a recently deceased man (Ronnie Pilgrim) in the afterlife, exploring themes of morality, religion and good and evil. The album's accompanying tour was considered the high water mark of Jethro Tull's elaborate stage productions, involving a full performance of the album accompanied by physical props, sketches and projected video.[3]

A Passion Play was negatively received by critics upon its initial release. However, the album was a commercial success, becoming Jethro Tull's second number one album in the United States. The album has since received a more positive critical reassessment.[4][5]

From Wikipedia

 

Side 1

Act 1 - Ronnie Pilgrim's Funeral

Act 2 - The Memory Bank

Side 2

Interlude - The Story Of The Hare Who Lost His Spectacles

Act 3 - The Business Office of G Oddie and Son

Act 4 - Magus Perde's Drawing Room At Midnight

It's great, apart from a monumentally poor artistic decision halfway through. If you've heard it I hope you will realize that I am referring to 'The Story Of The Hare That Lost His Spectacles'. Let's get that out of the way first. Bassist Jeffrey Hammond narrates in a kind of mannered uber-Alan Bennett voice. The tale is vaguely Winnie the Pooh (Owl and Kangaroo feature), vaguely Alice in Wonderland and vaguely Beatrix Potter. Hammond pronounces it "Speck-tack-kulls" and it is possibly the worst thing I've yet heard when creating these posts. Which is a shame, because the rest of it could challenge The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway for scope and ambition.

If Tull reckoned that Aqualung was just a collection of songs, and Thick As A Brick was a piss-taking response to the reception that Aqualung got, then A Passion Play sees them wholeheartedly embracing their status as the conceptualists-du-jour. Just like Lamb, the story is a journey through a fantastical world, this time the afterlife of Ronnie Pilgrim. He takes in heaven and hell and finds neither to his taste. For me the highlight of the album is the confrontation with Lucifer "the overseer of the year". From the grunts like someone has punched Anderson in the solar plexus to the coruscating organ chords, 'Overseer Overture' could be the best thing they ever did - and I happen to believe that they achieved some fairly remarkable stuff over the years.

The cover on this one always put me off. I still can't quite figure it out. It's a monochrome picture of a prostrate ballerina in a theatre right? It looked like a classical album, which can daunt a young man.

WAR CHILD

Released: 14th October 1974

War Child is the seventh studio album by Jethro Tull, released in October 1974. It was released almost a year and a half after the release of A Passion Play. The turmoil over criticism of the previous album surrounded the production of War Child, which obliged the band to do press conferences and explain their plans for the future.[3][4][5]

The band began recording songs for the album on 7 December 1973, starting with "Ladies". They recorded "The Third Hoorah" along with the outtake "Paradise Steakhouse" on 8 December, "War Child" and "Back-Door Angels" along with the outtake "Saturation" on 16 December, the sound effects from "Bungle in the Jungle", "Ladies", "Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day" and "The Third Hoorah" along with the outtake "Good Godmother" and the orchestral piece "Mime Sequence" on 19 December, "Sea Lion" along with the outtake "Sea Lion II" on 6 January 1974, "Queen and Country" on 20 January 1974 and finally "Two Fingers" and "Bungle in the Jungle" along with the outtake "Tomorrow was Today" on 24 February 1974. The whole album was recorded at Morgan Studios, in London, except for tracks 6 and 8, which were recorded at the Château d'Hérouville, in France. According to the liner notes on the 2014 Theatre Edition reissue, War Child was a much more relaxed record to make, compared to the previous album and the Château d'Hérouville sessions. The studio equipment worked, the sound in the studio was very workable, and the atmosphere within the band was very settled and productive. "Only Solitaire" and "Skating Away" were recorded earlier, as detailed below.

From Wikipedia

 

Side 1

War Child

Queen And Country

Ladies

Back-Door Angels

Sealion

Side 2

Skating Away (On The Thin Ice Of A New Day)

Bungle In the Jungle

Only Solitaire

The Third Hoorah

Two Fingers

The online literature suggests that this particular child had a difficult birth, and it does come across as more of a Frankenstein creation than the product of an act of love. There appears to be obvious trimmings from A Passion Play, which is a mystery in itself when you consider 'Hare' made the cut on that album. It seems disjointed and repetitive, particularly in the opening tracks. But it does improve and the better-known tracks on side 2, 'Skating Away' and 'Bungle In The Jungle' are worthy additions to any album. I didn't mind Sealion either. No-one is listed as playing the uilleann pipes but if not then they find a way of mimicking them quite well with a synthesiser. 'Two Fingers' is a reworking of  'Lick Your Fingers Clean' from the Aqualung recording sessions. The little spoken parts are slightly annoying. I don't even like the artwork. It looks pretty amateurish.

MINSTREL IN THE GALLERY

Released: 5th September 1975

Minstrel in the Gallery is the eighth studio album by British rock band Jethro Tull, released in September 1975. The album sees the band going in a different direction from their previous work War Child (1974), returning to a blend of electric and acoustic songs, in a manner closer to their early 1970s albums such as Benefit (1970), Aqualung (1971) and Thick as a Brick (1972).[1][5] Making use of a newly constructed mobile recording studio commissioned and constructed specifically for the band, the album was the first Jethro Tull album to be recorded outside of the UK, being recorded in tax exile in Monte Carlo, Monaco.

It was the last Jethro Tull album to feature bassist Jeffrey Hammond, who left the band upon completion of the album's touring in late 1975 and was replaced by former Carmen bass player John Glascock.

From Wikipedia

Side 1

Minstrel In The Gallery

Cold Wind To Valhalla

Black Satin Dancer

Requiem

Side 2

One White Duck/010 = Nothing At All

Baker St. Muse

  Pig Me and The Whore

  Nice Little Tune

  Crash Barrier Waltzer

  Mother England Reverie

Grace

Schizophrenia rules. Tull can't decide if they are a folk band or a heavy rock band. Their solution? Make the title track an exercise in doing the same song twice in either style. Of course it's a bit more complex and clever than that, but the title track, 'Minstrel In The Gallery' is essentially a run through in a mock-mediaeval style, followed by identical lyrics, played as if they were Free. In a way it sums up Jethro Tull nicely.

Their artwork and general musical style often suggests rustic olde-Englishness, but Anderson's voice and Barre's guitar easily achieve a hard rock edge. In my slow progress toward making this all a little more informed (and, let's be honest, to boost the blog's stats), I have recently ventured onto some of the fan forums to get the insider's line on these albums. Yes and ELO have both been very welcoming, but Floyd and the Beatles are tougher nuts to crack. Since I am embroiled in Jethro Tull it gives me an opportunity to sound their fans out about what I should look for. 'One White Duck' seems to be the favourite on this one. I like 'Black Satin Dancer', it suggests some of the later tracks that I like, such as 'Budapest'. Those gentle, reflective acoustic guitar ditties are back too with 'Requiem', 'One White Duck/010 = Nothing At All' and the pleasingly short 'Grace'. Centrepiece of Side 2 is 'over 16 minutes of 'Baker St. Muse' medley. Not sure to be honest. It's disjointed, which is always a danger with a medley. 'Summerday Sands' is included as a bonus track on the Spotify version, and it ain'y half like 'Skating Away’

TOO OLD TO ROCK AND ROLL: TOO YOUNG TO DIE!

Released: 23rd April 1976

Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die! is the ninth studio album released by British band Jethro Tull, recorded between November 1975 and January 1976 and released in April 1976. It is the first album to include bassist John Glascock who also contributes with backing vocals. Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die! is the last Jethro Tull concept album, which follows the story of Ray Lomas, an aging rocker who finds fame with the changes of musical trends.[2] It was Jethro Tull's only album of the 1970s not to achieve Gold certification.[3]

Like their previous album, Minstrel in the Gallery, the band recorded the album in the Maison Rouge Mobile Studio. They recorded "Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die" and "The Chequered Flag (Dead or Alive)" along with the outtakes "Salamander's Rag Time", "Commercial Traveller" and "Advertising Man (Unfinished backing track)" on 19 and 20 November 1975, "Big Dipper" on 3 January 1976, "Pied Piper"[clarification needed] and "Quizz Kid" on 4 and 5 January, "Taxi Grab", "Pied Piper",[clarification needed] "Crazed Institution" and "Old Rocker (Quizz Kid intro)" on 8 January, "From a Dead Beat to an Old Greaser", "Salamander" and "Pied Piper"[clarification needed] along with the outtake "A Small Cigar (acoustic version)" on 12 January, and finally "Bad-Eyed and Loveless" along with the outtake "A Small Cigar (orchestral version)" on 27 January 1976.

From Wikipedia

Side 1

Quizz Kid

Crazed Institution

Salamander

Taxi Grab

From A Dead Beat To An Old Greaser

Side 2

Bad Eyed And Loveless

Big Dipper

Too Old To Rock And Roll: Too Young To Die

Pied Piper

The Chequered Flag (Dead Or Alive)

Anderson seems to attack this album with an astonishing level of commitment and confidence. Yet another concept album, and at the more comprehensible end of that spectrum too. His protagonist, Ray Lomas, is a rocker past his sell-by date, punk is coming and he's becoming obsolete. The video of the title track is quite a production (rather like the song) and features Anderson and the band playing the lascivious old geezers against a young punkette. It's also notable for some terrible miming, especially as they sing the chorus while slurping from teacups.

Musically they run a thread of a simple pizzicato hook throughout. The opening three tracks set the pace for the rest of the album, 'Quizz Kid' and 'Crazed Institution' are good catchy songs and Salamander returns to the acoustic style of 'Fat Man' (although not with the South Asian instruments) and 'Skating Away'. There's a sad tone to 'From A Dead Beat To An Old Greaser'.

I have a theory that Fish had the opening two lines of 'Big Dipper' on his mind when he was writing Marillion's Misplaced Childhood, mist rolling in and trains all feature in 'Bitter Suite'. That last bit of 'Too Old....' where they abruptly change the song from a slow ballad to a quick rocker really shouldn't work, but it does. Back to the video and the band transform into their modern personas for that part, which unfortunately in Anderson's case means some kind of mock-mediaeval tunic, jodhpurs and presumably a cuke down the pants. Not sure about the cover. Very much of it's time I suppose. Next up, some kitchen prose and gutter rhymes.

SONGS FROM THE WOOD

Released: 11th February 1977

Songs from the Wood is the tenth studio album by British progressive rock band Jethro Tull, released on 11 February 1977 by Chrysalis Records. The album is considered to be the first of three folk rock albums released by the band at the end of the 1970s, followed by Heavy Horses (1978) and Stormwatch (1979).[4]

Drawing inspiration from English folklore and countryside living, the album signalled a resumption of the band's wide-ranging folk rock style which combined traditional instruments and melodies with hard rock drums, synthesisers and electric guitars, all laid in the band's complex progressive rock template.[5] The album was the first Jethro Tull album to include Dee Palmer as an official member of the band; after eight years of serving as the band's orchestral arranger, Palmer had joined as a second keyboardist in early 1976.

From Wikipedia

 

Side 1

Songs From The Wood

Jack In The Green

Cup Of Wonder

Hunting Girl

Ring Out Solstice Bells

Side 2

Velvet Green

The Whistler

Pibroch (Cap In Hand)

Fire At Midnight

With a hey-nonny-nonny Jethro Tull embrace their folky sensibilities, albeit with the hard rock edge of Barre's guitar. I'm going to say that this marks the start of mid-period JT, which runs from here to Broadsword And The Beast. My worry is that although these albums are good (not sure about A), they won't represent much progression, but we'll see.

The opening title track has a kind of monastic echo to some of the lines, which runs perilously close to being a bit crap but just stays on the right side of quirky. Tull like a Christmas song, and have released an entire Christmas album, but their definitive effort in the genre, the one that might just get into a top 50 Christmas songs countdown, is 'Ring Out Solstice Bells', which is, of course, thematically leaning more toward the pagan than the Christian. Some very complicated handclapping is involved, but they do capture a certain festive feel. 

'The Whistler' was a single and it has an interesting verse structure where Anderson's vocal almost overlaps the end of one line with the start of the next. It does live up to the title too. His dexterity on the flute and whistles is plain to hear. 'Pibroch (Cap In Hand)' is supposed to start with Barre's guitar imitating the bagpipes, but, alas, it seems that Cacophonix has leapt from the pages of Goscinny and Uderzo's latest work instead. In fact the whole song is a bit of a mess and spoils an otherwise great album.

The cover photo is rather literal, Anderson, well, in the wood. Being rustic. And all that.

HEAVY HORSES

Released: 21st April 1978

Heavy Horses is the eleventh studio album by British progressive rock band Jethro Tull, released on 10 April 1978.

The album is often considered the second in a trio of folk rock albums released by the band at the end of the 1970s, alongside Songs from the Wood (1977) and Stormwatch (1979). In contrast to the British folklore-inspired lyrical content found on Songs from the Wood, Heavy Horses adopts a more realist and earthly perspective of country living; further, the album (and its title track) are dedicated to the "indigenous working ponies and horses of Great Britain".[3] Musically, the album sees the band continuing the combination of folk and progressive rock found on Songs from the Wood, although with an overall darker and more sober sound fitting the changed lyrical content.

From Wikipedia

 

Side 1

...And The Mouse Police Never Sleeps

Acres Wild

No Lullaby

Moths

Journeyman

Side 2

Rover

One Brown Mouse

Heavy Horses

Weathercock

More folky rock. I've listened to this quite a number of times and enjoyed it a lot. When it's good ('Moths', 'Heavy Horses', 'Rover') it's great. Anderson is definitely tending toward nature and the rural here and it's an astonishingly expressive album. The style foreshadows the next album Stormwatch, which for various reasons is one of my favorites and the accepted wisdom is that Songs From The Wood, Heavy Horses and Stormwatch form a trilogy of folk-rock albums.

To my mind Tull never fully deviated from the formula after this, but I can see that later albums relied less on traditional instruments. '...And The Mouse Police Never Sleeps' has similarities to 'North Sea Oil' on Stormwatch.

The title track shows genius in the plodding tempo that reflects the subject matter and the jump into the sparkling fiddle jig that characterises the middle section. With 'Moths' they use the fluttering flute to represent the subject matter and 'Rover' harnesses the folk stylings into more of a rock song

STORMWATCH

Released 14th September 1979

Stormwatch is the twelfth studio album by progressive rock band Jethro Tull, released in September 1979. The album is often considered the last in a trio of folk rock albums released by the band at the end of the 1970s, alongside Songs from the Wood (1977) and Heavy Horses (1978). The album's themes deal mostly with the environment, climate and seaside living, and were heavily inspired by the Isle of Skye in Scotland, where frontman Ian Anderson had recently purchased property.

Stormwatch was notably the last Tull album to feature the "classic" line-up of the 1970s, as drummer Barrie "Barriemore" Barlow and keyboardists John Evan and Dee Palmer all left or were fired from the band in the months after the album's tour concluded in April 1980; further, bassist John Glascock had died from heart complications in November 1979 during the tour. Glascock's playing is largely absent on the album as a result of his medical issues, with Anderson playing bass on all but three tracks.

From Wikipedia

 

Side 1

North Sea Oil

Orion

Home

Dark Ages

Warm Sporran

Side 2

Something's On The Move

Old Ghosts

Dun Ringill

Flying Dutchman

Elegy

We're going back to the mezzanine floor of Tamworth Public Library. This was one of the first albums I took out and certainly the first Jethro Tull album. I was attracted by the two word, 3 syllable name I think, but I was not yet ready for Uriah Heep or Amon Duul (and indeed, I don't think I ever will be). They won me over first time I played it. It doesn't start promisingly though. I always found the opening line of North Sea Oil to be a bit clunky. "Black and viscous, bound to cure blue lethargy", but in the end that is part of its charm.

Allegedly this is the third of the 'folk trilogy', but by now they are moving remorselessly into heavy rock. In fact you have to wonder that my old standby of rock cliché - Spinal Tap wasn't based almost entirely on the style of music on Stormwatch. 'Orion' and 'Dark Ages' in particular are very Tappish. But who cares? I love it all. 'Dark Ages' in particular is a magnificent mish-mash of doomy lyrics, and epic musical arrangements. I'm sure it's all very satirical, but Anderson makes it too good a musical experience to worry about what he's singing.

'Home' is a nice piece of introspection and 'Warm Sporran' is a rather oddly pleasing instrumental, somewhere between a Scottish march-time reel and a Gregorian chant. By the time we get to 'Something On The Move' we have a full on rock guitar riff perfectly knitting with the percussion of the drums and Anderson's flute.

Probably my favourite track on the album, and possibly my favourite Tull song of all, is 'Dun Ringill'. When reminiscing about student days before Christmas I discovered a performance on You Tube at the Sunderland Empire in 1990, a performance I actually attended. The opening words are spoken by BBC Breakfast Time weatherman Francis Wilson, who used to diffidently tell us that there was 'haar' coming in off the North Sea. As far as I recall, haar is kind of mizzly, crappy fog that suits the North-East coast of England down to a T. I love the line "A concert of Kings, as the white sea snaps" Don't know why, just beautifully lyrical.

There are hints of 'Locomotive Breath' in the opening to 'Flying Dutchman' but it never develops into the headlong frenzy of that song. The bonus tracks on Spotify includes 'Kelpie', which I could have sworn was on the original album, but Wikipedia says no. It was on the 20 Years Of.. collection, so maybe I know it from there. The artwork always made me think it was a 3-D picture and you needed a pair of cardboard specs to see it properly.

A

Released: 29th Augist 1980

A is the 13th studio album by British rock band Jethro Tull. It was released on 29 August 1980 in the UK and 1 September of the same year in the United States.

The album was initially written and recorded with the intention of being frontman Ian Anderson's debut solo album. Hence the album's title: the master tapes were marked "A" for Anderson during recording. However, the album was eventually released as a Jethro Tull album after pressure from Chrysalis Records. Anderson has since stated that he regrets allowing the album to be released under the Jethro Tull name.

From Wikipedia

Side 1

Crossfire

Flyingdale Flyer

Working John, Working Joe

Black Sunday

Side 2

Protect and Survive

Batteries Not Included

Uniform

4WD (Low Ratio)

The Pine Marten's Jig

And Further On

It didn’t look promising. Rubbish title and rubbish artwork. Also the background reading suggests that this is one of those ‘contractual obligation’ albums that rarely produce something worthwhile. There is a marked stylistic shift as Tull embrace the electronic revolution of the early eighties. Ask Neil Young fans if they think Transformer Man marked the zenith of his achievement. But against the odds this ranks as ‘fairly outstanding’ on the Rock Odyssey scale.

What got me onside was ‘Black Sunday’. Let me take you on a journey through how my mind occasionally works, especially when listening to a song that I really enjoy. ‘Black Sunday’ is a fairly epic affair. You could definitely see it being used in a musical (and Anderson has produced one based on the life of the band’s eponymous agricultural inventor which might well feature it for all I know). But since it is essentially a Paso Doble, I find myself fantasising about the upcoming performance of ex hopeless shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, but actually seemingly decent bloke, Ed Balls on Strictly Come Dancing. I would stage it with Balls in city gent rig, bowler hat and umbrella and all, while his unfortunate partner is done up to suggest his broadsheet newspaper (in lieu of a cloak motif) whom Ed would manhandle around the dancefloor. Never mind the obligatory one minute thirty seconds performance either, I’d get Ed putting in the full six and a half minutes. The lyrical themes of disillusionment with the modern world would work well too.

For the rest of it, there’s plenty more modern day angst to keep you going. ‘Protect And Survive’ reminds us that if you were a teenager at the time, you thought there was a decent chance you’d soon be nuked into oblivion. Some of the electronic music is a bit tinny and of its time but it’s a much better album than I had any right to expect

THE BROADSWORD AND THE BEAST

Released: 9th April 1982

The Broadsword and the Beast is the 14th studio album by rock band Jethro Tull, released in April 1982 by Chrysalis Records. The album's musical style features a cross between the dominant synthesizer sound of the 1980s and the folk-influenced style that Jethro Tull used in the previous decade. As such, the band's characteristic acoustic instrumentation is augmented by electronic soundscapes. The electronic aspects of this album would be explored further by the band on their next album, Under Wraps (1984), as well as on Ian Anderson's solo album Walk into Light (1983).

Paul Samwell-Smith produced the album, making The Broadsword and the Beast the first and only Jethro Tull album produced by an external producer outside of the band and their management. Early sessions for the album were produced by Keith Olsen. However, Olsen was dismissed amid creative differences in December 1981; he was not credited on the album.[2] The album was the first Jethro Tull album to feature Peter-John Vettese on keyboards and Gerry Conway on drums.

From Wikipedia

 

Side 1

Beastie

Clasp

Fallen On Hard Times

Flying Colours

Slow Marching Band

Side 2

Broadsword

Pussy Willow

Watching Me, Watching You

Seal Driver

Cheerio

As I worked my way through Tull albums on the mezzanine floor of Tamworth Public library, none had a more appealing cover to an early-teenage boy than Broadsword And The Beast. Anderson represents himself as some kind of malevolent gnome, clutching the titular weapon. By this age I was into epic fantasy and had read Lord Of The Rings at least twice. The content is very appealing to that mindset too. All macho, epic stuff. Anderson was always looking for an excuse to dress up in quasi-mediaeval garb on stage and this provides plenty of opportunity.

I’ve always assumed that the opening ‘Beastie’ is about fear and depression. I used to play this album in advance of my ‘O’Level exams. I found ‘Beastie’ (“Stare that Beastie in the face and really give him hell”), ‘Broadsword’ (“Bring me my Broadsword and clear understanding”) and ‘Slow Marching Band’ (“Walk on slowly, and keep on going”) very inspiring as ways of convincing me to have no fear and have confidence in myself (self-confidence had ebbed away during my time at secondary school).

Tull have moved largely away from the more keyboard/electronic-led sound of ‘A’ (although ‘Watching You, Watching Me’ bucks the trend), this is definitely a rock album, which might explain the style of the cover, which does mirror the kind of stuff Iron Maiden and co were putting on their albums. On ‘Broadsword’ it took me a long time to work out that instead of “Childless Man”, Anderson was singing “Talisman”, either sort of makes sense in context although “Talisman” is clearly the right one. ‘Pussy Willow’ might be quite rude. I’m not sure. And ‘Seal Driver’ is a great fat lump of pompous rock. Nothing wrong with that though. It all ends with the low-key (and short) ‘Cheerio’.

As hinted above, this is an important album from my youth, and it still sounds great.

UNDER WRAPS

Released: 7th September 1984

Under Wraps is the 15th studio album by the band Jethro Tull, released in 1984. The songs' subject matter is heavily influenced by bandleader Ian Anderson's love of espionage fiction.[4] It was controversial among fans of the band due to its electronic/synthesizer-based sound, particularly the use of electronic drums. Dave Pegg has been quoted as saying that the tracks cut from the sessions for Broadsword and the Beast would have made a better album,[4] while Martin Barre has referred to it as one of his personal favourite Tull albums.[5] The album reached No. 76 on the Billboard 200 and No. 18 on the UK Albums Chart. The single "Lap of Luxury" reached No. 30.[6]

Unlike earlier albums where Anderson was the sole songwriter, Under Wraps was the first Jethro Tull album since This Was where the majority of songs were co-written between all members of the band, primarily Peter-John Vettese.

From Wikipedia

 

Side 1

Lap Of Luxury

Under Wraps #1

European Legacy

Later, That Same Evening

Saboteur

Radio Free Moscow

Side 2

Nobody's Car

Heat

Under Wraps #2

Paparazzi

Apogee

I gave it a fair crack of the whip, I really did. But it's just not very good. I even spotted its lower quality when I was a teenager. Tull seem utterly confused on what they are all about and the album is a kind of Frankenstein creation of substandard versions of their contemporaries. The admittedly reasonably catchy 'Lap Of Luxury' comes on like ZZ Top and there are sprinkles of 90215 era Yes, XTC and possibly even Ultravox. By the time they get to 'Heat' they even chuck in a rip off of Fleetwood Mac's 'The Chain'. Anderson is too enamoured of all these new toys that he's just got his hands on, and the flute jars against the bleeps and artificial snares. Still, apparently Martin Barre quite likes it, so maybe I just don't get it.

Funnily enough it's not massively dissimilar in style to the next album Crest of A Knave, which is one of my favourites, but I think they'd got a better grip on the balance between the new technology and the more traditional instruments by then. Some of the vocal is annoying too. On 'Saboteur' Anderson repeats "Don't wanna be no saboteur" but it just transforms into "Don't want a Beano Saboteur"

Themes are still quite Cold War-ish, most overtly on 'Radio Free Moscow' in which Anderson's mid-atlantic accent fails to settle on "Moss-cow" or "Moss-ko". (I'm sure I don't need to tell American readers which is correct).  'Under Wraps #2' is probably the most traditionally Tull track on the album and therefore the best of a bad bunch. 

I never liked the artwork either, too corporate. That 'Tull' logo is awful.

CREST OF A KNAVE

Released: 7th September 1987

Crest of a Knave is the sixteenth studio album by British rock band Jethro Tull, released in 1987. The album was recorded after a three-year hiatus caused by a throat infection of vocalist Ian Anderson, resulting in his changed singing style. Following the unsuccessful electronic rock album Under Wraps, Crest of a Knave had the band returning to a more hard rock sound. The album was their most successful since the 1970s and the band enjoyed a resurgence on radio broadcasts, appearances in MTV specials and the airing of music videos. It was also a critical success, winning the 1989 Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental in what was widely viewed as an upset over the favorite, Metallica's ...And Justice for All.[4] The album was supported by "The Not Quite the World, More the Here and There Tour".[citation needed]

Even though Doane Perry had been a member of Jethro Tull since 1984, he only appears on two tracks, with Gerry Conway, who had played on the 1982 album The Broadsword and the Beast, playing on four. The remaining three tracks feature a drum machine. Keyboardist Peter-John Vettese had left the band in 1986, and Ian Anderson contributed the synth programming. The album sleeve only lists Anderson, Martin Barre and Dave Pegg as band members. Barre remembers this production as being "the album where a lot of things were of my invention. There are still chunks of the music where lan very much knew what he wanted, but I think my input was far greater on that album than on any other".[5]

From Wikipedia

 

Side 1

Steel Monkey

Farm On The Freeway

Jump Start

Said She Was A Dancer

Dogs In The Midwinter

Side 2

Budapest

Mountain Men

The Waking Edge

Raising Steam

I came to this at the peak of my interest in Jethro Tull. It was probably the first album of theirs that I heard on release. At the time there was much hoo-ha about the band celebrating 20 years in the business. These days even Take That have clocked up 26, but back in 1987, a band that started in the mid-sixties and were still around was enough of a rarity to be remarkable. There were documentaries and everything, including one that focussed on Ian Anderson on his estate on Skye.

I think one of the things I like about Crest Of A Knave is that there is a real coherence about the themes, even though they are quite diverse (the plight of the modern farmer/temptations of being on tour/the West Highlands). Anderson has been criticized a bit for his Knoppfler-esque vocal, which was at least partly due to a recent illness. It was alarming at the time that he appeared to be laying it on quite thick, but listening to it again, I actually find it less obvious than back then, probably because you never hear Mark Knoppfler these days.

The opening track and single won the grammy for best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental, which probably tells you more about the state of Metal in 1987 than it does about Tull's style at the time (mind you, it did beat 'And Justice For All'). But 'Steel Monkey' is a great song, I have it on 12" single somewhere. Monkeys were big in the mid 80's. Peter Gabriel shocked his, Warren Zevon just wanted you to leave his alone and Twelfth Night had a blue powder one (but perhaps only I remember them).

I've noted on Thick As A Brick that the lyrics to Mountain Men bear striking similarities to that album in places. 'Said She Was A Dancer' and 'Budapest' always felt like a pair of companion songs, although the sense of Anderson acting like a randy old goat when confronted by lithe Eastern European women is hard to shake off. 

'Dogs In The Midwinter' is a great song, but the lyrics are several metaphors too far. East-West tension is my best guess. The groany vocal is at its worst in the closing 'The Waking Edge', but like the rest of the album, time has been kind to it. Definitely in my top three.

ROCK ISLAND

Released: 21st August 1989

Rock Island is the 17th studio album by the British rock group Jethro Tull, released in 1989. The album continued the hard rock direction the band took on the previous effort, Crest of a Knave (1987). The line-up now included Ian Anderson, Martin Barre, Dave Pegg and drummer Doane Perry in his first full recording with the band, although he had already been a member of Jethro Tull since 1984. Without a permanent keyboard player, the role was shared by Fairport Convention's Maartin Allcock and former Tull member Peter Vettese.

Rock Island went Gold in the UK, with good sales also in Germany, where it peaked at No. 5. "Kissing Willie" was a hit on Rock radio, reaching No. 6 on the US Mainstream Rock Chart.

From Wikipedia

 

Side 1

Kissing Willie

The Rattlesnake Trail

Ears Of Tin

Undressed To Kill

Rock Island

Side 2

Heavy Water

Another Christmas Song

The Whaler's Dues

 Big Riff and Mando

Strange Avenues

After the rather noble and romantic notions of Crest Of A Knave, Tull return to the gutter on Rock Island. It could almost be a sequel to Aqualung, with 'Kissing Willie' and 'Undressed To Kill' being direct descendants of 'Cross Eyed Mary' in their unsavouriness. In fact Wikipedia tells me that Anderson himself sees the closing 'Strange Avenues' being set in the Aqualung world (but remember, it's still not a concept album). "Nice girl but a bad girl's better' slurps Anderson, whose voice has returned to normal service.

Part of his heart remains in the Highlands as he references Glen Shiel and Kintail on 'Ears Of Tin' and there's a few watery themes of islands and whale hunting. Musically it's not much different from Crest Of A Knave, the title track and 'Heavy Water' would have slotted onto that album without difficulty. But there is an unexpected delight in 'Another Christmas Song' (since they'd already done 'A Christmas Song') in which you can almost smell the mulled wine and the flute rings out like a solstice bell. 'Big Riff and Mando' is the embellished tale of the theft of Barre's Mandolin which was later returned (Anderson has helpfully, and somewhat uncharacteristically provided quite lucid explanations of all these songs as part of the re-mastered reissue in 2006. Where's the fun in that?).

Nice cover too, emphasising the nautical bent.

CATFISH RISING

Released: 2nd September 1991

Catfish Rising is the 18th studio album by the British rock group Jethro Tull, released on 2 September 1991.[5] It is the first Tull album to feature keyboardist Andrew Giddings. The album continues the hard rock and blues sound of the previous two albums.

All tracks are written by Ian Anderson

From Wikipedia

This Is Not Love

Occasional Demons

Roll Yer Own

Rocks On The Road

Sparrow On The Schoolyard Wall

Thinking Around Corners

Still Loving You Tonight

Doctor To My Disease

Like A Tall Thin Girl

White Innocence

Sleeping With The Dog

Gold Tipped Boots, Black Jacket and Tie

Weirdly, despite never owning this, I seem to know it quite well, but can't quite recollect how this has come to pass. I can only assume that since it's release coincides with a period in my life when I was neither a student nor gainfully employed, and therefore living at home with my parents, I must have once again got it out of Tamworth record library. Also, there is an immediacy to the songs, at least the first few, and so they probably imprinted quite quickly during the month's loan period. I have to tell you, dear reader, that the Philistines that share my life have not expressed unalloyed pleasure at being exposed to the entire back catalogue of Anderson, Barre, Pegg and co, but even Mrs. M, on hearing the first three tracks on this, declared it not completely awful.

The opening 'This Is Not Love' contains an irritating earworm reminding me of something that I just cannot place. The nearest I can suggest is (inevitably) part of 'Badlands' by Bruce, but that's not really it either. 'Occasional Demons' continues in the catchy groove. I always surmised that 'Roll Your Own' was less about Rizlas and rough shag and rather more about another kind of (solo) shag. But it's a nice little acoustic blues anyway and provides a break from the light-heavyweight rock that Tull have slipped into on the past three albums.

I like 'Rocks On The Road' but it doesn't offer much that Crest or Rock Island hadn't already achieved. Same with 'White Innocence', which is a rehash of 'Budapest'.There's a rather jolly bass guitar part to the mischievously folky 'Thinking Around Corners' and I even enjoyed the Gary Moore mimicry on 'Still Loving You Tonight'. 'Doctor To My Disease' starts like the theme to Casino Royale that Chris Cornell did, which reinforces my point about Tull tending toward well-executed but not really groundbreaking rock music. There is still a lot of lyrical spikiness however. Most interesting track on the album for me is easily 'Like A Tall Thin Girl' which seems a clear juxtaposition to 'Fat Man' all those years ago on Stand Up. There are references to it and it's musically similar. I must be right mustn't I? Also, the slow blues of 'Sleeping With The Dog' could be off This Was. Finally, 'Gold Tipped Boots, Black Jacket and Tie' has the advantage of an intriguing title but doesn't really deliver. Another good piece of artwork again. They're on a roll.

Original track listing is hard to pin down. This is the order on Spotify, but Wikipedia sticks 'Roll Yer Own' on Side 2, which doesn't seem right to me or my memory.

ROOTS TO BRANCHES

Released: 4th September 1995

Roots to Branches is the 19th studio album by the British band Jethro Tull released in September 1995. It carries characteristics of Tull's classic 1970s progressive rock and folk rock roots alongside jazz and Arabic and Indian influences. All songs were written by Ian Anderson and recorded at his home studio. This is the last Tull album to feature Dave Pegg on the bass, and the first to feature keyboardist Andrew Giddings as an official band member, although he had contributed to Catfish Rising (1991) on a session basis. As a result, the album features the five longest serving members to date in Jethro Tull’s history. It was the final Tull album to be released through long-time label Chrysalis Records.

A remastered edition of the album was released in January 2007.

From Wikipedia

 

Roots To Branches

Rare And Precious Chain

Out Of The Noise

This Free Will

Valley

Dangerous Veils

Beside Myself

Wounded, Old And Treacherous

At Last Forever

Stuck In The August Rain

Another Harry's Bar

One more after this and I have to admit to flagging a little of late, not more than one a week recently. Not for lack of quality or interest though, and this is no exception. This is very coherent as a single musical piece. It's very Seventies and proggy, although it occasionally crosses the line into jazz, and no-one wants that. Anderson has been off to Cairo, wandered around the souk and done a beginners course in snake charming to advantageous effect on the opening two tracks. 

The prog stylings kick in heavily on 'Dangerous Veils', especially toward the end of the track. On 'Wounded, Old And Treacherous' IA speaks the lyric in a rather arch fashion and it gets a bit chaotic at the end. 'At Last Forever' is what I consider trad Tull, by which I mean it fits into the Stormwatch/Broadsword period, where I first came in.  'Stuck In The August Rain' reminds me a little of 'From A Dead Beat To An Old Greaser'. Dire Straits 'Your Latest Trick'. At the end the mumbling, headbanded ghost of Mark Knopfler appears again at Anderson's shoulder and the closing 'Another Harry's Bar' is reminiscent of 'Your Latest Trick' Artwork still going well too.

J-TULL DOT COM

Released: 23rd August 1999

J-Tull Dot Com is the 20th studio album by the British band Jethro Tull, released in 1999 on Papillon, the Chrysalis Group's late 1990s heritage record label.[5][6] It was released four years after their 1995 album Roots to Branches and continues in the same vein, marrying hard rock with Eastern music influences. It is the first album to feature Jonathan Noyce on bass, who would remain with the band until 2007 in Jethro Tull's longest ever unchanged line-up. This was the last Jethro Tull album to feature all original, new material for 23 years (until the release of The Zealot Gene[7] in 2022), although the band did release a Christmas album in 2003, which contained a mixture of new material, re-recordings of Tull's own suitably themed material and arrangements of traditional Christmas music.

All tracks are written by Ian Anderson, except where noted

From Wikipedia

Spiral

Dot Com

Awol

Nothing @ All

Wicked Windows

Hunt By Numbers

Hot Mango Flush

El Nino

Black Mamba

Mango Surprise

Bends Like A Willow

Far Alaska

The Dog Ear Years

A Giif Of Roses

Here's a rule that seems to hold true. The worse the album art and title, the better the Tull album. At least that's true for this and 'A'. The cover is almost literally diabolical and the name only has the redeeming feature of being seemingly ahead of its time. Did we have dotcoms in 1999? Presumably so, Anderson and Co have many talents, but precognition is not one of them. However the content is top-notch and that's unusual for a last album (I'm not counting the Christmas album, but I may add it during the festive season), usually these types of bands follow a law of diminishing returns at the fag-end of their recording careers.

In 'Dot Com' Anderson even seems to be trying to emulate Kate Bush and employs something of a Kate soundy-likey on backing vocal. Somewhere between that and Carnatic singing anyway. But it's certainly very satisfying. Then on 'Awol' they go all Gabriel-era Genesis with parts that sound very much like 'The Fountain Of Salmacis', 'Wicked Windows' harks back to the Minstrel-era folk rock and it feels lovingly crafted. Next they rub salt into the Grammy shaped wound they inflicted on Metallica by doing a decent pastiche called 'Hunt By Numbers'. You could almost describe 'Hot Mango Flush' as a rap, insofar as Anderson delivers it rather like a beat poem. He reprises the atmosphere of a Fry's Turkish Delight advert on 'El Nino' but this is rather oddly but effectively crossed with a another unique Tull-style take on thrash metal. There's a bit of Zep's 'Kashmir' about 'Black Mamba', it's all doomy crashing strings. There's a minor misstep on 'Far Alaska' which gets a bit messy in the middle. Just before the finale of 'A Gift Of Roses' we get flung back almost to the start of the story. 'The Dog Ear Years' wouldn't be out of place on 'Stand Up or Benefit. 'A Gift Of Roses' feels like Anderson half suspects this is the end of the last studio album, there's one or two nods to the past such as mentions of a passion play.

There's a hidden track if you can be bothered. They were the done thing in the late nineties. Anderson introduces the title track from his new solo album 'The Secret Language Of Birds'. It's very nice, but frankly I need a break. His solo albums are another odyssey for another year.

THE ZEALOT GENE

Released: 28th January 2022

The Zealot Gene is the 22nd studio album by the British rock band Jethro Tull, released on 28 January 2022 by Inside Out Music.[2][3] Nearly five years in production, it is their first studio album since The Jethro Tull Christmas Album (2003), and their first of all original material since J-Tull Dot Com (1999), marking the longest gap between the band's studio albums. It is also their first album since This Was (1968) to be made without guitarist Martin Barre.

The album entered the UK Albums Chart at number 9, becoming Jethro Tull's first UK top ten album since 1972.

From Wikipedia

 

Mrs. Tibbets

Jacob's Tales

Mine Is the Mountain

The Zealot Gene

Shoshana Sleeping

Sad City Sisters

Barren Beth, Wild Desert John

The Betrayal of Joshua Kynde

Where Did Saturday Go?

Three Loves, Three

In Brief Visitation

The Fisherman of Ephesus

Funnily enough, the release of this coincided approximately with the 45th anniversary of Songs From The Wood, and the artwork got me thinking that Anderson does have a tendency to present himself in goblin-like fashion on Tull album covers. The most extreme example would be The Boradsword and The Beast, but there's a certain demonic quality to his picture on this one.

It didn't really grab me on first hearing, but after 3 or 4 listens of this it settled in as solid, classic Tull. One suspects he might have even had thoughts of making some kind of impact on the Christmas market, there are a couple of songs that make festive references, and in general he calls on biblical themes.  Mrs. Tibbets is not about a cat, but the mother of the pilot of the Enola Gay, and some of it feels quite dark and menacing (Mine Is The Mountain). 

This amounts to an Anderson solo effort in many ways, it's an all-new band with not even Martin Barre asked to come back, probably due to the circumstances of the band's split in 2012, but it does sound more like the band of old than, say, Crest Of A Knave, which seemed to be entirely Anderson's baby. 

RökFlöte

Released: 21st April 2023

RökFlöte is the 23rd studio album by the British progressive rock band Jethro Tull, released on 21 April 2023.[3][4]

In contrast to its predecessor, The Zealot Gene (2022), RökFlöte marks the shortest gap between two Jethro Tull albums since Stormwatch (1979) and A (1980).

From Wikipedia

Voluspo

Ginnungagap

Allfather

The Feathered Consort

Hammer on Hammer

Wolf Unchained

The Perfect One

Trickster (And the Mistletoe)

Cornucopia

The Navigators

Guardian's Watch

Ithavoll

So it seems that The Zealot Gene actually represented a rebirth, a second coming if you will, of Jethro Tull under the sole stewardship of Ian Anderson. Not only did this surface just over a year later, but there’s another one coming imminently. So I’d better get my skates on.

This may be the epitome of wherever Anderson saw himself going all those years ago. An album of rock flute (RökFlöte, do you see?) instrumentals that morphed into a concept album about Norse mythology. So now we have Anderson the ancient Skald, quavering on about the Allfather, Hammers, Wolves and so on. Of course I’m loving it. This is what rock music should be all about, heroic obsessions that span effortlessly from teenage boys, through disillusioned middle aged men to old farts. The great thing about Anderson tackling this stuff and putting the flute to the fore is that it’s about the most organic of all instruments, needing just a pair of lungs and a tube, so it kind of feels authentic, and putting screaming electric guitar all over it just helps us remember that this was just the done thing in the mid-seventies.

His voice is in good nick. He still has that odd westcountry burr that apparently bears no relation to anywhere he’s ever lived. But hey, it’s folk rock and that lot all sing from somewhere in their body other than their lungs. It’s calling back again to that supposed trilogy of folk-rock albums: Songs from the Wood/Heavy Horses/Stormwatch and could have been the follow up when you consider the tone of the whole thing.

So this is all very satisfying. The next to come along will be ‘Curious Ruminant’

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THE BEATLES - Please Please Let It Be Me