Jethro Tull Reissues

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• 1 - Aaman

  Dec 05, 2004 at 6:55 pm

  Stormwatch is probably my favorite Tull album - possibly because I possess a cassette of the same signed by Ian Anderson. I did the publicity for a Jethro Tull tour early in the nineties, and spent time with the maestro. He was kind enough to autograph the cassette. The concert was fun - watching these guys play over 27 instruments on stage was enthralling - I know now that bits were pre-recorded, but it sure made my day. Post-concert, I was even more pleased, but that's another story.
  
  The bonus tracks sure sound interesting.
  
  Thank you for the review

• 2 - Vern Halen

  Dec 06, 2004 at 12:07 am

  Sorry, metallica fan - Tull won that Grammy not thorugh their own fault - the Grammy dudes that year obviously didn't know what metal was.
  
  Stormwatch - a great album, and underrated, as you said. This was my fave era of Tull, and I can go back and listen to it repeatedly. Nice to have Stormwatch on good CD finally. Is this its first CD release in North America?
  
  One question - why copy protected? Anyone who really likes Tull will get it anyway.

• 3 - Bruiser

  Dec 06, 2004 at 9:14 pm

  There are days when I wake up and think that this is one of the greatest records ever recorded.

• 4 - Eric Olsen

  Dec 07, 2004 at 9:00 am

  Jethro Tull is one of those subjects where my own perception is so far from so many others with whom I typically agree that I wonder if something is broken. I absolutely love most Tull through "Thick As a Brick" but find virtually EVERYTHING since unlistenable - it's quite odd

• 5 - ClubhouseCancer

  Dec 07, 2004 at 9:45 am

  Not odd at all. I think yours is the more common crtiical opinion, Eric.
  
  The stuff since 30 years ago (30!) is awful, self-indulgent, boring, outdated prog-folk-rock. Stormwatch, in particular, is pretentious, self-satisfied stuff, alternating cold synthy sounds with flat folky arrangements that border on self-parody.
  
  The self-parody gets worse wth later albums, which have hilarious titles like "Crest of a Knave," and "The Broadsword and the Beast."
  
  I think the Tull was just fine as a late 60s/early 70s prog-rock band with some interesting albums that mixed Fairport-style folk with hard rock. Their handful of great singles are their best achievement. Most of the rest is uninteresting, and much is certifiably awful.

• 6 - Aaman

  Dec 07, 2004 at 9:55 am

  Heavy Horses is probably their most listenable album in the nineties. And whatever happened to that Dot bomb, "JTull dot com"?

• 7 - JR

  Dec 07, 2004 at 10:38 am

  Um, Heavy Horses is from 1978.
  
  Mmmm, self-indulgent and pretentious - that's my kind of music.
  
  I would say that Song From the Wood is their best album from the second half of the seventies. Depending on my mood, I might consider it their best album ever.
  

• 8 - Eric Olsen

  Dec 07, 2004 at 10:44 am

  for me two things happened: they lost any hint of their blues foundation, which in conjunction with the Celtic folkiness grounded them, and Anderson seemed to lose the ability to write memorable tunes, for me always the kiss of death

• 9 - Aaman

  Dec 07, 2004 at 10:45 am

  Dang! Nothing good since 1978!

• 10 - JR

  Dec 07, 2004 at 10:53 am

  Well, I actually liked 1984's Under Wraps. After that, I felt they stopped growing and turned to self-parody. It was probably a result of their fans' reaction to an album of music played by machines.
  

• 11 - Eric Olsen

  Dec 07, 2004 at 10:59 am

  for me the air escaped the tire between "Thick As a Brick" -- which despite the fact that I really have no idea what it's about, nor do I care, holds together very well as an extended theme and variations -- and "Passion Play," which has a very similar structure but of which i can remember absolutely NOTHING despite owning and playing the record a number of times upon its release. At the time I hoped it was an aberration, and after the marginal improvement of "War Child" (with "Bungle" and "Skating Away") my hopes were up, but it was not to be and to my ears the fall became abyssal

• 12 - ClubhouseCancer

  Dec 07, 2004 at 11:53 am

  For me, the Tull is about little snippets of great stuff �" the amazingly lithe and pretty acoustic guitar parts of "Thick as a Brick""With You There to Help Me" or "Reasons for Waiting" or the chugging pop smarts of "Locomotive Breath" and "Bungle in the Jungle." I used to like these guys, so it pains me to say they have now stunk for quite a while. But I think it's true.

• 13 - Mark Saleski

  Dec 07, 2004 at 12:03 pm

  "Crest of a Knave" came out (when?) and i sorta liked "Steel Monkey"...but i can't remember anything else from that record at all.
  

• 14 - JR

  Dec 07, 2004 at 12:11 pm

  Crest of a Knave was the first post-Under Wraps album, and I think it was actually the result of polling their fans to determine what they expected from a JT album. That came out in 1987.

• 15 - Vern Halen

  Dec 07, 2004 at 1:03 pm

  The fact that Tull could sustain this level of interest & discussion over 30 plus years is a testament to the high quality of their music. Many bands by this point in their career are generally considered to have descended into self parody or nostagia. And sure, some would say that about Tull, but I don't think it's anywhere near a consensus. Thye're not playing county fairs in Oklahoma yet (....are they?).

• 16 - Ghislain

  Dec 22, 2004 at 12:15 pm

  I first listened to Jethro Tull after buying "MU - Best of Jethro Tull" in 1996 from a music cassette club. That was a mistake--songs were taken out of context and such compilations only contain the radio "hits" while completely ignoring the gems that are known as the "deep tracks". My impression at the time was: "is this the best that Jethro Tull can do?"
  
  Jethro Tull is an acquired taste. I did re-listen to that cassette a few more times a few years later and I got to appreciate the songs a little more until I bought "Aqualung" on CD in 2002. It was a very moving music listening experience. If songs such as "My God" and "Wind Up" had been included in "MU" I might have become a fan much earlier.
  
  Since then, I've acquired as many Jethro Tull albums on CD as I possibly could. One of those albums that was hard to obtain was "Stormwatch" until I stumbled upon it at a music store and quickly bought it. The consensus on the internet seems to be that the albums released after 1978's "Heavy Horses" are weaker ones because Ian Anderson was musically past his prime.
  
  What a surprise for me when I found that "Stormwatch" was actually a better album than "Heavy Horses". I've lately been immersed into the peak oil theory so the theme of the album seemed very relevant to our current economic and social problems.
  
  A rare treat on the album is a slow-dancing power ballad called "Home". If your woman hates Jethro Tull she will have to grudgingly concede that this particular bit is a good song.
  
  Every song on this album is a gem except for one weak track, "Something's on the Move".

• 17 - andy marsh

  Dec 22, 2004 at 12:33 pm

  I saw Tull in '80, might have been '81. They were on their "A" tour. There was an additional band member and I can't remember his name. He played a see-thru violin. They did 3 encore's before finally coming out and playing that slow piano buildup at the beginning of Locomotive Breathe. Anyone remember the violin players name?

• 18 - JR

  Dec 22, 2004 at 2:01 pm

  I'm thinking Eddie Jobson, if it's the same guy who was on the album.

• 19 - andy marsh

  Dec 22, 2004 at 3:43 pm

  that was his name!

• 20 - Eric Olsen

  Dec 22, 2004 at 3:45 pm

  he was also in Roxy Music and Curved Air before that

• 21 - andy marsh

  Dec 22, 2004 at 3:49 pm

  I remember him as an incredible violin player. I always liked the way JT took classic instruments and made serious rock and roll with them!

• 22 - JR

  Dec 22, 2004 at 3:55 pm

  Eddie Jobson was kind of the alternate for Jean-Luc Ponty, who was the really successful jazz/rock/fusion violinist of the '70s. Jobson joined Zappa for a spell in '75 (they met during a Roxy/Zappa tour), and he later formed U.K. with Allan Holdsworth - both guitarists had previously done significant recordings with Ponty.
  

• 23 - E L Eversman

  Dec 23, 2004 at 1:19 pm

  I agree with you, JR. Songs from the Wood is still my favorite Tull album, followed closely by Heavy Horses.

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