|
Post by Nonfatman on Jun 27, 2010 8:37:17 GMT -5
Hmmm...well, I expected a bit more discussion regarding the site, but there seems to be a dearth of dialogue. So, I'll post some Tull reviews I did for RYM and you can scream and rant and rave regarding the depravity of my critique. I try to be succinct, keeping each review to no more than three paragraphs. Hey, I'm not getting paid by the word, and getting to the crux of the biscuit (to paraphrase Frank Zappa) trumps verbosity. This Was (1968) -- 4 starsOh no! not another 1960's British blues band! One would think the English invented the blues the way these Muddy Waters-wannabes proliferate. Wait a minute...wait a minute! What's up with these Jethro Toe fellas? What? Tull? Jethro Tull? They're named after an 18th British agronomist known most notably for inventing the seed drill? A seed drill -- really? It must be a very tiny drill to bore into a seed. But as I was saying, there is something off here -- this blues band is playing jazz! If my ears don't deceive me, that's 'Serenade to a Cuckoo', a Roland Kirk composition. Yes, that Roland Kirk: the guy who plays a nose flute. Hey, what gives here...that Ian Anderson is playing flute and harmonica in 'My Sunday Feeling'. You can't play flute and harmonica in a blues song, it just isn't done! Oh yeah, you're right, there's flute and blues harp in John Mayall's 'Room to Move'. Damn British innovations! I really like 'Some Day the Sun Won't Shine For You'. It reminds me of the little jam sessions we had in my mother's basement in the late 70's. Of course we were stoned! One doesn't sit in one's mother's basement playing acoustic blues tunes without being stoned! Now they're playing 'Cat's Squirrel'. Every 60' British blues band must have a recording of 'Cat's Squirrel'. It must be some weird rite of passage thing for the Brits, sort of like the occult spanking scene in 'Animal House'. Oh, I get it, these Jethro Tull fellas are only disguised as a British blues band. Underneath they are a hard-folk-prog-Elizabethan-blues-rock, concept-album-making bunch of freakish free-spirits who the critics will despise, and who will eventually steal a Grammy award from Metallica -- yes, that's right, a Grammy winner for an album that is maybe the thirteenth best record in their discography! What do you mean I'm full of shit? It could happen! Anyway, I really like this album. No, really, it is good. No, I'm not being paid to say this! I'm just practicing my stream-of-consciousness literary style. Stand Up (1969) -- 5 stars[/u] Tull had just parted ways with guitarist Mick Abrahams (who went on to make a a really good blues album with Blodwyn Pig, by the way), and had chosen Martin Barre as the their new lead guitarist. Tull took a u-turn on the blues highway and went off-road and did some camping on this is stunning folk-rock opus. I have long been of the thought that no one in rock really writes beautiful, reflective tunes anymore. Ian Anderson can turn them out by the bucketful but still rock on the same album. 'Look Into the Sun', 'Reasons for Waiting' and 'For a Thousand Mothers' are just beautifully rendered, mellow pieces; conversely, 'Nothing is Easy' (a personal favorite), 'A New Day Yesterday' and 'We Used to Know' rock along quite well. Top it off with what Anderson refers to as cocktail jazz 'Bouree', and the frenetic 'Fat Man' (another favorite), and one finds the direction Tull took was an important step in becoming one of the greatest prog-rock bands of all time. Or folk-rock band. Or concept band. You get the general idea -- if you get Tull. Beyond the act of turning out excellent compositions, 'Stand Up' is an important album in the synthesis of several different musical elements and genres into the rock idiom: jazz, blues, classical, folk. Name any other rock bands that have the artistic grasp to successfully fuse these all into one recording. Take your time. Get back to me when you can come up with a few. Benefit (1970) -- 3.5 starsSandwiched between two great albums 'Stand Up' and 'Aqualung', 'Benefit' just does not reach the heights of the former or the latter. There are some nice songs like 'Nothing to Say', 'To Cry You a Song', 'Teacher', 'Play in Time' and 'With You There to Help Me', but the album lacks fire and is merely Tull going through the motions. Of course, Tull going through the motions is better, comparatively speaking, than most bands have to offer, but considering the amazing amount of great songs Tull produced in and around the time 'Benefit' was released, this album is a let down. Unlike either 'Stand Up' or 'Aqualung', there is relatively little differentiation from song to song, and I suppose it is the sameness that rankles. Ian Anderson sounds like he's singing the same song with different time signatures, which is odd, given his passionate live performances in the same era. Of course the 2001 digital remaster offers extra tunes such as 'Singing all Day', 'Witches Promise', 'Alive and Well and Living In' and 'Just Trying to Be', and one wonders why these weren't selected for inclusion in the first place. But these are already recognizable from the superlative collection 'Living in the Past' and no longer seem appropriate here. [/quote] I basically agree with you on these, however I would flip flop the 3.5 stars you gave Benefit with the 4 stars you gave This Was. Only 6 of the 10 TW songs had any lyrics, and the lyrics to those songs were very basic and ordinary bluesy lyrics, not very original. On Benefit, Ian's songwriting and lyrics had matured considerably. Stand Up is the album that I consider to be Tull's greatest (followed closely by Brick and SFTW/HH), so I definitely agree with your five star rating. Every song on that is great. Jeff
|
|
|
Post by Nonfatman on Jun 27, 2010 8:55:26 GMT -5
I am sure we will agree on some things, disagree on others,for instance I can tell you right now that I love the A album, so don't you go dissing my A! And this is the point where the fur starts flying! ;D A (1980) -- 2 starsAn aborted Ian Anderson solo album foisted onto the unwitting public as a Tull release. Imagine, if you will, the band Asia having anal sex with Jethro Tull. Not a pretty sight. Very sterile-sounding and lacking in the warmth of previous albums. And it is boring! I don't think I've ever said that about an entire Tull album up to this point. Very disappointing. Ed Jobson does what he can with the material, but he and the rest of the folks are in over their collective heads. It seems that poor Ian Anderson was having feelings of irrelevancy due to the punk and new wave movements sweeping England, and in some nightmarish backlash decided to rent every hi-tech gadget available at the local music shoppe: vocoders, synths, electric fiddles, drum machines -- I believe Ian unwittingly influenced Orchestral Manuevers in the Dark. Or the Buggles. It would take a few albums for Tull to return to form (and some sense of equilibrium). This album alienated Tull fans in droves. Note to Ian: if it aint broke, don't fix it. One doesn't need to update a Stradivarius with a chrome kickstand, fer chrissakes! I don't go along with the conventional wisdom that says Too Old and A were Tull's worst records, in fact I think both of those are quite remarkable. They both were highly memorable and made more of an impact on me than the pompous, over-the-top War Child and the brooding Minstrel. I love A for many reasons, not the least of which is the singing -- which is very strong, never to be this strong again -- and the quality of the songs themselves and the musicianship. I love Eddie Jobson's keyboard and electric violin and Mark Craney's powerful drumming. All the songs have great melodies and they all create the exact mood which Ian was trying to capture for the songs' subject matter. So for instance Crossfire is successful in creating the tense and scary atmosphere of a hostage situation, Working John, Working Joe succeeds in capturing the monotony of the protagonist's bleak existence as a sort of robot serving the State, Fylingdale Flyer effectively conjures up a Dr. Strangelove or Failsafe atmosphere, etc., etc. A music critic once wrote about Ian that he is particularly adept at "creating a musical approximation of an idea" and I think one of the best examples of that is A. The album was released at a time of great tension between the US and USSR, the Soviets had invaded Afghanistan, the Iranians were holding US hostages and Reagan was about to be elected, and many people feared that he was a cowboy who would start a nuclear war with Russia. So the whole album was very apropos, and it was a great success in achieving what it set out to do. It was just a very effective album, menacing and frightening, and if you look at my signature below, it suddenly seems relevant and chilling again. In my opinion it is a timeless Tull album. It also contains one of the greatest Tull songs ever, Black Sunday, in my opinion there has been no greater Tull song since then. I would deduct points for bad production (but the remaster solves that problem) and for 4WD and Pine Marten's Jig, because even though they are both very good -- PMJ might be their best instrumental song -- they just didn't belong on the album. It was clearly a concept album, and Ian should have went all the way with it. My rating for A would be 3.75 stars. Jeff
|
|
|
Post by Morthoron on Jun 27, 2010 11:18:33 GMT -5
And this is the point where the fur starts flying! ;D A (1980) -- 2 starsAn aborted Ian Anderson solo album foisted onto the unwitting public as a Tull release. Imagine, if you will, the band Asia having anal sex with Jethro Tull. Not a pretty sight. Very sterile-sounding and lacking in the warmth of previous albums. And it is boring! I don't think I've ever said that about an entire Tull album up to this point. Very disappointing. Ed Jobson does what he can with the material, but he and the rest of the folks are in over their collective heads. It seems that poor Ian Anderson was having feelings of irrelevancy due to the punk and new wave movements sweeping England, and in some nightmarish backlash decided to rent every hi-tech gadget available at the local music shoppe: vocoders, synths, electric fiddles, drum machines -- I believe Ian unwittingly influenced Orchestral Manuevers in the Dark. Or the Buggles. It would take a few albums for Tull to return to form (and some sense of equilibrium). This album alienated Tull fans in droves. Note to Ian: if it aint broke, don't fix it. One doesn't need to update a Stradivarius with a chrome kickstand, fer chrissakes! I don't go along with the conventional wisdom that says Too Old and A were Tull's worst records, in fact I think both of those are quite remarkable. They both were highly memorable and made more of an impact on me than the pompous, over-the-top War Child and the brooding Minstrel. Oh, I'll agree with you that 'A' and 'Too Old' are not Tull's worst album: that dubious designation goes to 'Under Wraps'. But I don't want to get ahead of myself in the reviews. As far as 'pompous' and 'over-the-top', wouldn't those terms be synonymous with 'Ian Anderson'? The circus atmosphere was one of the prime reasons to see a Tull concert, particularly those in the 70's. You got not only a concert, but a dog-and-pony show, and a carnival all rolled into one! In regards to 'Minstrel' being 'brooding', I just don't see it. There is a lot of humor suffused throughout that album. Now 'A' was brooding. It brooded me to boredom. Sorry Jeff, I simply despise that album. And it seems to me that the 'A' album released by Tull was part of a pandemic of great rock 'n' roll bands who literally fell apart just prior or soon after 1980: The Stones made their worst albums, 'Black and Blue', 'Some Girls and 'Emotional Rescue' leading up to 1980. Stones went disco and Jagger went falsetto (not a good mix). Zeppelin's worst album 'In Through the Out Door' came out in 1979. The only thing that saved them from an even worse follow-up was that I believe God intervened and John Bonham died. Pink Floyd's dreaded dirge 'The Final Cut' (or as I like to call it 'The Wall II: My Dad is still Dead) came out in 1983 and actually destroyed Floyd. Yes came out with the abysmal 'Tormato' in '78 and the equally horrific 'Drama' in '80. Queen released 'Flash Gordon' the worst movie soundtrack in the history of film in 1980. That was also the point in time Queen went disco. This evidently was the case for Tull in the early 80's as well, as they released a string of albums that were substandard. I blame Tull and the other bands listed for allowing disco, new wave and rap to permeate the music scene. Rock has not been the same since -- and I don't mean that in a good way.
|
|
|
Post by TM on Jun 27, 2010 20:31:29 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by Morthoron on Jun 29, 2010 6:36:48 GMT -5
Quite right, TM. But you see, it's only Solitaire. Here's another batch of reviews: Under Wraps (1984) -- 1.5 starsThe most dreadful album Tull ever recorded, and I am including the abysmal 'A' in that estimation. There is one good song: 'Under Wraps #2' and you can fortunately find that on any number of Tull packages, so you don't have to waste any money (or time) on this abortion of an album. The great thing about Tull in the 70's was its uniqueness: a heady blend of excellent acoustic and electric compositions with biting lyrics and an amazing record of consistent craftsmanship from album to album. Except for Ian Anderson's vocals, 'Under Wraps' is indistinguishable from any number of synth and drum heavy crap shit out in the 80's. I'd wipe my ass with this CD if it weren't for the sharp edges and lack of absorbency. Crest of a Knave (1987) -- 4 starsThe funniest and most memorable thing about this album, this 'Crest of a Knave' (an ironic title if ever there was one), is that it won a Grammy, beating the heavily-favored rock darlings Metallica in the 'Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental' category. What's so funny about that you may well ask? Just this: 'Crest of a Knave' is perhaps Tull's 13th or 14th best album. Yes, that's right, ANY Tull album from the 60's or 70's is better than this -- but no Grammys for their truly great works like 'Aqualung', 'Stand Up' or 'Thick as a Brick'. It's rather like Pink Floyd winning no Grammys for 'Dark Side of the Moon', 'Wish You Were Here' or 'The Wall', but managing to get one for 1995's good-but-not-great 'Division Bell'. Go figure. But I gave 'CoaK' four stars simply because of the look on Metallica's faces as they squirmed in the audience after losing the Grammy. That was priceless! And I rated it four stars because it is simply the best Tull album of the 1980's -- a decade Tull (and many of their fans) would sooner forget. A four star in the eighties does not equate to albums released in the 60's and 70's because, as I alluded to earlier, any one of those earlier releases is better than any and all of those Tull released in the 80's. Oh, don't misunderstand me, there are several very good songs on this album. My personal favorites are 'Farm on the Freeway' and 'Jump Start', but 'Budapest' and 'She Said She Was a Dancer' are solid compositions as well, with the fluid artistry and waves of sound, the shadow and light that are the transcendent hallmarks of their greatest albums. Ian Anderson's voice will never be the same after his throat malady, but he adapts quite well with vocals that have been described as folkishly-Dire Straitish or Bob Dylan with a head cold. Yet Ian Anderson once had a marvellous voice, whereas Mark Knopfler and Dylan have always been candidates for nasal decongestants. I can live without the leftover drum machines still lying around from 'Under Wraps', and 'Steel Monkey' makes my stomach churn, but 'Crest of a Knave' is leaps and bounds better than such stinkers as 'A' and 'Under Wraps'; so much so, that it warrants a listen and inclusion in the Tull pantheon of finely-crafted albums. Certainly, Tull's glory days were in the 70's. And I am okay with that. We all have to move on sometime. Rock Island (1989) -- 3 stars'Crest of a Knave' marked a resurgence of sorts for Tull in the 80's. After 3 dreadful to fair to abominable efforts ('A', 'Broadsword and the Beast', 'Under Wraps'), one could look at 'CoaK' as perhaps a solid foundation on which the band could build with each successive follow-up album. Unfortunately, along came 'Rock Island' and pimp-slapped any hope for a renaissance. Oh, it's certainly not as bad as 'A' or 'Under Wraps', but it really doesn't expand on the success of 'Crest of a Knave'; rather, it merely copies it -- which should have proved a relief to Metallica in their quest for a Grammy. The album starts off with the 'Jump Start' clone 'Kissing Willie', which is not bad (although the lyrics are a bit tacky), but it broaches no new ground. And I think that speaks volumes for the repetitive nature of the remainder of the album; in fact, it's rather ironic that 'Another Christmas Song' graces this album, because it is symptomatic of the 'Rock Island' as a whole. All in all, the best songs on the album are 'Strange Avenues' and 'The Whaler's Due', which are in effect the only two songs that do not ape their immediate predecessor. Nothing memorable, but nothing dreadful either.
|
|