Jethro Tull
A

Well... greetings to everyone, I would like to review a controversial work by the Progressive group Jethro Tull... an album that holds historical significance for the band's career... from this album onwards an unstoppable decline in popularity begins for a band destined to be eternally misunderstood... after a decade of charts and concerts, the group comes to a halt... in 1979 the album Stormwatch is released, David Pegg, a bassist with long-standing experience, replaces the unfortunate John Glascock who died from a valve rejection after an open-heart surgery, the band falls apart, Barrie Barlow, drummer and close friend of Glascock, honors the bassist by paying for his funeral, creating a rift with the outgoing Anderson, David Palmer, the only member of the group whom Anderson holds in high regard, perhaps due to age and experience, distances himself due to growing discontent with the direction the group's sound is taking, John Evan, the keyboardist, who had been with the group since 1970, also distances himself, amidst problems with alcohol and matters of the heart. Anderson takes his time, on the suggestion of Chrysalis, the idea is for a solo work. It's the 80s and it's right to try the new sound, synthesizer keyboards take center stage, Anderson knows he needs to start over from scratch and will enlist new collaborators... Eddy Jobson, a multi-instrumentalist who accompanied Jethro Tull with U.K as a supporting act, arrives, Jobson brings along his trusted drummer, the extraordinary Mark Craney, who cut his teeth with Frank Zappa... not having recorded anything yet with the newcomer Dave Pegg, it was only right to assign him the task for the bass lines. Martin Barre arrived as Anderson couldn't find anyone to record the guitars, in reality, it was a more than targeted choice. The album is created in a short time, and Anderson himself was thrilled to see how the new lineup proved to be less opposed than the previous one, which by now was perhaps tired or characteristically stalled. After all this, since business is business, the album is released under the name of JETHRO TULL, Anderson admitted that at the end of the tour he hoped for the old lineup's return, but it didn't happen. It came out in August without filling fans with enthusiasm, the sound is different, futuristic, in some cases disturbing, but it's worth noting, it’s the last true album also for the live execution by Jethro Tull... let me explain, the musicians all hold an important position in prog so the execution of even the classics won't break the past's alchemy, something that will happen from 1982 onwards when the band will seek more linear arrangements. The album itself has an excellent opening, there are classics, notably fylingale Flyer with sharp and edgy figures, Working John-Working Joe is superbly balanced between country, blues to then become a new alloy prog rock. The Pine Marten's jig says it in the name itself, it's a sharp and aggressively progressive jig with a folk parody, it's a piece of instrumental prowess truly remarkable. Up to this point, the absolute pieces, Crossfire which opens the album is a good track, excellent Pegg's bass line, it's a very beautiful piece, but already less classic and represents the new course undertaken by the band, Black Sunday is that beautiful song that partly loses something after being heard live, on the record there's already a first decline in the singer's voice compared to the golden years, however, it’s less filtered compared to the two previous albums. Protect and Survive has a lot of drumming and a linear rhythm, a fair piece but not much more, Batteries not included is perhaps the piece that even displeases the most die-hard fans of the group, the song features sounds too different from synth-pop and so does Anderson's voice is modified to give it an air of disruption, nevertheless it remains a rock at least hard, and without developments. Uniform has interesting traits especially in the end, Jobson plays a solo violin and duets with Anderson who responds with the flute, also Pegg's bass often makes use of the synth, 4.W.D meanwhile has blues reminiscences, with massive Barre's solo, these songs have a slightly declining level because perhaps Anderson himself had not yet completely changed his approach to writing, so the pieces will still take into account the excesses of the past, lastly remains to close the album with the piece And Further on, a slow-very slow where the slightly catastrophic melody described by the wall of keyboards recovers a different dimension for the group, but announces what will be in the next album, a nice song a bit hard a bit sweet in the sounds.In the end, this album will remain unique because from then on we will not see Jethro Tull as we have known them anymore, and they will become a trio Anderson, Barre, Pegg, aiming to become a cover band of themselves, something evident from the album Crest of a Knave onwards. An album that critics surprisingly appreciated (too much for a Jethro Tull album) but perhaps it was a personal revenge given the album's poor sales. Strengths? The first three songs mentioned, the rest is a handover between the 70s and the future somewhat undecided. It's also the last album where the arrangement work of the rest of the group appears in the credits. Anyway, it’s an album that as soon as I bought it, I liked it very much, perhaps due to the performers' grit, for me a more than fair album.