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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.
Tracklist and Lyrics
01 Crossfire (03:55)
Spring light in a hazy May
and a man with a gun at the door
Someone's crawling on the roof above ---
all the media here for the show
I've been waiting for our friends to come
Like spiders down ropes to free-fall
A thirty round clip for a visiting card ---
admit one to the embassy ball
Caught in the crossfire on Princes Gate Avenue
In go the windows and out go the lights
Call me a doctor. Fetch me a policeman
I'm down on the floor in one hell of a fight
I'm just a soul with an innocent face ---
a regular boy dressed in blue
conducting myself in a proper way
as befitting the job that I do
They came down on me like a ton of bricks
Swept off my feet, knocked about
There's nothing for it but to sit and wait
for the hard men to get me out
Calm reason floats from the street below
and the slow fuse burns through the night
Everyone's tried to talk it through
but they can't seem to get the deal right
Somewhere there are Brownings in a two-hand hold ---
cocked and locked, one up the spout
There's nothing for it but to sit and wait
for the hard men to get me out
02 Fylingdale Flyer (04:35)
Through clear skies tracking lightly from far down the line
No fanfare, just a blip on the screen
No quick conclusions now --- everything will be fine
Short-circuit glitsch and not what it seems
Fylingdale Flyer --- you're only half way there
Green screen liar ---
for a second or so we were running scared
On late shift, feeling drowsy eyes glued to the display
Dead cert alert, lit match to the straw
One last quick game of bowls --- we can still win the day
Fail-safe; forget the things that you saw
They checked the systems through and they read A-o.k.
Some tiny fuse has probably blown
Sit back; relax and soon it will just go away
Keep your hands off that red telephone
05 Protect and Survive (03:36)
They said protect and you'll survive ---
(but our postman didn't call)
8lbs. of over-pressure wave seemed to glue him to the wall
They said protect and you'll survive
E.M.P. took out the radio ---
(and our milk-man didn't call)
Flash blinded by the pretty lights,
didn't see his bottles fall
or feel the warm black rain arrive
Big friendly cloud builds in the West
(and our dust-men haven't called)
They left the dual carriageway at a hundred miles an hour ---
a tail wind chasing them away
And in deep shelters lurk below, sub-regional control
who sympathise but cannot help
to mend your body or your soul
Self-appointed guadians of the race with egg upon their face
When steady sirens sing all-clear they pop up,
find nobody here
And so I watch two new suns spin ---
(our paper man doesn't call)
Burnt shadow printed on the road --- now there's nothing there at all
They said protect and you'll survive
07 Uniform (03:34)
See black, see yellow with little notebooks drawn
See grey stripes bowling down the street
Silver streaks and T-shirts so precisely torn
Strange foreign chaps in white bed-sheets ---
Uniforms
See golden halo'd men of high renown
prance to the politicians' beat
Well tailored in unswerving elegance
with shoes by Gucci on their feet ---
Uniforms
How do you know who the hell you are?
Wake up each day under a different star
Dressed to the nines, meet yourself going home
like a clone, smartly dressed in your pressed uniform
White battle dress on green pitch, proud eleven
Beneath the swelling box so neat
the teeming millions of the future fly ---
the spinning cricket ball to cheat
They're all uniform
08 4.W.D. (Low Ratio) (03:42)
Met a man just the other day ---
said his name was Jim. Boy, won't you take a look!
Got a car for you --- it's a real steal
Cleaned it right down --- new brakes, clutch and here's the hook
Yes, it's a 4.W.D. (low ratio)
Cash to Jim. I took it home
through the deep mud. Plugged happy as a boy in sand
Fitted wide tyres, spotlight, a winch as well
and some brush bars up front to complete the plan
Now it's really a 4.W.D. (low ratio)
Take you down to the edge of town
Where the road stops, we start to hold the ground
Well, I'm blessed! Got traction in a special way
Hold the roll bar, slide back, feel me pull it round
Let me show you my 4.W.D. (low ratio)
10 And Further On (04:20)
We saw the heavens break and all the world go down to sleep
and rocks on mossy banks drip acid rain from craggy steeps
Saw fiery angels kiss the dawn
Wish you goodbye till further on
Will you still be there further on?
And troubled dynasties, like legions lost, have blown away
Hounds hard upon their heels call to their quarry --- wait and play
Before the last faint light has gone
Wish you goodbye till further on
Will you still be there further on?
The angry waves grow high --- cut icy teeth on northern shores
Brave fires that flicker, cough --- give way to winds
through broken doors
And with the last line almost drawn --- wish you goodbye till further on
Will you still be there further on?
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By Roby86
The album can prove useful for spending a carefree hour with quality music.
Mark Craney’s ability to blend power and finesse designates him as one of the best drummers to have appeared in the band.
