Jethro Tull
Crest of a Knave

In 1984, the era of JETHRO TULL as we knew them, both praised and criticized, probably comes to an end...

After the Under Wraps Tour, Ian Anderson had to come to terms with about 20 years of rock behind him. Crest of a Knave was released in 1987, inaugurating what I describe as a new, low-cost TRILOGY... Along with Rock Island and Catfish Rising, it would form a trio of albums dedicated to a new era of more commercial rock, often with a NON-formation. The band would rally around the trio Anderson-Barre-Pegg, with home production and a certain desire for lightness applied to the music of a group that no longer needed to prove anything to anyone...

Elsewhere I said that from here on, Anderson would opt to direct a COVER BAND of itself, recovering the elements that made the group great. But beware, this album is a source of so much history and topics that can distract from the actual content of the music within...

In fact, the band dismantled the Metallica (in perfect BIMBIMINKIA version) by being served a Grammy for Best Hard Rock Album of that year... Metallica didn’t know how to lose, let alone win, since the following year, after endless whining, which only pumped up the more cynical Anderson (a savvy rock man who filled crowds when metalheads were still bursting pimples in the mirror) accepted a reward by uttering a phrase like perfect wankers (Luckily this year Jethro Tull did not release an Album), Metallica would deliver other gems like the Napster embarrassment-torment.

This record also presents news of a completely different nature. Anderson adopted a new writing method, the voice of the golden years had been lost. It was never understood what spoiled a splendid voice which had already been declining for years but was always superb. It was hypothesized an alternative singing technique, but I recall only one occasion where Anderson (with astounding results) attempted, and that was in Cross Eyed Mary in 1971.

It was said that the pitches for the pieces of Under Wraps were too high, but I point the finger at the concert activity of that year. Anderson inexplicably raised the pitch on some songs, probably making a mistake. Songs like Fat Man from Stand Up, hardly played over the years and therefore with little experience; it wasn’t the only mistake. At the end of Live, with an already hoarse voice, he would conclude with Locomotive Breathe with a chilling Robert Plant-style scream...

Until 1976, Anderson smoked a pack of cigarettes a day, then those who go with the lame learn to limp, and with the arrival of David Palmer, he was ALWAYS AND EVERYWHERE PIPPA...

But the voice simply declined. This is about a lost voice, and the final blow came when, in 1985, after vocal cord surgery, Anderson didn’t heed the doctors who advised a year off. Instead, the band made a single (and poor) appearance for the commemoration of J.Sebastian Bach...

The new voice would suit the new pieces well but would suffer increasingly with the old compositions, worsening over time. Today Anderson is assisted by another singer.

Crest Of a Knave is a decent album with good songs, sometimes liberatingly fun. The computer programming remains, for example, drums and keyboard in some pieces are handled by Anderson. But what becomes evident is Martin Barre's sound; this time my cautionary finger points at him. If before he was a skilled tailor and a delightful finisher and master of the riff, here he pumps up distortion and effects a lot, becoming a bit "metallic" in ZZ Top style. In my opinion, he would lose something on electric, becoming, however, a SUPER on acoustic.

There is a desire for rock without disorienting or provoking the fans, and it is felt in pieces like Steel Monkey (a fine radio hit) Prog Blood and Origin (Farm on the Freeway, Budapest), Rock nonetheless AOR (Mountain Man) balance fails (The Waking Age) and Hard folk that is not entirely satisfying like Jump Start... Re-listened to, the whole album slides away honestly and with pleasure, the pleasure of a group that even recycling itself knows how to propose something attractive.

Curiosity, this was supposed to be Doanne Perry's debut album on drums, but it seems the death of his mother interrupted his contribution to drums on 3 songs. On two others, Anderson's samples return, and in the remaining 4, Gerry Conway, already present in Broadsword And The Beast, returns...

Martin Barre appeared leaner and sprightly instead for his new passion for Marathon and running, the album's title was a pun like "Crest of a Wave" and was decided only after the graphic work for the cover.

An album, therefore, so to speak...debut...remains a work without real cultural demonstration compared to the Art Films of the '70s, but it would be great to have undemanding albums like this. The music is old, but it is the way of interpreting it and the characteristics, acquired over the years, that make it new. Not authentic like the true Jethro Tull, not important or ambitious as Under Wraps should have been but easily enjoyable years later when we all got over the Progressive hangover...

The Hard Rock and a little Metal cut will also be the sound of the new Live concerts where, having a certain age, the group will reduce the muscular work of the golden years, always providing great entertainment... A band that once again surprised...

MUSICIANS' OPINIONS ON THE ALBUM:

Anderson confirms that Budapest is his most successful composition of the entire repertoire, the one that encapsulates all the JETHRO TULL verb. This album is one of Anderson's 5 favorites according to a statement from 1997 where he included it along with Stand Up, Aqualung Songs From The Wood, and Roots to Branches.

Martin Barre will put it in black and white that from 1987 onwards, every Jethro Tull riff will be his...

LIVE:

The most considered ever Farm on the Freeway, Budapest, Steel Monkey immediately, in '90 Said she was a Dancer, and in '91 also present Jump Start...