Jethro Tull
The Jethro Tull Christmas Album

They had to fall for it too. A forewarning can be glimpsed from the syrupy cover. Cliché. The rock legends seem to cling to the rock of clichés like barnacles, inexplicably immune to the erosion of audiences and critics. Some with orchestras, others with covers of other bands that aren't even worth half of theirs, and some by turning their glorious past repertoire into a miserable acoustic version (thank you MTV!!!): almost all the indomitable musical groups have fallen into the trap. If we mix in mere consumerism disguised as Christmas in the background, the omelette isn't just made, it's overdone and burned in the frying pan of show business. Jethro Tull, whose last official studio album was released in 1999 with the good Dot Com, returned in 2003 with the "Christmas Album".

The album can be divided into three parts.

Let's start with the best section, namely the new pieces written specifically for the "occasion". Ian Anderson dedicates Birthday Card At Christmas to his daughter Gale, who was born on December 25th. Good flute, exotic atmospheres, and a nice guitar piece by Martin. Last Man At The Party is great, truly an excellent track, with the mandolin mixed with Ian Anderson's magic flute weaving remarkable patterns. The lyrics are an allegorical parody of Christmas. On a completely different note is First Snow On Brooklyn, a sort of sentimental Christmas melodrama disguised as a song, which the fans love. I wonder why, as it's horrible. And then there's the instrumental A Winter Snowscape, a piece that's all in all good. For the first time in 35 years, there's a track exclusively written by Martin Barre, even though, in reality, Ian Anderson wanted it borrowed from Uncle Martino’s solo album 'Stage Left', adding flute here and there.

We move on to the mediocre (and pointless) part of the album: the traditional English Christmas Carols rearranged by Ian Anderson. And so we have Holly Herald, born from the fusion of Holly And Ivy and Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!; there's God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, which Ian has been performing in a raucous way since the '70s, connecting it to the flute solo (for example, in Bursting Out), here reinterpreted in a jazz key; there's Pavane, the traditional composition by G. Fauré; there's Greensleeved, perhaps the only really nice rearranged song, on the well-trodden theme of Greensleeves; there's We Five Kings, that is We Three Kings, but the Jethro are 5... so Five; in short, we've had enough of it. Let's admit it.

Finally comes the horrendous part, even more useless than the second, and it's nothing but the aforementioned cliché. The old Jethro Tull hits redone with the current lineup, more or less in a Christmas theme. So why comment on them all? A Christmas Song, Another Christmas Song, Jack Frost And The Hooded Crow, Weathercock, Fire At Midnight, Ring Out Solstice Bells and Bourée were all great tracks, back in the day. Why ruin them? Ian Anderson's voice isn't what it used to be, and that's known, but re-singing the old tracks is a pure and simple own goal. Moreover, in my opinion, the band doesn't add the right verve, nor the passion, nor the energy that characterize the originals. And what about the band itself? Great musicians all, but there's nothing left to prove here. It's essentially a band kept on a tight leash by Ian Anderson. No one plays an extra or unplanned note without his permission. Doane Perry and Jonathan Noyce take turns giving way to Dave Pegg and James Duncan, Ian's son, respectively. As a result, not a single track features the current and official lineup (even keyboardist Andy Giddings plays bass on a couple of tracks). Enough to ask for your money back for fraud and use the CD for skeet shooting.

I recommend this album only to those who want to give a rather original Christmas gift and to those who are unfamiliar with Jethro Tull. However, those who want to dispose of the CD, well... this is the ideal opportunity, around Christmas... It is also the ideal gift for the girlfriend who only listens to Eros Ramazzotti and nags you endlessly, or for the grandma sensitive to the Christmas spirit, who gets emotional easily. But true Jethro Tull fans know that this represents a weak moment of low inspiration, surpassed in the negative only by 'Under Wraps', and they eagerly await the recovery album. Keeping my distance from it, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!