Jethro Tull
War child

THE REVIEW

Preamble: Hello everyone, here I am facing the "ordeal" of a review resulting from a particular "competition" between myself and v8interceptor, not aimed at who can produce the better review, but the "challenge" is about who among us can offer an interpretation that is most closely aligned with the value of the work itself. In 1973, after the release of "A Passion Play," Jethro Tull, exhausted by the heated controversies between the leader Ian Anderson and the music press, found themselves at a crossroads. Should they continue to produce long and intricate suites, or should they return to a way of writing more akin to the song format? They chose the latter option. Anderson used material for what would become War Child, which had been previously written and partially recorded for a third mega suite that was originally intended to be a double LP. This material was the famous, or infamous, Château sessions, much of which ended up on "A Passion Play" and, with the excuse of the fire in which it was said they were destroyed, they were rearranged and the lyrics in many parts rewritten from scratch. What remained was used for War Child. You can feel the entire sense of discomfort that pervades the album, discomfort born from the fact that to escape the oppressive taxes of Her Majesty, Tull moved to France to publish their work outside the UK and bypass the norms that stipulated if a record was produced abroad, it would benefit from tax reductions because it was considered an import. But this turned out to be a boomerang; the difficulty in adapting to a different lifestyle, families far away, the not very democratic methods of the leader, and finally the controversies related to the fire that destroyed what had been recorded (which wasn't entirely true, as years later, one can listen to the original recordings on Nightcap) — the result left a bitter aftertaste for both fans and the press who were just waiting for an opportunity like this to once again grill the group. The tracks that make up the album don't bite; here and there, some good insights peek through, poorly exploited like in the title track, or the decent "Back Door Angel," but for the most part, they are lacking both in writing and in overly heavy arrangements, in which an accordion and an alto sax stand out, making the peculiar sound of Jethro Tull quite off track, rendering the whole work somewhat embarrassing. Despite being an epic flop, it managed to sell a lot, especially in the U.S.A., where they had a large fan base, buoyed by the single "Bungle in the Jungle," of a sparseness that borders on uselessness. In hindsight, it is and remains a missed opportunity, especially after hearing on "Nightcap" what was discarded. P.S. Unfortunately, "Nightcap" contains material mostly attributable to "A Passion Play"... and while considering this an excellent work, the recordings here are far superior to those that were eventually used, this to convey the state of confusion and frustration that reigned among Tull...