Jethro Tull made the late 60's and 70's explode with folk and prog. and all sorts of expeditious bewilderment on behalf of music fans everywhere, and most of you snobs probably have such classics as prog-parody Thick As A Brick, art-rockin' Aqualung and mayhap even the primordial Songs From The Wood.
I doubt any of you casual collectors have this under the belt however. After all, most prog. outfits don't have very good reputations after 1979. Everyone tried to jump aboard the New Wave cruise ship upon it's departure and most only found the open arms of the sea embracing them. 1982's The Broadsword And The Beast, however, represents those slim pickings of groups who not only made the deck, but excelled upon arrival. Ian Anderson's wily fluteage and exotic instrumentation-meets-hard rock is still the order of the day, but the synths of the era have certainly burrowed deep into these arrangements and birthed something that under normal circumstances wouldn't exist: Progressive Synth-Folk!
This special edition remaster features 18 tracks in total, and the standouts are numerous within the whole of 'em, especially on tracks where the 80's elements and Tull's classic sound clash headlong ['Beastie', 'Rhythm In Gold', ''Jack Frost And The Hooded Crow', and so many others]. It's like a bunch of robots sitting by a campfire somewhere in the depths of a Mideastern wood and smoking spark cigars by the light of the stars!
For those of you who dismissed post-70's Tull as washed-out stains from an era long bygone, this record will go an equally long way towards changing your mind, if not lighting your fires to explore even further to see where the true difference lies in reputation and actual execution. Consume this with pleasure, ladies and gents!
Listen Here - "Clasp"
The guiltiest of guilty pleasures!
ReplyDeleteYou fucking pervert ;P