STORMWATCH

Stormwatch, released in 1979, is an altogether darker and moodier album than its predecessors. Ian Anderson attributed this partially to the poor state of the British economy in the late 1970s (as evinced by songs like "North Sea Oil" and "Dark Ages"). This dour mood was only compounded by bassist John Glascock's health issues. Due to congenital heart issues, he recorded only three songs for this album before Ian Anderson told him to take time off. Anderson, then, played bass for most of this album. (And perhaps not coincidentally, this album is Jethro Tull's most bass-forward release.)

This music on this album is suitably grim. It retains a lot of the folk inflections of the two preceding releases, but Martin Barre's guitar looms larger and more ominously. John Evan's organ and Dee Palmer's synths add to this oppressive atmosphere. The opening "North Sea Oil" encapsulates this aspect perfectly. It's a song addressing Britain's dire economic straits with an edgy, anxious minor-key riff.

Even calmer, folky moments, like "Home", have a certain downbeat atmosphere about them. Anderson's plaintive singing is enhanced by a mournful string arrangement and some downright-morose electric guitar lines.

"Dark Ages" is, for my money, Jethro Tull's last true epic. It's a complex, multi-parted song that weaponizes the darkness of the music to build a driving, emotive monster of a song.

There's no neat way of fitting this in, but the remastered release of this album features a song called "King Henry's Madrigal". It's a rendition of "Pastime with Good Company", written by King Henry VIII. I'm pretty sure that makes this the single-most British piece of music ever recorded, and I'm also pretty sure that if you drink a pint of British beer while listening to this, you're granted automatic UK citizenship. (I wouldn't know, as being the snob I am, I drink only Northwestern IPAs with enough hops to kill a medium-sized mammal.)

Stormwatch marked the end of an era for Jethro Tull. Following this album their sound would change dramatically, and the overall quality of music would take a downward turn, though they still had a few good albums in them. For four of Jethro Tull's six members, this would be their last release with the band.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2019/07/25/deep-dive-jethro-tull/