STORMWATCH

The third album out of a series of three folky albums. Stormwatch is bit of a letdown, musically not being all too strong. This is somewhat understandable though, as bassist John Glascock was suffering from problems with his heart, which would unfortunately lead to his death not much later. The result is disappointing, with ony few moments that truly convince me of Jethro Tull's strength.

There really is just few music on here that's on the level of previous releases. Someone should always be careful when saying this, but I really find many of the music on Stormwatch to sound uninspired and therefore simply dull. Songs such as "Orion", which completely fails at being the melodic rocker it tries to be; "Home", which is in the vein of the previous song, yet softer; and the folky but ultimately dull "Warm Sporran", just make the album an inconsistent thing. "Dark Ages" is the longest track on the album, opening in a somewhat promising way, as if it's building up to the epic climax that's to come. Unfortunately, the piece never reaches such a climax, and instead it fails to really go anywhere. Yet again, the music doesn't sound all too ambitious here, with dull and dissapointing riffs and the tendency to drag. Fortunately, the album knows some good moments as well, such as the up-tempo album opener "North Sea Oil"; the heavy "Something's On The Move"; the melodic "Old Ghosts"; and "Flying Dutchman", a somwhat epic piece that I consider to be the highlight of the album. Also, Martin Barre's distinctive guitar playing in general is very enjoyable, even on the weaker tracks. This also goes for the bass playing, which Ian Anderson plays on most of the album.

Stormwatch seems an album lacking energy and ambition, which is somewhat understandable looking at the situation the band was in. Still, I take the music on the album for what it is, and the majority of it just fails to be what I suppose it tries to be. Therefore, Stormwatch gets merely two stars by me.