J-TULL DOT COM

maybe the title of this album it's not necessary what I expected from the band but the content of this album is great. More blues influences than on ' Roots' but it sounds less orchestral than prevoius one...

You just knew I was to disagree with the first two advices. For the best album in Years , see its predecessor Roots to Branches as it is much superior and makes this one a minor let-down. I find this one to be on the level of Knave , Rock and Catfish - honest business as usual but certainly not indispensable. As for the cover, it is not horrible and I suppose that the Tramp found the title funny, but most fans don't . As a matter of fact, I was so taken back by that title that I waited quite a while to put an ear to it, as I was afraid of another digital experiment in the sort of dreadful Wraps. So an average album from Tull.

I think that the music is not toobad, in fact, there are many good themes, not the same level than the past years.I didn't buy this disc because the cover design is horrible. What is that animal? Do they want to represent something evil? I hope better ideas for Ian and his excellent group.

This is not the best Tull album , but it has a consistently high standard and contains many elements enjoyed by Tull fans since 1967. That is where this release shows its shortcomings .Unllike the brilliant roots which has a real identity Dot Com is almost an amalgam of Tull riffs and ideas from the past.Andersons flute dominates . However, it does contain three outstanding tracks Wicked Windows played about 2 times live in 1999 , Gift of Roses ( never performed live and The dog ear years. It also contains the plodding homage to hard rock Hunt by Numbers great live but a tad boring on CD

If i would have to choose an album of the last Jethro Tull 20 years, i choose this with no doubt. Even more than "Crest of a Knave". The elements of the Jethro Tull sound are here with some modern concepts. Anderson shows himself one more time as a great melodies creator. And bamboo flute gives a particular touch to some songs. My favourites songs are: "Wicked Windows", "Bends like a Willow" and "Dot Com", but i have to name also the incredible flute performances in "Awol" or the nice party style of "A Gift of Roses".

Mediocre @ best

All the good stuff is up front here. While J-TULL DOT COM was never going to be another "Thick as a brick", or "Aqualung", it does actually start off quite strongly, with a fine opening track in "Spiral". The following song, "Dot Com", which features the unusual (for Tull) sound of female singer Najma Akhtar, is more pop based. It does however have some pleasant synth work, and a strong melody.

Unfortunately, the momentum is quickly lost, and "J-TULL DOT COM" quickly becomes just another Tull album. The tracks are certainly diverse, ranging from the "Aqualung" like "Hunt by numbers" through the softer "Nothing @ all" to the semi-spoken "Hot Mango Flush". The album is in the main though uninspired, and largely dull.

A hidden track closes the album, preceded by a brief spoken introduction by Ian Anderson. The song is the title one from his solo album "The Secret Language Of Birds".

"J-Tull dot com" shows Tull, and more specifically Anderson, to be very much in cruise control, releasing albums of average pop based songs which lack inspiration or adventure.

(I'm not sure why this album is listed here as the "US release", the UK version is identical)

In my opinion this is not essential Tull but anyway is a very well done album. The reason is that this album is difficult to hear, it must be heared more times because at first hearing one can't appreciate it at all. And the cover is Ian's painting. It is a picture of an Egyptian god, Chnubis which means spirit of God floating over the waters' surfaces, later to be known as Amun (the hidden one), one of the eight bigger Egyptian gods. And that painting is based on a gargoyle-like sculpture by Ian's friend and former neighbour Michael Cooper. Now it stands by a pool in Ian's garden. (for more details see www.cupofwonder.com). So don't say "I don't want the album because the cover is horrible!!". In my opinion the strongest song musically speaking is Hunt By Numbers, but the masterpiece in the album is Wicked Windows which I can define as a long flash-back in the life of the author. Here Ian goes back through the years and analyses with marvellous lyrics his life as a star. And very beautiful songs are also the 3 love ones, Bends Like A Willow, The Dog-ear Years and A Gift Of Roses. Strange and Tull-unusual is Hot Mango Flush, some sort of rap with Barre's music and Anderson's lyrics (as always!). In this song we can see a technique of "piling up impressions" (Jan Vorbij) enumerating a serie of images which was already used in Mother Goose. A lot of images which come in rapid succession. So, in conclusion, a good album, not to be considered "low-inspired".

".better not remember me. Don't miss my passing."

Thus quoted Ian in the Dot Com album! What about this end of millennium work?

Four years after the stunning Roots To Branches, Jethro Tull tried again to achieve the same success. The odd title's album, derived from the URL of The Official Jethro Tull Website, once again offers an example of how Jethro Tull always chooses it's own course and manages to include and use every actual development in society to build up their sublime art. This way the band chose deliberately to inform fans and others who are interested by offering news regarding the band and their music directly. Whereas the Roots To Branches album offers us an innovative Tull, inspired by all kinds of ethnic musical influences, expressing all different moods and feelings, the new album seems to be a COMPROMISE. From one hand the album features Najma Akhtar, one of India's best known female classical and pop vocalists, who added her lovely female vocal to the beautiful soft title track; from the other hand Ian Anderson seems to return to the remembrance of some 70s "better days" composition as, for example, with A Gift Of Roses: ". I count the hours, you count the days, we count the minutes in this PASSION PLAY.".

The cover art is not of their best: a goat-headed divinity from the ancient Egypt, I think.

Spiral is about the waking-up process in which we spiral out of the dream's state into reality wondering which is the dream and what is reality. The narrator tends to waken up, but is confused (".who's out there, can't hear you."). Notable is the biblical images in this stanza: ".wine to water." and ".loaves and fishes.".

Hunt By Numbers is a hard electric guitar played song about Ian's cats. In the lyrics the moment is described when the cats are about to go out for their nightly hunting. The dark, almost brooding music evokes a threatening athmosphere. For information about Ian's hobby of breeding Bengal cats!!!

There is a slightly Caribbean feel to the music of Hot Mango Flush. Both Martin and Ian spent several holidays in the Caribbean. Ian Anderson at some crowded outdoor market in a small tropical harbour town.".wood smoke, old fish, diesel harbour.", where locals and tourists fill the small streets and look for things they fancy: ".the crowd moves like a flock of starlings.". The music is very strange (positively) and, in particular, the guitar of "Monsieur Le Barre"! This is one of my favourite songs in this 1999 album!

El Niño (Christ-child) is a word used for the warm current in the Pacific near Ecuador and Peru, that arises around Christmas. Good and interesting acoustic guitar with strong "underlining" by fiery electric guitar!

The best song here is a love song: Bends Like A Willow: beautiful! The Dog-Ear-Years and A Gift Of Roses are more than a resemblance with the Ian Anderson's solo album: The Secret Language Of Birds.

In conclusion: excellent album, not at the same level of the previous JT one (Roots To Branches), not at the same level of the next one (Christmas Album)! My personal rating: 3,5 stars! P.S. NEVER FORGET Jethro Tull!

It's hard to listen to a latter day Tull album after listening to an earlier one (Aqualung), because you do tend to compare. What really sticks out is Ian's voice so far up in the mix. I have to concentrate to hear the bass and/or keys. Don't get me wrong, Ian Anderson's lyrics are what usually drags me in on current Tull albums, but when you look back, the music usually supercedes. Ah, well....musically, the only song that sticks in my head, believe-it-or-not is the semi-rap "Hot Mango Flesh". Other than that, "AWOL" is the most progressive, and "A Gift Of Roses" is the prettiest. Other songs, "Hunt By Numbers', "Spiral", "El Nino" could have been on any Tull album since 1980. There's nothing new here other than the rappish song and maybe "Dot Com" with what I think is the first female backing vocals I've heard on a Tull song. Could be wrong, but....anywho, if you're looking for new ground, forget it. But it's not a bad album by any means, just your basic middle-of-the-road Tull album. Not earth-shattering, but not bad. A solid three-stars.

I have only recently become much aware of JT's music so comparing the modern music to the 70s material is not something for me to do at this point (having heard only scattered songs here and there).

That said, J Tull Dot Com churned out a better time than I was expecting given their sporadic activity as a writing unit these days. JT delivers a very solid performance that never seems to get tired or trite. There are a great number of interesting musical passages, melodies, and interplay. The important thing to remember, I suppose, is not to compare newer material to the so-called glory days of prog. While JT has clearly developed a more modernized folkish sound, they don't stray too far from their roots, and this is definitely a prog album unlike some in their back catalog. Although none of the songs may compete head-on with material from the band's heyday, this album can definitely provide any prog fan with something interesting.

Strange but ingenious rhymts and melodies! Even for JT and Ian a masterpiece of essential music... but not of Prog music.

Wen I listened to it for the first time I found it pretty weird but I found the melodies good. I know this is actually more mixed influences than really Prog or Art but the most songs were quite enjoyable for me. "Dot Com" has mystical rhytms and iI find it very ingenious (the bell-rings and the the percussion- and than the orientalic flute- woah! Really cool)

The album really contains Caribic- like music .

E. g. the flute in "El Nino" - though the song is more Hard-Rock- like. (The mighty barre with his mighty Les Paul) Hunt by Number is very fun- thee lyrics are typical Anderson- style. "Hot Mango Flush" is pretty cool as well. I liked the barking dogs and the trumpet, which made a very funny atmosphere. "Bends like a willow" is one of the songs you can perfectly relax with... an interesting guitar sound (I think it´s clean mixed with chorus and delay- Effects) and then the flute- very amazing. "Far Alaska" has a cool guitar solo (Ian on acoustic and then Barre) and I´ve never heard such rhytms.

The other songs are not really serious but I think they are ok.. for an album was released in 1999. There were No music like this in that time. (this sort of music disappeared more than 10 years ago, when J-Tull started to use more and more Hard- Rock influences in their music)

And that´s what I respected from JT.

I don't know what to do with this one. There is a bunch of good songs here, but overall it's too much of Caribic feeling and songs that could be on solo Ian Anderson albums. Spiral, Dot Com, Hunt Bt Numbers, A Gift Of Roses and my favourite Wicked Windows are very good tracks (exept Wicked Windows because it's great). On this numbers you can hear the old good Tull feeling. But tacks like Hot Mango Flush or Black Mamba ar not very proggy, or not even veryTull like songs. There's too much of that exotix feeling it them. I'm giving it 3 stars. Sorry Ian.

Four long years that the Tull did not release a new studio effort. Did they need this to create a masterpiece or were they short of inspiration ? I'm afraid that it is the latter option that will prevail.

With "Roots" the Tull has deeply explored Oriental flavours. For several numbers here, the same inspiration is valid ("Dot.com", "El Niño", "Black Mamba"). In the song "El Niño" Ian speaks about the meteorological phenomenon touching not only Asia but also other parts of the world. He shows his concerns for the climate changes (somewhat premonitory for what will happen with the Tsunami in 2004. I quote the lyrics : "Bathing in uncertainty, another age, seems to wing from T.V. screens in weather rage. Savage retribution makes for a headline feast, Planet-warming, opinion-forming headless beast". Remember, this was written in 1999 ! Their album "Stormwatch" already highlighted Ian's concerns for the future of our planet, but I'm afraid not enough people have listened to it).

Some poor numbers as well like both "Mangos". A heavy one with "Hunt By Numbers". The remaining tracks being rather average.

The numbers I prefer are "Spiral", "AWOL" and "Wicked Windows".

To date, it is the last studio album from the Tull with complete new material ("The Christmas album" features some already released tracks). It is not their best one. Nor was the supporting tour which I happened to attend while they were in Brussels.

I'm afraid that I can not go higher than two stars (even if there is a bonus or hidden track at the end of "A Gift Of Roses "called "The Secret Language Of Birds" which is a quite nice song and superior to most of the tracks of Dot.Com.

I finally caught up with this album a couple of days ago and can't stop listening to it. Just can't understand why so many other reviewers are 'down' on it. To me, this is Tull's most consistent and engaging work since the 70's and Barre is on form with a modern twist. Another positive is that the flute is very dominant. Yes, the album is diverse, but highlights Hunt by Numbers, El Nino and Far Alaska hold the whole thing together and give it a good shape. So...plenty of well paced riffing, flowing flute and Ian's on form lyrics/singing....what more can I ask? Well, I guess the creature on the cover could have at least worn some pants!

Some very good songs on this album. Awol, Wicked windows, Dotcom, Dog ear years and Far Alaska are all very good songs. An outtake song called It all trickles down is also very good and should have been included on the album. Hot Mango flush is also quite cool, while there are another 3 or 4 good tracks. Typically excellent music from Tull

Now what?

It would be too much to except the same level as on "Roots To Branches" which just coincidentally (or not?) happened in the 90's, but however, the man is hoping all his life..so I had high expectations for "J-Tull Dot Com" , especially following all that announcements on the Internet...but what's going on, what kind of name is that? Another digital experiment? Hm...I half-expected some sort of a soundtrack for a some Matrix or Mission Impossible-like type of movie, imagining Larry Mullen, pumping bass and techno rhythm. With Ian's sore throat and hollow bamboo flute. Ian jumping around dressed up as a tramp in a decor of virtual reality, surrounded by 3D-Matrix of neon-green Chinese ideograms.

Luckily, no, it's just a regular studio album, but unfortunately, it's just...a regular studio album. I have some sort of impression about a loose concept (or rather theme) of this album: the globalisation, the world as a global village, more than ever now when we have Internet.

OK, that was just a thought, I won't mention it again, we all know what he thinks about concept albums.

However, the album holds 50:50 ratio of good and mediocre songs, for example, "Dot Com" is a good one, with Najma Akthar (God! What is she doing here?) on backing vocals and a lovely synth and bass background, producing some sort of early 80's nightdriving mood, reminding me a lot of Paul YOUNG circa "No Parlez" period. Yes, that's a compliment.

(On a side note, this is not the first time TULL engaged a female backing vocals; they did it in the seventies. But just for live performances. It seems that those girls were quite ugly, and Ian wasn't trying to start anything with them in-between gigs, but John Evan was quite horny which led to...but I'm way off topic now.)

Other examples of good tracks here are "Nothing @ All" (not to be confused with the song with almost identical title from "Minstrel"). It's only an intro for "Wicked Windows", but it's awesome. The only track written by Giddins.

"Hunt By Numbers" and "El Nino" are both very heavy, perhaps the heaviest songs from the band's catalogue, and both very enjoyable, too.

"Dog-Ear Years" an "A Gift Of Roses" are nice too, both more acoustic oriented, in the more "traditional" TULL style. The same goes for non-credited bonus track, which is actually a song from announced Ian's solo album. And it's good song too, which makes me think, perhaps Ian "saved" the better songs for his solo effort? Because other tracks here are not top notch songwriting (if you don't count the lyrics which are always interesting to say the least).

After this one, no-one is sure which path will TULL take in the future: another masterpiece or another fiasco? Even now when I'm writing this, 8 years (!) after the release, and after some other releases in the meantime, we are all still expecting something more...

JUST ANOTHER JETHRO TULL ALBUM!

Again 4 years have passed since ROOTS TO BRANCHES when J-TULL DOT COM was released in 1999.I guess the inspiration and creativity tank of IAN ANDERSON was not as active as it was in the past; i don't think there is nothing wrong with that as the same thing happened with a lot of his contemporary peers such as ROGER WATERS ,GILMOUR, KC, YES and others who release new albums once in a blue moon. As of this year, 2007, 8 years later, J-TULL DOT COM is still their last current studio release. I am not sure now if there will be even another one in the future.

J-TULL DOT COM is not a masterpiece by any means, definitely not an ''excellent addition to any prog collection'' either. This is just a middle of the road JT release, its quality and originality well below ROOTS TO BRANCHES. This is not a bad album either as it is relatively pleasant to listen to it, but rarely it will make you shiver of emotion or jump to the ceiling from excitement.

JETHRO TULL keeps the same path than its predecessor as the sound adventures more and more into world music. The Asian influence is once again to be heard on many tracks such as DOT COM, a complete Asian experience with even ...a female Indian singer , BLACK MAMBA or WICKED WINDOWS.Now also, we get some carribean sounds with the,,,,yes, a BARRE song! HOT MANGO FLUSH. As the title indicates, we are NOT treated to a very elaborated song, i kind of understand why the guitarist don't write more for the band.

This is a more pop feel in the compositions; the longest songs AWOL clocks at 5:19s. As i said there are no really bad songs, but a quite a few un-memorable ones such as BENDS LIKE A WILLOW or EL NINO.The hard rocking SPIRAL and WICKED WINDOWS are the best of the bunch for me, but none would make it to any JT best-of......and there are A LOT of JT compilations.

I don't like to be harsh with JETHRO TULL as i like a lot of their music, but i have to be honest with this one: only.......

2 STARS.

This is the album that made me stop buying music by Ian Anderson.

Thank God I was owning all other Tull records by then. therefore I know what I expect from a Tull Album. This one is a complete mess - even worse than Under Wraps. Under Wraps had awful instrumentation but good songs - with dot.com it's vice versa. When IA issued Nightcap in 1993 he made some pejorative comments on the material in the liner notes and donated the revenues. In the case of J-Tull Dot Com he should do donations again. All compositions are sub-par, the low point being Hot Mango Flash and Mango Surprise. This album prooves that IA run out of inspiration - and the stuff on that thing is the result. I would rate it minus 5 stars if I could 'cause even 1 star is really to high for it.

Jethro Tull can be considered as one of pioneers of progressive rock which initially (end of 60s) explored their music in blues arena, combined with rock. Their music is characterized by the flute work, sometimes combined with dynamic acoustic guitar, and distinctive vocal style by Ian Anderson who also plays flute. Their "Thick As A Brick" has recently claimed by the reviewers of ProgArchives as The Most Pouplar Prog album of all time.

"J-Tull Dot Com" was their 1999 effort to promote their website. Musically, it's quite similar with their previous "Roots to Branches" album which basically a stratight rock music with evocative flute work. You would not find anything like "Aqualung" or "My God" or "Bakes St. Muse" or "Cross Eyed Marry" right here in this album. There is basically no catchy song that truly stirs your emotion. But, let's put it this way :

This album satisfies the expectation of flute-hungry prog lovers!

It depends on you whether or not you consider that flute is an enjoyable part in progressive music. For me personally, yes! In fact, I really admire those bands who use flute in rock style, including Focus and there was band from Hollands which sometimes used flute: Golden Earrings. I actually also love violin, in addition to flute, to be used in progressive rock music. Just imagine Genesis "Firth of Fifth" which sounds truly brillian with flute. Or, early King Crimson using violin (played by David Cross).

This album does not sound pretentious as typical old progressive rock tunes. However, I believe you would agree with me that the composition is tight with layers of eastern music. Even from the opening track you can feel it and it continues with other tracks. What also interesting is the use of guitar riffs reminiscence their "Aqualung" day, as you can find in "Hunt By Numbers" which has great guitar riffs in vintage style, blended wonderfully by flute work and accentuated singing style by Anderson. Also, other excellent riffs using guitar you can find in "El Nino". In fact, you can sense a bit of progressive metal vein even though the song itself is not metal at all.

Overall, I truly admire Jethro Tull with their ability to make this good album especially through tight composition while maintaining their music characteristics. Pick any song in this album, and ask your progmate to guess whose music is it? Your progmate would definitely say: "It's TULL!!!" (or, if he is a bit of wrong, he might say "Anderson" .. but it's okay.). Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW (i-Rock! Music Community)

This album J-Tull Dot com has mixed reviews here, from bad to good and excellent. I'm in second category, and i mean this is above good, is excellent addition to my collection. I simply enjoy this album very much and i considered to be the best Jethro Tull album since Broad sword and the beast. It has everything to be a good album, inspired pieces, great flute interplays and a lighter sound. Anderson is in good form, his voice is much smoother than on predecesors, but good. The title of the album is taken from thier web site J-Tull dot com, they try it to promote their web site through the album, a good choice and quite inventive i might say. The music as always is very fine with flute works on every piece, nice guitar chops by the veteran Martin Barre and excellent drum parts by Doane Perry. The keyboards sounds very smooth but as mood needed very eclectic and solid with strong shifts on Hammond and piano - the master is Andy Giddings. The best pieces are Spiral , Dot com - with a femele guest Najma Akhtar who gives a solid arabian feel to it, El Nino (the guitar sounds almost heavy metal, but is very ok) and Bends like a willow , the rest are ok. Someting must be mentioned, is that Anderson has a great ability to compose diverse pieces but keeping the main characteritics of Jethro Tull. So all in all an excelent album in my opinion, desearve much better view, 4 stars.

I don't understand why this album is rated so low. To be sure, it is not as good as the fantastic Roots To Branches album, but most things are not as good as that! With the exception of Roots To Branches, J-Tull Dot Com was easily the best Jethro Tull album for a long, long time.

Dot Com continues basically where Roots To Branches left off, the eastern influenced melodies that made that album such a big success is still here on several songs. The guitar sound has that same hard rock/metal sound to it on several songs. The flutes are varied and incredibly well played and well recorded. While listening to this album in my headphones, it sounds as if Ian Anderson is standing right behind me! The keyboards are allowed more space than on most Jethro Tull albums, and they sound great!

The vocals are great too and Ian sounds more energized here than on most of the bands 80's and 90's albums. The songs are generally short, but this does not mean that they are simple. Short songs can be progressive too, you know! And these songs are.

The general tone of the album is a bit more laid back, and a little bit less serious than the darker Roots To Branches. But this is not a whimsical piece of work. The songs fit very well together to make up a full, coherent album. Though, I admit it took a couple of listenings before the songs in the middle started to sound great to my ears.

Jehtro Tull continues to mesmerize me with this album and even if it certainly isn't the best of the band's many albums, I would not hesitate to hold this album up as an exemplar of the kind of music I like. That a band could make such interesting music after more than 30 years in the business is simply stunning.

Highly recommended!

It's been over ten years since it's release, and it's still the last fully original Jethro Tull studio album. Let's hope it won't stay that way.

I must admit that I was one of those who were disappointed at first by this album. Even now, it does not match up well againt the previous album, Roots To Branches.

The album does not start well. The first three tracks sound more like adult contemporary than prog, albeit Tull-flavored adult contemporary. It's not until Nothing @ All that the band begins to get it's mojo working. Wicked Windows picks things up, and by the time we get to Hot Mango Flush, and interesting blend of Tull and Caribbean music, we now have what could only be called adult contemporary prog. And it suits Ian Anderson's aging voice much better than the harder rock he had been trying to sing a few albums previously.

El Nino mixes the Eastern style used on Roots To Branches with a bit of South American, but it has a boring chorus that is saved by some fine guitar by Martin Barre. The album begins to fall back toward the blandness of the first few songs when Far Alaska, the best song on the album, comes to save the day.

This is definitely a mixed bag, the band is certainly mellowing out, but there are enough surprises to make it worthwhile.

And it comes to this....This is a hard album to rate. There is much on this that I really like. Some really strong tracks- "Spiral", "Black Mamba", "Bends LIke a Willow", and "A Gift of Roses". Everything else hera I find to be either weak "Dot Com", "Awol", or "Far Alaska", or just REALLY bad "Hot Mango Flush" (The worst Tull ever in my opinion). The hidden Ian Anderson solo track is average. While this is better than albums such as UNDER WRAPS and CATFISH RISING, it is just an overall average TUll release with some good and some bad, unfortunately the way the band has gone since the 80's on each album. 3 stars because of the really good songs found here and there on this.

Well no-one said Jethro Tull had to remain good, least which they care even less having enjoyed such a long history of wonderful releases. This release from 1999 does puzzle me as it is very poor indeed. I am kind of thinking that with the album title and all the Y2K compliance issues we had at the time moving into a new millenium that this was just a marketing tool to assist in revived CD sales. So as far as the album goes there are a few OK numbers like " Hot Mango Flush", dreadlock holiday anybody? " Black Mamba" and the bonus track referencing Ian Anderson's solo " The Secret Language Of Birds". Essentially this is a Jethro Tull template release and as such very poor and recommended for completionists only.

A very difficult album to review! Althouth this is a far cry from their best material it still has a lot of punch. Martin Barre's guitar is still one the heaviest that exists on planet earth and the instrumental prowess of all the musicians envolved is (as usual for this band) fenomenal. The band does sound a bit generic on this record, still they sound and play better than any other band attempting to do the same sound which is a simple hard rock attack with some folk arrangements thrown in for good mesure. The themes of the lyrics where very modern at the time. I never thought I'd hear Ian Anderson sing about the internet!! In sum this is album is generic at Its worst and a guilty pleasure at is best! worth checking out simply for que quality and joyfullness of the music

I don't understand the excessively low rating for this record. Tull are in fine (and self-enforcedly dated) form, dwelling on thoughts of age, electronics, and cats. The record slides into the unfortunate tendency of late-90's prog to address the meaning and menace of emergent technologies, but technophobia aside (indeed, the technophobic argument could be dismissed; Ian seems more interested than afeared) there is some damn fine playing on this very good album. I find myself revisiting J-Tull.com often; I fell in love with the band on their tour for this release, and still remember Mr. Anderson crawling all over the stage whilst warbling Hunt By Numbers. Yes, his voice is weakened, but I really don't find this to be a valuable or pertinent critique. Voices change. Indeed, Ian has acquired a new, weary, ironic character to his rasp, which has led me to fall in love with all of Tull's post-Under Wraps releases. The band rocks (Hunt by Numbers, El Nino), rolls (Spiral, Wicked Windows), and generally produces yet anther fantastic piece of salient art-rock. A solid 4 star release, and one of Tull's best late-period releases.

'J-Tull Dot Com' is not a popular album among the Tullite faithful but this is actually a solid consistent album with great melodies and excellent musicianship.

I chanced upon this album when I walked in to the library to borrow some books and Cds and there was a shelf with a sign, 'All ex rental CDs $1'. I had to look of course and the usual rubbish was sitting there, country, classical, old stuff and albums that made no impact whatsoever. Imagine my surprise when I picked this one up. Okay, I reasoned it's Tull in the late 90s so perhaps a dud but even if at least 3 songs are decent it is worth the effort. I played it in the car on the way home and I was amazed at how good this is. It does not get a lot of love round here but this is actually quite heavy and has some memorable riffs and melodies, and the flute is superb.

Check out Barre's riffing on 'Hunt By Numbers' and Anderson sounds serious and very accomplished vocally. His flute warbles manically and is as good as I have heard him. The shimmer of Hammond is heard and the drumming is exceptional. Why all the hate proggers? Okay it's not 'Thick as a Brick', but what is? I am not going to compare this with the 70s as that's a useless feat, but in itself this album is entertaining and there are no bad tracks. It actually has an incredible song 'Spiral' that kicks off the album admirably. This is followed by 2 excellent innovative tracks, 'Dot Com' and Awol'. 'Nothing @ All' is certainly one of the highlights, with dazzling flute and guitar. The songs are progressive and inventive throughout.

The acoustics are here too with songs such as 'Hot Mango Flush'. The lyrics of this are fun; 'ladies with ice cream hair, gyroscopic pink neon beams, everybody's happy about something.' There is even a King Crimson like rhythm and wonderful bassline. What's not to like? This is followed by the Arabian feel of 'El Nino' that is captivating and mysterious. The chorus has a metal style distorted riff, some of the heaviest from Barre. 'Black Mamba' is a flute feast and some wonderful melodic singing. Anderson goes for a darker tone than the whimsy of the past and it works.

He still knows how to tell a story such as on the enigmatic 'Bends Like a Willow.' The trade offs of guitar and flute in this is superb. The time sigs change a few times too and I like this more experimental approach for the band. 'Far Alaska' has a frenetic flute line and very cool guitar phrases. The lyrics are intriguing; 'Norwegian fiords in the ever-light of Solstice' and 'now get me out of here I cry in air rage psycho-doom.' The lead break is great and some synth in mellotron style.

Overall I can't fault this album and, like 'Roots to Branches', it definitely is a welcome heavier side of the band in terms of Barre's guitars and Anderson's perfect vocals. It is a different side of Tull but one that I admired due to the way that the band demonstrate they can still produce innovative prog albums in the wake of a slew of fairly pedestrian releases in the 80s, that Tull had churned out previously. I would rate this as one of Tull's best and the best $1 I have spent!

As a young cub I was an avid fan of Jethro Tull up until "Aqualung" came along. I realize that the majority of folks consider that record to be a brilliant milestone but in my mind it ruined their mystique and made them sound ordinary and imitative. I quickly got over my disappointment, though, and moved on to adore other prog pioneers like Yes, Genesis and ELP who tickled my fancy just as convincingly. About six years ago I decided to start catching up with the group's subsequent product one album at a time, concentrating mainly on the records they released from '72 to '87. You see, one of the few advantages of aging is that elapsed decades grant perspective. Some were good, some were excellent and some were lousy. I didn't hold out much hope for being impressed with anything that came after the oddly confounding "Crest of a Knave" and skipped ahead to their most recent studio creation, 1999's "J-Tull Dot Com," just to see where they ended up. I feared the worst but was pleasantly surprised by it. The music is fresh, not dated at all, and it seems they were no longer trying to beat their listeners over the head anymore. They've matured and mellowed like a fine wine. Just like I have.

Unfortunately, they open with the least attractive song on the disc, "Spiral." My initial impression was that they were foolishly attempting to live up to the misapplied label the Grammys stuck on them when they awarded the very first hard rock/metal LP-of-the-year trophy to them in the late 80s. Perhaps I'm mistaken and they weren't doing anything of the sort but they do cop a very noisy, aggressive attitude musically on the verses and choruses while, in their favor, during the middle instrumental section they back off and achieve a decent level of progginess. The positive news to come out of this cut is that Ian Anderson's nagging vocal ills appear to be behind him at last. "Dot Com" is next and it's an endearing throwback to Tull's formative stage. The tune's subtle, smooth mien fits them better and Ian's flute playing is shockingly good. What I like best about it is that it deserves to be crowned with a moniker I find to be woefully rare these days: Interesting. "AWOL" follows and it's even more of a step up. I truly admire their not abandoning their imaginative prog mindset and choosing to continue to boldly mix folkish melodies with contemporary rock instrumentation, something they've done better than anyone else since '68. This number is primo JT material and proves that they haven't lost contact with their unique genius. "Nothing at All" is a short but superb solo piano intro to "Wicked Windows," a strangely-arranged rocker possessing a light jazz coloring that tints the atmosphere ever so slightly. I admire the complex nature of the song but, in all honesty, I find nothing to lock into or focus upon. "Hunt by Numbers" is uneven. Martin Barre's electric guitar tone isn't as brash and brittle as in the past but the band struggles when they base a tune so heavily on a riff. Gotta hand it to Ian, though. He tears it up on the flute spectacularly.

At this point the album could've disastrously headed south but, instead, it improves dramatically via the fun, eclectic "Hot Mango Flush." As if Jimmy Buffett woke up one morning in Progland instead of Margaritaville, this delightful cut features a tasty blend of acoustic and electric guitars that anchor an intriguing, motivational groove. At the same time, they don't shy away from taking some complicated detours from the norm. "El Nino" is one of those songs that's hard to describe because it's so schizophrenic, turning on a dime from light to dark repeatedly. It may not be greatness but boring it surely ain't. "Black Mamba" is a cool rocker driven by alternating measures of 8/8 and 6/8 time signatures that wisely avoids overexploiting Barre's guitar line, allowing the stirring orchestration to augment the central melody Led Zeppelin style. "Mango Surprise" is a brief semi-reprise of the earlier tune but this time the theme is presented inside a playful yet strong percussion presence. "Bends Like a Willow" is a small step back, an inauspicious rock ditty that at least contains a somewhat adventurous instrumental interlude. The remainder of the record is top-notch, though, beginning with "Far Alaska." It's another nostalgic revisiting of their stupendous "Stand Up" era when they liberally indulged in blues, jazz, folk and rock & roll flavorings without asking anyone's permission to do so. I love it when they break all the rules as they do here. "The Dog-Ear Years" offers evidence that modern studio technology suits them quite well as they're more able than ever before to weave a myriad of tracks of various instrumentation together without any of them clashing or cluttering up the overall ambience. They end with "A Gift of Roses," a wonderful tune that assures proggers worldwide that progressive folk fare is not only upright and breathing but has the potential to thrive in the 21st century if the new generation will take the baton and run with it. The track's tactful accordion adds character to the number and, if you're anything like me; it leaves you with a satisfied smile on your mug.

No doubt, Jethro Tull's glory days are over and this could possibly be the final "official" album from them we'll ever hear as evidenced by 2012's "TAAB 2" being released as principally an Ian Anderson solo project. (The JT Christmas record from '03 belongs in a different category altogether, I suspect.) If that's the case then I'm content and I applaud them for going out on a high note with "J-Tull Dot Com." They certainly outlasted most of their prog peers and didn't take shortcuts or make lame excuses about being too old to rock & roll anymore when they got down to business and produced this one. It's a more-than-respectable record that has many more ups than downs so I don't hesitate to recommend it. 3.5 stars.

For this reviewer, Jethro Tull's studio output has been quite inconsistent since "Crest of a Knave". Not to say that they didn't come up with any great songs within those albums. "Roots To Branches" was a really good album and this one followed it three years later. I must say, the musicianship is on top form as usual by the band, most of all Anderson's flute playing. His voice is mellower, without the gruff edge he had when he was younger. The lyrics are a lot more whimsical but I can't say that the songs are of the band's best quality. It is definitely not as good as the Roots To Branches album. There is nothing terrible here though, but nothing amazing either. "Dot Com" is very pleasant with its Eastern flavours. The most intereting is the ethnic "Hot Mango Flush". As I said, the band sound good and the album is well produced. It is quite nice background music and some of the other songs have warmed to me a little more over time but as a whole, I'd recommend it for fans only.

"Spiral" is a very strong hard rocking track to open this review with. "Bends like a Willow" is a track that could have come off of the previous release and it is pleasant to the ears. "Awol" is just ok for me until a third of the way through the track when my ears prick up and the track becomes fatter in content. I like "Nothing@all" and it almost reminds me of Keith Emerson, a very short piano piece. "Wicked Windows" is a little quirky - it's a weaker track as far as I'm concerned. "Hunt by Numbers" is a number about cats, a standard rock track although a pleasant diversion. "Hot Mango Flush" - quirky and bawdy and interesting. "El Nino" is an interesting track that carries the world music flavor from the previous release. "Black Mamba" named for what is acknowleged by many to be the deadliest serpent on earth due to its venom and aggressive nature. This track, though, is not about a snake. "Mango Surprise", sheesh this guy has a depraved brain. "Bends like a Willow" again a world music flavor and again hiddenly erotic. "Far Alaska" is a standard number. "The Dog-Ear Years" does nothing for me - it's merely there. "A Gift of Roses" has strong references in the lyrics to the older, brilliant, album (A Passion Play) other than that it's merely pleasant. "The Secret Language of Birds" is a bonus track - an appetite wetter to something that sounds quite interesting.

This, for me, is a good and pleasant album however it holds no Tull highlights among the covers bookending it. In places the middle eastern strains from the previous release are still present however this is very much more a standard rock release from Tull. I can't in all honesty award this 4 stars but I can't fault it either. It's a fun listen. So - a solid 3 stars from me.

Underrated at most, but I think this is their best since Crest of A Knave. Is not popular and very different. J Tull Dot Com was a great surprise after all the poor material. I will say something strange, but one of my favorite moments of the album is Nothing @ All (a very short track, almost 1 minute). The instrumental of J-Tull Dot Com is (finally) very pleasent again. And Ian Anderson's flute is workin hard and great here! Many good songs, including the first two tracks, that I really appreciate. A little bit better than the previous Root To Branches, but some weak passages prevent me to rate this more than 3/5.

Ian Anderson might be my favorite rock star personality-wise. His interviews are always insightful and a joy to read. One of the recent (2018) articles reflected upon the 50-year history of Jehtro Tull and fans' expectations. Let me quote the juicy bit:

Popmatters: Fast forward to the present: you are currently working on a new solo album?

Ian Anderson: A year ago, we spent several days rehearsing and then a few days at a recording studio to do seven backing tracks for a new album which was all by that point last March all written, and we recorded seven tracks. At that point, I had to go on tour. I was looking towards to finishing it off during the course of 2017 with a view of releasing it this year, but along the way, the 50th-anniversary thing rather loomed large - not so much in my mind, but other people's minds. By the summer I decided I would have to put the project on the shelf for a year because this would be a bad year to be releasing a new piece of product given that we have so many releases and re-releases of material to do with the 50th anniversary year. I think it would make it a bad year to expect fans to go out and yet buy another brand new album. Anyway, I'm well aware not just with Jethro Tull but with most bands who have been around for a long time with what the fans want. They don't really want a new album by the Rolling Stones. They want an old new album by the Rolling Stones. What they want is something in their dreams that's going to sound like an early Stones album. You can't turn back the clock and do that again. They hope Pete Townshend will write another Tommy. I don't think it's very easy to go back and do that without it sounding rather cynical and heavy-handed.

At this point Ian Anderson seems to be more about preserving Jethro Tull's legacy, taking care of his fan base and generally doing good job with revisting old material in a tasteful manner. I guess that's the reason why he no longer releases new albums under Jethro Tull's moniker, being satisfied with a solo release every couple of years and extensive touring with classic Jethro material. It's a vast catalog, even if he's mainly focused on pre-Wraps albums.

But in the eve of new millenium, Ian & Martin still wanted to give us new output on a regular basis. And now, in hindsight, "J-Tull Dot Com" may be seen as the last true attempt on hard rocking folkish formula - in a broad sense at least. If we look at it closer, we'll see a spiritual successor of "Roots to Branches" on many levels. Smooth production, very 90s sounding synths and F/X, upbeat tunes and oriental influences - that's the spirit of 1999 release in a nutshell.

I can't tell honestly if expanding Tull's sound to world music was a genuine artistic decision at the time, or rather a shallow gimmick to stay relevant and come off as "forward thinking". Admittedly, "Roots to Branches" had those Arab/Eastern guitar licks and harmonies in spades, while on "J-Tull Dot Com" they are toned down and only serve as a flavor. Do they taste good though? Depends where you're looking. "El Nino" tries to captivate that mysterious, elusive aura of "Perfect Strangers" and "Kashmir", contrasting Eastern melodies with heavier riffing and obligatory flute fills. "Awol" features some of that in its instrumental section - perhaps the most progressive moment on the LP. But at other times - "Dot Com" being the prime example - it feels forced and unnecessary, resulting in a disturbingly mellow, AOR infused banality.

Speaking of "Awol", that particular song proves that Ian's vocals, gradually deteriorating since mid-80s, were the most limiting factor on later Jethro albums. How can you match the excitement of "The Whistler", lofty heights of "Hymn 43" or tear-jerking romanticism of "Orion" with tired and blown-up voice? I feel sorry for him because I can tell he's still a good musician, especially when he takes over with a flute solo. Ian the Flautist was really in a great shape in 1999, so sharp and clean. Martin Barre also delivered a seasoned, professional performance, especially on B side.

Generally speaking, tracks between "El Nino" and "A Gift of Roses" impressed me much more than the opening set. Here we have quite rad "Black Mamba" with its "orchestral" bits - not nearly as epic as Sabbath's "Supertzar", but passable. "Bends Like a Willow" features nice grooves, "The Dog Ear-Years" makes a good use of accordion and pleases with a surprisingly throwback feeling. For real, if I were to pick one song reminiscent of good old days, that'd be it - feels like an outtake from "War Child", barring production. What else do we have? "Far Alaska" is the cool guy, hands down. Very laid-back guitar chops, nice instrumental bridge and quite ballsy soloing keep me interested. "A Gift of Roses" is another decent effort.

Unfortunately none of the above are instant classics, and for every "okay" song we get one mediocre. "Spiral" is too generic, "Wicked Windows" too tame, "Hunt by Numbers" too disjointed. Make no mistake, this album is written and played by a bunch of middle-aged (no offense) rockers and more often than not it takes The Safest Route. And I haven't even mentioned the silly, disgusting "Hot Mango Flush" - song so poor it might run for the worst Jethro's record ever. There is a good share of blunders on this album.

If you set your expectations properly - stop thinking about progressive elements, embrace the middle-aged, straightforward rocking with minor exotic influences - you'll find it a passable album. I'm afraid the weakening vocals drag it down a lot, many listeners might be put off so much they won't give it a full spin. On the other hand, the average level of composition is slightly higher than "Rock Island" or "Catfish Rising" (but also a step down from "Roots to Branches"). I'd say it's 2.5 star album overall, good enough to listen in your car on a peaceful countryside trip - but unworthy of three full stars. The dynamics suffer too much to let it fly.

Not a sum of it's parts.

Dot Com is a perplexing album in that all of the songs are well played but just don't mesh. After the fantastic melodic display, witty to wistful lyrics and killer time changes of Roots To Branches, Dot Com just falls flat. The songwriting, musically and lyrically, is not on the same level of that found on RtB, but the same holds true for the weak Catfish Rising and Rock Island albums. Both are somewhat musically satisfying with a handful of standout songs but I can find none memorable on Dot Com. Of those that had promise (but not staying power) Spiral, Awol, and Wicked Windows are noteworthy but the title track, Hunt By Numbers, Bends Like A Willow and Far Alaska are just plain boring while Hot Mango Flush and El Nino, where Ian goes Caribbean, are just laughable, despite Martin Barre being reanimated on guitar and Anderson giving a clinic on both concert and bamboo flutes throughout the album. Anderson made two impressive solo albums after this debacle, The Secret Language of Birds and Rupie's Dance. I wish one of those was the last album to carry the Jethro Tull moniker. Perhaps shortening the band's name on Dot Com's album cover to J-Tull was sage.

Better than expected after all the dismal things I heard about this one, actually somewhat enjoyable. Ian and the band trying many different things here, so there is a variety of styles, which is interesting, but also what seem like some odd choices for the band. Not at all bad, there are several good tracks here, and some are quite fun, including a strong finish to the album, but also some very questionable tracks. Runs the gamut from harder rock songs like Spiral to a lightweight acoustic caribbean-themed ditty (Hot Mango Flush) that is unlike any other Tull song. Thus, overall, a pretty good, but somewhat uneven album. Does contain quite a lot of great guitar and flute work throughout. Best tracks: Dot Com, Hunt By Numbers, Far Alaska, The Dog Ear Years, A Gift of Roses. Weaker tracks: El Nino, Black Mamba. Rating: 3ó

Jonathan Noyce officially joined as Jethro Tull's bassist for their next album, 1999's J-Tull Dot Com. (Incidentally, this new lineup would become Jethro Tull's longest-lasting roster, enduring until 2007.) Stupid album title aside, Tull's twentieth (non-compilation) album is pretty enjoyable. It continues in the same vein as Roots to Branches in its combination of sorta-proggy hard rock and superficial "Eastern" influences.

The opening "Spiral" is a pretty decent hard rock song, but it establishes a recurrent issue on this album. There's almost nothing about it that stands out. It's an enjoyable four minutes, but once it's over, the song does nothing to stick in your memory. "AWOL", "Hunt by Numbers", and "Black Mamba" all suffer from this very issue.

"Hot Mango Flush" is a song that does stick out, however, primarily from its sheer weirdness. It has a jumpy, tropical feel, and Ian Anderson seems to be channeling Fred Schneider of the B-52s in his half-spoken vocal delivery.

The title track features the most overt Indian flavors on the album, enhanced through the heretofore-unheard-of use of a guest vocalist. Such influences pop up elsewhere on the album, including rather heavy-handedly on both "El Niño" (which also features Martin Barre's most metallic guitar riff ever in the chorus) and the aforementioned "Black Mamba".

Dot Com ends on its two strongest tracks. "The Dog-Ear Years" Sounds like it could have been on War Child, due to its overt folkiness and dashes of saxophone. "A Gift of Roses" is in a similar mold. It's less proggy in its structure and instrumentation. It's a pretty straightforward song, but the melody is strong, and the accordion was a smart addition. (The original CD release also contains the title track of Ian Anderson's then-forthcoming solo album The Secret Language of Birds as a hidden track after this song.) These two songs demonstrate that folky, proggy hard rock was Jethro Tull's strong suit.

Unlike a lot of previous Jethro Tull albums, I'm not sure there are any songs on this album I'd describe as "bad," per se. It's all enjoyable (even if the album is about ten minutes too long), but so little of it stands out in any significant way. It feels so ephemeral.

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