J-TULL DOT COM

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.