HOMO ERRATICUS

Flutes and medieval melodies can only get you so far. Ian Anderson, renowned for his work in Jethro Tull, has released a new solo work entitled "Homo Erraticus". That's quite an interesting title, as you can probably tell that his focus here is on revealing the inconsistencies and illogical nature of humanity. So far---so good, in my book. Yet, there is so much in this album that just screams "Mediocre".

Clocking in at around 51 minutes, "Homo Erraticus" seems to go on forever. You already know what the music sounds like: It sounds like Jethro Tull. Flutes and organs and I'm sure quite a bit of frolicking are all involved here. Anderson is wonderful on the flute, and there are certainly some great flute solos here and there. The rest of the band, in all honestly, barely exists. Oh, sure, there's the bass player (barely) and there's a drummer (beat keeper extraordinaire), but none of them really make any significant contribution. For the most part, this album is about Anderson and his flute.

Anderson's strange voice is on display, as well. The lyrics and vox are very folksy in nature, and they don't really require much skill or range. Indeed, this whole album sounds like I should be sitting at a Renaissance festival or something. I mean, I love that kind of stuff, but Anderson composes his music with such dullness sometimes that the added thrill of the medieval flair is lost.

As I said, flute solos won't always save you from mediocrity. "Homo Erraticus" is average in just about every way possible, besides flutes, obviously. The album is cheesy as hell, hippy, and just plain cringe-worthy sometimes. Every single song seems to follow the same structure, which is strange for a supposed "progressive" release. Heck, the songs barely have any structure, as they're mostly very short. Anyways, Anderson just loves to give us choruses that sound all the same wherein he says the title of the song very plainly and dully. Basically, every song follows some sort of boring pattern of a verse + chorus + flute solo combination. It gets pathetic after just a few songs.

There are some tracks I like. I like "The Turnpike Inn" quite a bit for what it is, and I like the opening track "Doggerland", too. The rest of the album blurs together unforgivably. The promising lyrical content, too, disappoints. It never gets any deeper than the skin, and ends up wandering off in rabbit trails that don't interest me.

Ian Anderson's newest solo effort is just another album in a line of disappointments and bores for me this year. The last couple months have been very lackluster in the prog world, and I'm hoping that something will pick up soon. If you like an hour's worth of the same flute solos and songs that all sound exactly the same, "Homo Erraticus" is for you. If not, don't buy it, and maybe Ian Anderson will just go away soon.

2.5 stars