THE WHISTLER

Two of my favourite Jethro Tull albums are Thick as a Brick and Songs from the Wood. 'The Whistler' was taken from the latter. It is not among its best songs, or favourites of mine personally, but nevertheless it's a good example of the charming prog folk dynamics gracing very aptly titled Songs from the Wood. The chorus is catchy in its very fast tempo. The tin whistle (in the chorus and in the solo) is frankly too high-pitched to sound nice to my ears, but otherwise it's a fascinating song with fine details such as marimba in the arrangement.

On the backside is 'Strip Cartoon' which was a non-album song. It has appeared as a bonus track of the CD reissue of the preceding album Too Old to Rock'n'Roll, Too Young to Die! (1976), for which I have never really warmed up to. Despite some fine songs, to me it's among the band's least interesting albums. I'm not sure but considering the cartoon design on that album, it seems likely that 'Strip Cartoon' was originally intended for Too Old. It sounds quite similar, especially for the production, as the album's rather irritatingly humorous title track -- which is one of my least fave Tull songs ever. As a song this one probably becomes just as easily worn-out with repeated listenings, because the chorus is repeated too often in the end. A fairly OK, harmless song in the rarities section of the Tull catalogue, but of a minor interest on the long run.

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