HOMO ERRATICUS

Ian seems to keep telling people that it's some sort of metal album. I'm not sure why he thinks that, but metal this is not. Stylistically it strays pretty close to a slightly harder rocking Heavy Horses. In saying this, I mean it takes into consideration all those lovely textures and clean arrangements. This album also gets quite inventive, with some interesting rhythms, meter changes, and progressions. In the accompanying deluxe edition documentary, he even mentions Captain Beefheart as providing some inspiration.

I think Ian's voice is sounding better than on TAAB2. It doesn't have that punch it used to have, but it still all sounds quite nice and he expresses the lyrics well. His flute-playing seems to get better with every album, which it should. After all, every album contributes to his playing experience. The band plays through the music very proficiently. If anything, they sound a bit too polished for some bits. It might just be due to the fact that most of them are pretty clean-cut jazz and classical musicians. However, they still add a lot of character to the parts and interpret them very nicely.

The concept includes Bostock again, so you know it'll be weird. It chronicles humanity's rise and fall as the dominant species on earth, as told by some guy locked in a sanatorium after an unfortunate run-in with malaria. However, it is quite poignant and sometimes rather unsettling. Pop culture references from all periods are everywhere. You actually really have to pay attention to catch all of them. They work well and are obviously very well thought-out.

Stylistically varied, musically solid, and lyrically curious, Homo Erraticus is a great solo album from Ian Anderson, and probably his best outside of Jethro Tull. The one real negative is that having heard so much of his other work, there are moments where it seems a little too formulaic. However, it is still an incredibly enjoyable effort and something I am sure I will find myself listening to on and off for years to come.

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