CREST OF A KNAVE

I am a big fan of Jethro Tull and this is my favourite Jethro Tull album. It would be nice to give it 5 stars but I honestly can't because it's not a masterpiece of progressive music as it's not really very progressive. However, this album is interesting for a number of reasons.

First, they won a Grammy award for this album as the hard rock/heavy metal album of the year (famously beating Metallica). There was much hilarity about this at the time but in fact the award is well deserved. If you want to hear Tull at their hard rocking best then you can't go wrong with this album.

Second, the album is not without it's progressive moment. There is the 10 minute track Budapest which involves a nice interplay between Ian Anderson's flute and the guest violinist Ric Sanders (of Fairport Convention). This track remains a favourite at concerts. On the latest release of Aqualung, there is an interview with Ian Anderson from 1999. In that interview he says that the complexity of Budapest is much better than anything available on Aqualung and something that he would not have been capable of at the time of Aqualung.

Third, in the recent re-release, Ian Anderson dedicates this album to guitarist Martin Barre. This is one of Martin's best albums, where he is allowed to show what he can really do.

So if you want pure progressive rock, this album is probably not for you. But if you're looking for intelligent well-played hard rock then you'll love this.