SONGS FROM THE WOOD

I happened to slot this CD in the player a couple of days ago, and it immediately reminded me why I appreciate Ian Anderson and Jethro Tull so much: this is a band with probably the most easily recognizable sound in the whole genre of progressive rock, thanks to Anderson and Martin Barre. Another thing that makes me appreciate Tull a lot is that they could change their style so often without losing their true character. Songs From The Wood is often considered as something where Anderson "gave up", because it was the time for him to go further away from the epic stuff that the band had written on Thick As A Brick and A Passion Play, which have pleased so many prog fans. For me it doesn't matter at all, because every single track on Songs From The Wood is good. There are obvious highs Velvet Green and Cup Of Wonder, but I like the lighter tunes as well, such as The Whistler. Martin Barre is doing a great job with his guitar.

My only regret is that there is only ony track longer than six minutes (Pibroch (Cap In Hand), with its baroque allusions), because Tull had shown that they can build large structures with convincing cohesion. Yet this is one of the outstanding summits of Jethro Tull's career.