WAR CHILD

After the terrible critical reception (and for once, it was justified) of APP, Anderson announced the retirement of his group, but came back on his decision a few weeks later as another concept had started seeding in his mind. This included a double vinyl and a film to go along it, but for budgetary reasons (the petroleum shock/oil crisis was hitting Europe), it got vetoed by the record label and absurd Hollywood conditions. Tull was not the only one suffering from this and most notably Townsend's Lighthouse project also got canned around that same time too. While WC has the reputation of being one of two Tull albums being a saxophone album, it's really not the case... As with APP (the other one concerned); it's neither a major instrument, and Ian's playing is not as "basic" as some point out, even if we can say that he's no virtuoso as with his flute.

As a quick glance at the original track listing (10 rather short tracks) will show, we are in a vastly different outlook than with the previous TAAB and APP, but WC is actually musically fairly close to the second one, despite the short-song format, as some songs actually pre-dates APP. While there are a few entertaining tracks such as the dramatic Back Door Angels (from far the best track of the album, as it could belong on Aqualung), the rocky Sealion, the slow developing title track (which actually shows the ambition of the project) and the interesting Bungle in The Jungle. Others are much less enthralling, sometimes bordering on pop music like Queen & Country, Third Hoorah, Two Fingers etc. Actually all things considered this album has strong folk roots, but not really the way or the ones I'd like to hear them.

The irritating things really are the links between the songs (such as the Tea Ceremony between Sealion and Skating Away), which lead to the frustration of not having seen the finished project. One of the striking features of mid-70's Tull albums is the use, over-use and abuse of orchestral arrangements and rather surprising (but not necessarily in a good way) instruments such as bagpipes and accordions. This album is a perfect example of this, although I concede it does go down fairly well most of the time and it is much more irritating on later records, such as Stormwatch.

However, the rumour has it that the bonus tracks are so much better than the actual album, but I can assure you that it is not really the case: actually these tracks go hand in hand with the original album. The WC Waltz is a horribly cheesy orchestral piece, while the following Quartet is a rather failed attempt at it. But I do like Paradise Steakhouse or Glory Row and although flawed with that stupid Hare-like interlude, Sealion 2 is rather average.

Yes, with the help of the bonus track, this album is not more interesting, just longer ; it still remains not that essential to warrant its fourth star. Too bad that we will never see the full project, though.