It’s an unwritten rule in the world of rock and roll: no matter
how hard you try, the album you release after a blockbuster is
almost always viewed as a disappointment. This is not always the
artist’s fault — after all, they can’t control the expectations of
the fans. Worse yet, they can’t please all of the fans.
For Ian Anderson and crew, they faced this dilemma for the
second time in 1978. Coming off of the wonderful disc
Songs From The Wood, it was hard to imagine how Jethro Tull
could top this effort. The answer: they couldn’t. The follow-up
disc,
Heavy Horses, contains some fantastic material, combining
the worlds of folk and harder-edged rock (kind of like merging
their two previous albums into one), but otherwise falling short of
the target.
Anderson and his bandmates do try to build on the folk basis
they created with
Songs From The Wood, and they often do well heading in this
direction. “One Brown Mouse” might be a throwaway idea, but it is a
charming little song and remains a hidden gem in the Tull
discography. Likewise, the title track brings back memories of
“Songs From The Wood,” mixing gentle, harmonized vocals and
drifting melodies in with some solid rock (thanks in no small part
to the guitar work of Martin Barre).
Indeed,
Heavy Horses starts out strong enough with the one-two punch
of “And The Mouse Police Never Sleeps” and “Acres Wild.” And while
“No Lullaby” sometimes feels like it overstays its welcome, it is a
decent enough track to keep the listener’s interest for most of the
song.
But much of
Heavy Horses sounds like Jethro Tull is growing a little
listless in their musical direction. Tracks like “Moths,”
“Journeyman” and “Weathercock” don’t seem completely comfortable in
their musical skins, even sounding a tad forced. Whereas
Songs From The Wood was an organic experience which
overflowed with joy in the performances,
Heavy Horses features performances which sound labored at
times. And while the strong tracks are well worth the listener’s
time, they just aren’t enough to salvage the entire disc.
Does this mean that
Heavy Horses is a bad album? No. But it has become one of
the “forgotten” Jethro Tull albums, most likely because it contains
no hit singles or tracks which get played ad nauseam on classic
rock radio. The disc still has plenty going for it, and does
deserve some attention. Maybe, had
Songs From The Wood not come out, this disc would be seen in
a brighter light, since there would be no comparisons drawn. But
while
Heavy Horses tries to follow in its predecessor’s footsteps,
it occasionally stumbles.
