At the time
\nCrest Of A Knave<\/i> was released, Jethro Tull was trying to
\nfind a their niche in the chaotic world of popular music. The music
\nscene at the time was volatile to say the least. The “new wave’ had
\ncrested and in its synth-pop backwash, electronica and edgy
\nalt-rock were finding a foothold. Pseudo-metal hair bands were
\ntopping the charts. Hip-hip was becoming bigger and bigger, and
\nprogressive rock was foundering for a foothold in a changing
\nmarket. It’s no surprise then, the outcry when Tull walked away
\nwith a Grammy for “Best Hard Rock\/Heavy Metal Performance,” casting
\naside the likes of Aerosmith and Mettalica. Wait a minute, the guys
\nwith the flute? And the woodsy folksongs? Those guys?<\/p>\n
Deserved or not, you can decide for yourself. Me personally, I
\nwas ecstatic. For almost 3 decades Tull, and more so its founder
\nIan Anderson, had been much eschewed by the press and critics,
\nwhile amassing a fervent following of dedicated fans, and many gold
\nand platinum releases. After being almost completely ignored in
\nterms of industry recognition for so long, some found Tull’s
\nreceipt of the award to be small comfort relative to their
\nimpressive body of work.<\/p>\n
\nCrest Of A Knave<\/i> hit the perfect note for Tull, finding a
\ncomfortable place between the progressive folk-rock that was their
\nlegacy, and the inevitable electronic elements that were rising in
\npopularity. The foundation for this album, more so than any for
\nsome time, was the virtuoso guitar playing by Martin Barre. Barre
\nis responsible for the harder sound of this album, and it’s just
\nwhat the band needed to give this album the stylistic power that
\nhad been sorely lacking since
\nSongs From The Wood<\/i>.<\/p>\n
The album opens with pulsing synthesizers that immediately give
\nway to Barre’s powerful riffing to kick off “Steel Monkey,” almost
\nas if to say, “yeah we got the damn synths, but they’re nothing
\nnext to a properly wielded six-string.” That initial blast of
\nguitar is a statement, announcing that this, above all else, is a
\nguitar album. Those who enjoy the harder side of Tull’s sound
\nshould relish this disk (the first half especially). “Steel Monkey”
\nis a blast of pure hard rock, as is “Jump Start” which starts off
\nwith a slow creep, and ends up in a blistering exchange of guitar
\nand flute.<\/p>\n
One of the best tracks on this disc, “Farm On The Freeway,” is
\nvery likely the song that pushed this album into Grammy territory.
\nAnderson’s story of the loss of rural farmland to big business, and
\nthe selling of a son’s birthright, starts off slowly, with
\nAnderson’s flute providing a soft, melancholy framework for Barre
\nto play against. The tale it tells is a sad one, and one that
\nreflects a common occurrence in both the U.K. and the U.S., the
\nindependent farmer being pushed aside by progress and greed. “Nine
\nmiles of two-strand topped with barb wire \/ Laid by the father for
\nthe son” is how Anderson describes the family farm. The sad results
\nare revealed: “Now they might give me compensation \/ That’s not
\nwhat I’m chasing. \/ I was a rich man before yesterday \/ Now all I
\nhave got is a check and a pickup truck \/ I left my farm on the
\nfreeway.” This intelligent song becomes a showcase for some
\nincredible playing by both Anderson and Barre. This arrangement has
\na tangible feel and texture to it, which you don’t find many bands
\ncapable of. The mournful flute and Anderson’s lyrics combine to
\npaint a vivid picture of an all-too familiar story.<\/p>\n
The centerpiece of the album is the brilliant “Budapest.” At
\njust over 10 minutes, a song of this nature is a big part of the
\nalbum’s success. The older Tull fans crave more involved and
\nlengthy pieces, and “Budapest,” besides featuring Anderson’s
\ntypically witty lyrics, is another showcase for Barre and
\nAnderson’s playing. The song is one of two in which Anderson
\nreveals some of himself, describing his adventures meeting women in
\nforeign countries. It’s refreshing to see an artist being candid
\nabout himself, especially regarding age. Being old (or older) in
\nthe music industry can be the end of a career, but Anderson seems
\nto embrace middle age, and even has a sense of humor about it. For
\nexample, in “Said She Was A Dancer”: “Said she was a dancer \/ If I
\nbelieved her it was my business\u2026 \/ Well, maybe you’re a
\ndancer, and maybe I’m the King of Old Siam \/ I thought it
\nthrough\u2026 best to let the illusion roll.”<\/p>\n
Another harder, yet very melodic song is “Mountain Men” which
\nfinds Anderson writing about one of his common themes, war and the
\nmen who get sent off to fight them — in this case, the descendant
\nof a Scottish Highlander. The arrangement of this is Tull at their
\nbest, pulling together the lyrical imagery and the music into a
\nperfect union. This song has that uniquely British feel that Tull
\nis well known for. One of the things I love about these guys is
\nthat they don’t forget their roots. They are Brits, and they sound
\nlike it. So many European artists don’t retain any identity as to
\nwhere they are from. You can listen to them and neither the voices
\nnor the music reveal who they are. There is no doubt as to who Tull
\nare, and where they are from. The open verse of “Mountain Men” is
\ntypically of that:<\/p>\n
“The poacher and his daughter throw soft shadows on the water in
\nthe night A thin moon slips behind them as they pull the net with
\nno betraying light. And later on the coast road, I meet them and
\nthe old man winks a smile. And who am I to fast deny the right to
\ntake a fish once in a while? I walk with them; they wish me luck
\nwhen I ship out on the Sunday from the Kyle. And from the church I
\nhear them singing as the ship moves sadly from the pier.”<\/p>\n
The reference to the poacher and his daughter really doesn’t
\nrelate to the songs, it simply adds color and life to the story and
\nhelps set the stage for the rest of the song. A little creative
\neffort goes a long way to flesh the song out in a satisfying
\nway.<\/p>\n
There are a couple of weaker points on the disc, most notably
\nthe forgettable ballad “Waking Edge.” “Dogs In Midwinter” is also a
\nlittle disappointing. It has all the traits of a good Tull song,
\nwith the feel of the English countryside in the bright keys and
\nflute, but is lackluster in comparison to the more energized tracks
\non this album. A nice enough song, but lacking in power and a
\nlittle unsatisfying; it never gets the push it needs to be great.
\nOn another album it might have stood out, but here it lacks the
\npower of its hard-rocking brethren.<\/p>\n
Closing up this album is another blistering rocker, “Raising
\nSteam,” which could easily take up where “Locomotive Breath” left
\noff. A similar driving rhythm, and another opportunity for Barre to
\ndisplay his guitar prowess, complete an excellent album.
\nCrest Of A Knave<\/i> really has a little of everything that Tull
\nfans have come to expect. The slower songs retain just enough grit,
\nand the hard rocking number keep it in balance. Controversy or not,
\nit was a Grammy well-deserved, both for a great album and an
\nincredible career.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":26764,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5643],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-38034","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-jethro-tull","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38034"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38034\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38034"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}