Post by Mark Lavallee on Sept 25, 2012 13:18:22 GMT -5
For the first time in their career Tull took some time off. With the A tour finishing up in February of 1981 there was a 14 month live break, towards the end of the year Anderson and Co. went into the studio with a revamped lineup to record one of their most popular albums, Broadsword And The Beast.
Released on April 10th, at home in the UK the album peaked at #27, in line with recent releases. Here in the US it made it's way 11 places higher than it's predecessor at a respectable #19. However throughout Europe the album sold phenominally well, outselling all of their earlier albums (which begs the question of why they never play anything off it live anymore???)
After the A tour "special guest" Eddie Jobson moved on and needing a steady paycheck drummer Mark Craney left as well. In their place was keyboardist Peter-John Vettese, a very busy session musician (Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Go West, Pet Shop Boys, Bee Gees, Cher, Foreigner, Carly Simon, Clannad, Paul McCartney [he turned to the keyboard spot in Wings, LOL]) and on drums Gerry Conway, most famous as being Cat Stevens' drummer, and a current member of Fairport Convention.
The album is a nice cross between the more modern synthesizer sound of A and the folk-influenced story of the late 70s. This is one of Tull's heaviest albums and would serve as a good introduction to the mullet crowd that are afraid of acoustic instruments or anything too complicated or atmospheric. This may well be the most accessible album in the entire Tull catalog.
This was a very fuitful writing period for Anderson, a ful 25 songs were recorded for the intended double album, unfortunately Chrysalis Records wouldn't hear of it so a good portion had to sit lingering in the vault. This would be the first time that Tull worked with an outside producer, Anderson having produced everything up to this point. They chose former Yardbird Paul Samwell-Smith most famous for producing Cat Stevens, Carly Simon, Renaissance, Murray Head and others.
Side A opens with the track Beastie. A song about private fears that people don't like to talk about. Straight away you know this album will be quite different from the prior album, A. Still very synth heavy and definitely "80s" the guitar is more prominent and it's much heavier. A good, if not great opener. Strangely enough this was released as a single (peaked at a miserable #50 in the US.) During the tour "which Anderson refers to as Tull's Spinal Tap tour) as the line in the song "There's a beast upon my shoulder and a fiend upon my back" said, well, they took this quite literally for the elaborate stage show...
Next up is the far more traditional Tull sounding song Clasp. With a great driving rhythm and a haunting flute riff, odd arrangement, a truly great song. A song about people who shy away from physical contact.
Up next is another one that was released as a single, the wonderful Fallen On Hard Times, indeed it managed to peak at #20 in the US. Lyrically a perfect summary of political disillusion that most people were feeling at that time. A very strong Tull rocker which is really catchy, great stuff.
Next is Flying Colours, a song about a couple going through a bad patch taking delight in publicly humiliating each other. A softer song with a very poppy arrangement. Good but not essential.
Concluding the first half is the ballad Slow Marching Band, a song about the dissolution of a relationship. One of Anderson's most beautiful compositions. Considering half the songs on the album were released as singles, I think it's quite surprising this one wasn't as it's really got a powerful, memorable chorus.
Side B opens with the menacing slow build of the excellent Broadsword. A song about the history of invasion of the British Isles and the duty of the men to protect their families. A great heavy rocker, one of the best tracks on the album with a nice Martin Barre guitar solo. Shockingly this was also released as a single.
The following track, Pussy Willow, is a more traditional Tull sounding track, another real big favorite. A song about a girl in an unrewarding job who fantasises about a more ideal existence who is forced to face the reality of catching the train to work in the morning. This has been in and out of the live rotation for decades. Great chorus, one of Tull's best. This was also a single off the album. And check out this live video from 1983, now who is that on drums, eh? ;D
Up next we have, IMO, the weakest song on the album, the very dated Watching Me Watching You. A song about the paranoia of being out in public and feeling all eyes on you. It's synth heavy arrangement is quite monotonous. And again, an odd choice for a single.
Thankfully the next tune makes up for that one, the excellent Seal Driver. Lyrically ambiguous, dark and brooding with an excellent guitar solo and great rhythm. One of the very best from the album.
Things wrap up with the short outro Cheerio, used by the band to close concerts for decades. A brief goodbye.
As I mentioned earlier there were a further 15 songs recorded for the intended double album. The remaster gives us 8 of those tracks and in many cases they're even better than what made it onto the album. The strangest thing is considering how many singles were released off the album that none of these tracks ended up as B sides. The remaining 7 tracks are available on the Nightcap compilation which I'll get to in time.
Up first is Jack Frost And The Hooded Crow, this song did eventually see release as the B side to the Coronach single in 1986. A song uses the title characters to symbolise bad luck and the cruelty of nature. A great electro-folk song, a nice cross between where Tull had been and where they were at the time.
Next up the straightforward love song Jack-A-Lynn, Ian's wife Shona's middle name is Jacqueline. One of the most beautiful, tenderest songs Anderson has ever composed. A wonderful vocal and surprisingly heavy ending. Big, big favorite.
Next we have Mayhem, Maybe. This would have been a perfect addition to Songs From The Wood. A song about the mischeivous side of faeries and their practical jokes. Ian's vocals, flute and whistles were recorded in 1988.
Too Many Too is a dark song, an expression of disillusionment with the current state of affairs and a calling for a turning of the tables. Another great rocker with a wonderful melody and some great subtle guitar touches from Martin Barre.
Next we have Overhang, a clear pun on hangover, the narrater of the song unsure about what happened during the night of heavy drinking. A great rocker with a very catchy hook, should have made the album, should have been a single!
Rhythm In Gold is a song about the rich man's mistress and her Porsche 911. Not a favorite of mine, not much there to latch onto.
Next up is I'm Your Gun, a song Erik could get behind with the message clearly spelled out "it's not the gun that kills but the man behind" Ian has a shooting range on his 1000 acre property and is known for his love of shooting targets and things. A great rocker, very catchy.
Lastly we have the brilliant Down At The End Of Your Road. A song about how that nice, respectable neighbour of yours just might be a devious bastard in reality. A real estate agent who sabotages his neigbours houses because he wants to sell them, LOL Great solo by Martin, a nice sense of tension throughout, a great, great song.
Anderson has remarked that this was their "Spinal Tap" tour, it was their last to feature an alaborate set design. The entire stage made out to look like an old ship with giant masts and whatnot which actually rocked as if on waves. Some great video of the tour but unfortunately the cameramen never thought to zoom out and give a good look at the stage.
After the tour drummer Gerry Conway parted ways and Anderson finally went off to do his first solo album, taking along Peter-John Vettese to play keybaords while Anderson played all the guitars, bass, alongside his usual vocals and flute. The album was quite a departure to say the least as was the next Tull album, the highly controversial Under Wraps. I'll cover both in my next review.
Final Thoughts:
A strong return to form while keeping things very modern, a nod to their hard rock roots. This album is beloved in Europe, full of strong, catchy songs, an underrated gem. The addition of another album's worth of outtakes makes this one a no-brainer. A few fillerish moments and one outright bad song mar things a bit.
4.7 out of 5 stars
Released on April 10th, at home in the UK the album peaked at #27, in line with recent releases. Here in the US it made it's way 11 places higher than it's predecessor at a respectable #19. However throughout Europe the album sold phenominally well, outselling all of their earlier albums (which begs the question of why they never play anything off it live anymore???)
After the A tour "special guest" Eddie Jobson moved on and needing a steady paycheck drummer Mark Craney left as well. In their place was keyboardist Peter-John Vettese, a very busy session musician (Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Go West, Pet Shop Boys, Bee Gees, Cher, Foreigner, Carly Simon, Clannad, Paul McCartney [he turned to the keyboard spot in Wings, LOL]) and on drums Gerry Conway, most famous as being Cat Stevens' drummer, and a current member of Fairport Convention.
The album is a nice cross between the more modern synthesizer sound of A and the folk-influenced story of the late 70s. This is one of Tull's heaviest albums and would serve as a good introduction to the mullet crowd that are afraid of acoustic instruments or anything too complicated or atmospheric. This may well be the most accessible album in the entire Tull catalog.
This was a very fuitful writing period for Anderson, a ful 25 songs were recorded for the intended double album, unfortunately Chrysalis Records wouldn't hear of it so a good portion had to sit lingering in the vault. This would be the first time that Tull worked with an outside producer, Anderson having produced everything up to this point. They chose former Yardbird Paul Samwell-Smith most famous for producing Cat Stevens, Carly Simon, Renaissance, Murray Head and others.
Side A opens with the track Beastie. A song about private fears that people don't like to talk about. Straight away you know this album will be quite different from the prior album, A. Still very synth heavy and definitely "80s" the guitar is more prominent and it's much heavier. A good, if not great opener. Strangely enough this was released as a single (peaked at a miserable #50 in the US.) During the tour "which Anderson refers to as Tull's Spinal Tap tour) as the line in the song "There's a beast upon my shoulder and a fiend upon my back" said, well, they took this quite literally for the elaborate stage show...
Next up is the far more traditional Tull sounding song Clasp. With a great driving rhythm and a haunting flute riff, odd arrangement, a truly great song. A song about people who shy away from physical contact.
Up next is another one that was released as a single, the wonderful Fallen On Hard Times, indeed it managed to peak at #20 in the US. Lyrically a perfect summary of political disillusion that most people were feeling at that time. A very strong Tull rocker which is really catchy, great stuff.
Next is Flying Colours, a song about a couple going through a bad patch taking delight in publicly humiliating each other. A softer song with a very poppy arrangement. Good but not essential.
Concluding the first half is the ballad Slow Marching Band, a song about the dissolution of a relationship. One of Anderson's most beautiful compositions. Considering half the songs on the album were released as singles, I think it's quite surprising this one wasn't as it's really got a powerful, memorable chorus.
Side B opens with the menacing slow build of the excellent Broadsword. A song about the history of invasion of the British Isles and the duty of the men to protect their families. A great heavy rocker, one of the best tracks on the album with a nice Martin Barre guitar solo. Shockingly this was also released as a single.
The following track, Pussy Willow, is a more traditional Tull sounding track, another real big favorite. A song about a girl in an unrewarding job who fantasises about a more ideal existence who is forced to face the reality of catching the train to work in the morning. This has been in and out of the live rotation for decades. Great chorus, one of Tull's best. This was also a single off the album. And check out this live video from 1983, now who is that on drums, eh? ;D
Up next we have, IMO, the weakest song on the album, the very dated Watching Me Watching You. A song about the paranoia of being out in public and feeling all eyes on you. It's synth heavy arrangement is quite monotonous. And again, an odd choice for a single.
Thankfully the next tune makes up for that one, the excellent Seal Driver. Lyrically ambiguous, dark and brooding with an excellent guitar solo and great rhythm. One of the very best from the album.
Things wrap up with the short outro Cheerio, used by the band to close concerts for decades. A brief goodbye.
As I mentioned earlier there were a further 15 songs recorded for the intended double album. The remaster gives us 8 of those tracks and in many cases they're even better than what made it onto the album. The strangest thing is considering how many singles were released off the album that none of these tracks ended up as B sides. The remaining 7 tracks are available on the Nightcap compilation which I'll get to in time.
Up first is Jack Frost And The Hooded Crow, this song did eventually see release as the B side to the Coronach single in 1986. A song uses the title characters to symbolise bad luck and the cruelty of nature. A great electro-folk song, a nice cross between where Tull had been and where they were at the time.
Next up the straightforward love song Jack-A-Lynn, Ian's wife Shona's middle name is Jacqueline. One of the most beautiful, tenderest songs Anderson has ever composed. A wonderful vocal and surprisingly heavy ending. Big, big favorite.
Next we have Mayhem, Maybe. This would have been a perfect addition to Songs From The Wood. A song about the mischeivous side of faeries and their practical jokes. Ian's vocals, flute and whistles were recorded in 1988.
Too Many Too is a dark song, an expression of disillusionment with the current state of affairs and a calling for a turning of the tables. Another great rocker with a wonderful melody and some great subtle guitar touches from Martin Barre.
Next we have Overhang, a clear pun on hangover, the narrater of the song unsure about what happened during the night of heavy drinking. A great rocker with a very catchy hook, should have made the album, should have been a single!
Rhythm In Gold is a song about the rich man's mistress and her Porsche 911. Not a favorite of mine, not much there to latch onto.
Next up is I'm Your Gun, a song Erik could get behind with the message clearly spelled out "it's not the gun that kills but the man behind" Ian has a shooting range on his 1000 acre property and is known for his love of shooting targets and things. A great rocker, very catchy.
Lastly we have the brilliant Down At The End Of Your Road. A song about how that nice, respectable neighbour of yours just might be a devious bastard in reality. A real estate agent who sabotages his neigbours houses because he wants to sell them, LOL Great solo by Martin, a nice sense of tension throughout, a great, great song.
Anderson has remarked that this was their "Spinal Tap" tour, it was their last to feature an alaborate set design. The entire stage made out to look like an old ship with giant masts and whatnot which actually rocked as if on waves. Some great video of the tour but unfortunately the cameramen never thought to zoom out and give a good look at the stage.
After the tour drummer Gerry Conway parted ways and Anderson finally went off to do his first solo album, taking along Peter-John Vettese to play keybaords while Anderson played all the guitars, bass, alongside his usual vocals and flute. The album was quite a departure to say the least as was the next Tull album, the highly controversial Under Wraps. I'll cover both in my next review.
Final Thoughts:
A strong return to form while keeping things very modern, a nod to their hard rock roots. This album is beloved in Europe, full of strong, catchy songs, an underrated gem. The addition of another album's worth of outtakes makes this one a no-brainer. A few fillerish moments and one outright bad song mar things a bit.
4.7 out of 5 stars