Songs from the Wood [Bonus Tracks] [Remaster]

Performer: Jethro Tull
Engineer: Robin Black
Producer: Ian Anderson
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: Jethro Tull: Ian Anderson (vocals, acoustic guitar, mandolin, flute, whistles); Martin Barre (electric guitar, lute); John Evans, David Palmer (keyboards); Barriemore Barlow (marimba, glockenspiel, drums, bells, nakers, tabor); John Glascock (bass, background vocals). Personnel: Ian Anderson (vocals, whistling, acoustic guitar, mandolin, flute); John Glascock (vocals, bass guitar); Martin Barre (electric guitar, lute); John Evan (piano, organ, synthesizer); David Palmer (piano, portative organ, synthesizer); Barriemore Barlow (marimba, glockenspiel, drums, nakers, tabor, bells). Liner Note Author: Ian Anderson . Recording information: La Maison Rouge Mobile Studio; Morgan Studios. Author: Ian Anderson . Unknown Contributor Role: Keith Howard. Arranger: Jethro Tull. In terms of rustic, tights-wearing, elf-loving, flute-heavy, British/Celtic folk-tinged '70s prog-rock, SONGS FROM THE WOOD is the most Tull of all Jethro Tull albums. By 1977 the band had ventured far enough from its heavy blues-rock beginnings to create a completely unique, idiosyncratic sound, filled with European folk mythology, rural imagery and an endearing combination of art-rock and British folk-rock. Elaborate synthesizer fanfares mix with delicate acoustic guitar tapestries, complex arrangements and odd time signatures. SONGS FROM THE WOOD strikes the perfect balance between the proggie ambition of THICK AS A BRICK, the storytelling style of AQUALUNG and the courtly, medieval air of MINSTREL IN THE GALLERY. This album, which seemed so soft and lyrical in its original CD incarnation, comes to us with some surprisingly sharp edges in its remastered form -- the 24-bit audio allows us to practically hear the action on Ian Anderson's acoustic guitar and puts Barriemore Barlow's drums in the room with us, suddenly giving the whole album the texture of a live recording. Oddly enough, in the case of this album, the result is a roughening of many of the textures to go with closer presence of all of the instruments -- thus, Songs From the Wood ends up sounding a bit more like the Tull albums around it than it previously did. Of the two bonus tracks, "Beltane" is a harder-rocking song than anything on the original LP, while "Velvet Green" keeps to the pastoral mood of the existing album, with a very pleasant melody. ~ Bruce Eder

Uncut (6/03, p.138) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...There's no doubting the band's ability to combine awesomely complex time signatures and effete fife-tabor-mandolin-and-bells effects while rocking out..."

Led by the charismatic, flute-wielding Ian Anderson, Jethro Tull began as a somewhat Led Zeppelin-like, bluesy hard-rock band. Before long the balance tipped to courtly, Elizabethan-sounding progressive rock tinged with folk and marked by tricky time changes and long suites. Though they were masters of the concept album (THICK AS A BRICK, AQUALUNG), Tull was able to churn out hook-laden hard-rock riffs that guaranteed them a permanent place on classic-rock playlists the world over.

Click Here for Shipping Options and Policies

Shipping or Dimension weight in pounds: 0.25