Shane’s Rock Challenge: JETHRO TULL – 1995 – Roots To Branches

Shane | 13 June 2014 | Reply

Shane’s Rock Challenge: JETHRO TULL – 1995 – Roots To Branches
By Shane Pinnegar

7.5/10

Coming a few albums after Jethro Tull’s controversial Grammy Award for best Hard Rock/Metal performance with Crest Of A Knave, Roots To Branches finds Ian Anderson & Co in a mellow mood – there’s little likelihood of any of the tracks here being labelled a heavy metal meisterwork!

Focussing on their quieter side isn’t a bad thing though: this album is one of their most consistent records overall – not a Broadsword & The Beast, Aqualung or Songs From The Wood, but definitely more enjoyable than A Passion Play or A.

Anderson’s flute is as prominent throughout as Martin Barre’s guitar, the band leader confidently directing Tull’s 19th studio set at those who knew and loved the band first and foremost.

The title track is quintessential Tull, Rare And Precious Chain and Valley channel exotic desert rhythms to great effect, and the reflective ballad Stuck In The August Rain is one of their best slow songs.

Best of the lot are the wily Wounded, Old & Treacherous, and Another Harry’s Bar. Both see the nearly-50-year-old Anderson confronting his advancing years with a twinkle in his eye and a weary sigh – the latter bemoaning Mom & Pop businesses being overrun by franchises and corporations with a touching nostalgia that concedes even he can make a night there work with a little effort.

Roots To Branches proves that for Anderson and his band there was plenty of life left. As he once sang, ‘you’re never too old to rock n’ roll, if you’re too young to die.’