Jethro Tull, Songs From the Wood

Just a fantastic album. Lyric and music blend perfectly in service of a theme - Simple to type, but an amazing and noteworthy achievement.

I've known this album since '79, and, although I'm not a died-in-the-wool Jethro Tull fan (I prefer Blodwyn Pig :) ), I think this album is perfect. There's humour and purity in the lyrics, which are really poetic sketches of rural life. The arrangements are very idiosyncratic, but still accessible. Although released in '77, when punk was - we were told - "sweeping away the old order..." (blah, blah, yawn) - this record stood on its own merits. The cover painting was so realistic that I (for one) assumed that Ian Anderson had posed in deepest Wiltshire (or Scotland?) as the proverbial Wild Man of the Woods.

A track-by-track rundown would make this review overlong, but Cup of Wonder really is quite magical, and beautifully played; Hunting Girl and Pibroch (Cap in Hand) rock almost as hard as contemporary Rainbow (see Blackmore's Night for proof that the compliment has been returned); Jack-in-the-Green and Velvet Green are melodic delights; the title song is alive with the beauty of nature; and Anderson employs great humour in Fire at Midnight, protesting that writing love songs is something he "all too seldom (does)"!

As implied, Hunting Girl and Pibroch... are the chief hard-rockers here, but all songs are played with force and vitality, and the (late) bass-player's tight contributions are especially useful.

This album is as refreshing as a walk in Savernake Forest in April. Top-hole, Anderson and co.!