release date: Apr. 21, 1978
format: vinyl / digital
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,77]
producer: Ian Anderson
label: Chrysalis Records - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: A) 1. "...And the Mouse Police Never Sleeps" - 2. "Acres Wild" (4 / 5) - 3. "No Lullaby" (4 / 5) - 4. "Moths" (4 / 5) - - B) 1. "Rover" - 2. "One Brown Mouse" (4 / 5) - 3. "Heavy Horses" (4 / 5)
11th studio album by Jethro Tull. The members list remain the same as on Songs From the Woods (1977), and the music is like its predecessor progressive rock but with strong focus on a folk element, which has roots in British pagan folklore. Compared to the '77 album it appears as a tighter album. I have always had a soft spot for this album and even liked it a lot at the age of 13 when it was released and my older brother played it. As I recall it, my brother didn't particularly enjoy it that much, as he handed me the album in a plastic bag with 20 other fine albums 2-3 years later. I think, he found the band's move towards folk a difficult move having associated the band with psychedelic hard rock and progressive rock only. The band found it increasingly difficult to attract the crowds, and the album didn't sell quite as good as their earlier albums still managing to reach number #20 in the UK, and to number #19 in the US and in Germany. I guess, much of the reason to people's general declining interest for the band had much to do with new popular styles in the world of popular music as new wave and punk rock, which in essence was a reaction to music created by bands like Jethro Tull - music that was recorded and produced by established artists and required a considerable amount of money spent on equipment and studio recording time. Despite being released in the second year of the British punk rock wave, this is still a remarkably fine album in its own rights.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars]
