c o n r a d

Warchild was originally conceived as a movie, with a plotline similar to that of A Passion Play. Despite lining up a few impressive names (how I would have loved to see Dame Margot Fonteyn dancing to Jethro Tull), the movie never came into being, but the album did. Warchild acts as an interesting counterpoint to A Passion Play. While the similarities are many and obvious — a similar underlying concept, several tracks being used from the Chateau d'Herouville sessions, and a similar sound thanks at least in part to Ian Anderson's saxes — this one differs markedly by being a song-based album. I must confess to not being a huge fan of the electric guitar and sax-based sound employed by Tull on both this album and A Passion Play. The fact that the obligatory acoustic piece, "Ladies," is perhaps the worst track on this album does not help matters for me. That said, there is no disguising the quality of the songwriting elsewhere. "Skating Away on the Thin Ice of a New Day" is an excellent song on many levels, and has become a deserved standard for Tull concerts. Even the radio-friendly "Bungle in the Jungle" has unexpected depths. Not to be overlooked on this album is the contribution of John Evan for his orchestrations; presumably, this is why Ian Anderson decided to dedicate the 2002 remaster to Evan. Speaking of the remaster, it contains a large number of bonus tracks; although one or two of these tracks could have laid a claim to a place on the album, none are absolute standouts, unless you really wanted a second version of "Sealion." Of particular interest are the two pieces with classical instrumentation, no doubt originally intended for the movie. This album is not among my favourites by Jethro Tull. Personally I file it along with A as the "purple albums," which are good, but not among my favourites. There is definitely a fair amount of strong material here, expecially on Side B, but it suffers in comparison to the other mighty albums that Jethro Tull recorded in the early- to mid-70s. review by Conrad Leviston — 7-2-07 —

m a t t

Like A Passion Play, Warchild is the result of a compromise reached after a false start. Perhaps thinking that the hurried nature of A Passion Play didn't allow him to adequately explore the afterlife theme, Ian Anderson's original plan for Warchild was a concept album and corresponding film about a girl and her afterlife experiences. When the film project fell through, the plan for a concept album went with it. Jethro Tull's seventh studio record, then, is a hodgepodge of songs written for the story plus older material dating back to the aborted pre-Passion Play sessions in France. If Jethro Tull needed an album to tread water and catch their breath, they probably had earned it. They had been on an annual schedule of recording and touring since 1968 and although most of the personnel who recorded Warchild had only been in the band for two or three albums, Martin Barre and leader Ian Anderson had to be exhausted. Warchild doesn't sound tired (quite the contrary; I think these well-produced performances are bright, enthusiastic and full of energy) but I do think Anderson short on top-flight material and the album therefore sounds inconsistent to me. There is enough of the good stuff, though, to keep Warchild just on the positive side of mediocre. The music on Warchild is an elaboration of the style presented on A Passion Play and is stuffed to the gills with new sounds and instruments. An accordion supplements many of the tracks, as do strings. The album is dotted with non-musical sound effects: sirens, voices, shots, glasses clinking, etc. Though a number of songs are remnants of the afterlife story, the tone is never dark or somber. The music is more rock-oriented than either Thick as a Brick or A Passion Play, and Martin Barre is back in a big way on several of these songs, with some very heavy lead guitar. The production is crystalline, and the 2002 remaster is a treat to play on a good stereo. All in all, it sounds like the band had a grand old time making this album, and the strongest tracks shine robustly. "Back Door Angels," the album's longest song, impressively melds the progressive rock of the previous two albums with the metallic crunch of Aqualung. "Sea Lion" — a holdover from the pre-Passion Play sessions in France — doesn't have a particularly strong melody but the driving, insistent music wins me over. The light "Skating Away," (which also pre-dates A Passion Play) is, in my opinion, one of the great Jethro Tull songs. "The Third Hurrah," while probably too over-the-top to safely qualify as tasteful, nevertheless provides an energetic reprisal of the "Warchild" theme and I always get caught up in it. But questions of taste are an issue on this record. The band had been moving toward an "Olde England" image over their last couple of albums and tours and they may have stepped over the line on this one. The costumes and sets for this tour were downright garish; the music sometimes reflected this excess and didn't always have the goods to justify it. The title track and "Ladies" — each overdone, "Ladies" more so — both inexplicably break into a stilted rock and roll boogie toward their respective conclusions and provide ample evidence that, whatever vast array of influences this band has been able to credibly assimilate over the years, 1950s rock and roll wasn't one of them. The dreadful "Bungle in the Jungle," the album's hit single, is an exhibition of the band's worst tendencies on Warchild: awkward animal allegories, a weak melody and needlessly frilly arrangements. David Palmer's strings worked more often than not on this album, but I find them to be positively cringe-inducing on this particular track. "Two Fingers," a bloated remake of the Aqualung-sessions refugee "Lick Your Fingers Clean" finishes the album and causes the listener (if that listener is me, anyway) to feel like he may have gone one plate too many down at the all-you-can eat buffet. Bonus tracks are rarely worth mentioning, but Jethro Tull had a history writing album-worthy tunes that had to be left off for various reasons. Six of the seven bonus tracks on the 2002 Warchild remaster have been released on CD elsewhere, but the inclusion of the very good "Rainbow Blues" and "Glory Row" obviates the need for all but the most obsessively completist Tull fans to consider purchasing either of the Best of Jethro Tull compilations. There's nothing about the other bonus tracks that I find to be special, but I do kind of like "Saturation," and "Quartet" — an example of Jethro Tull apparently trying to sound like Gentle Giant — is definitely something worth hearing at least once. review by Matt P. — 5-16-05 —