CATFISH RISING

Jethro Tull | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: CAPITOL RECORDS
• ASIN: B000006TEA
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #121,160 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tull Changes Course Again, June 7, 2000

By 

Michael Arrowood (Zirconia, NC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: CATFISH RISING (Audio CD)

I was completely thrilled with this album, which once again shows how Tull can change musical direction at will. I've appreciated all the Tull rock, folk, Celtic, jazz, etc. over the years, but "Catfish Rising" brings them all together.

Among my particular favorites are "Rocks on the Road", "Still Loving You Tonight", "Roll Yer Own", and "When Jesus Came to Play". Oh, heck, I like them all -- any *true* Tull fan will know what I mean.

And what do I mean? Only that Ian continues to play with the English language as subtly as he does with his flute and mandolin, that he draws us into corners both dark, devious and delightful, and that the rest of the band fills in with great artistry.

Tull is the one band that cannot be defined, because it so often changes course and says to its fans: follow if you can! "Catfish Rising" is a wonderful example of Ian and the boys having a stretch, saying let's try something new, and succeeding wonderfully at it.

Way to go! (Psst... Buy this album! It will grow on you until you will wonder how you could ever live without it...)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better appreciated years later, November 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: CATFISH RISING (Audio CD)

I gave one of the earlier reviews and after listening to Catfish again recently, I have to increase the rating. When Jesus Came To Play and Sleeping With The Dog are now my favorite tracks -- and just plain cool bluesy tunes. Check 'em out. This is still the least '70s Tullish of all albums since the early days.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars love-hate relationship, July 13, 2000

By 

R Smith (London, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: CATFISH RISING (Audio CD)

This is Tull's best since Stormwatch. Many of us gave points for effort on A and Broadsword and the Beast, cringed through Crest of a Knave and Rock Island, and took hope in the unreleased cuts on 20 Years of Tull that were better than many of the songs that made it onto the albums. Now on Catfish Rising Tull gets away from the trendy tackiness of the 80's albums and mines the grit that fueled grunge and unplugged-ness. The production is more intimate, getting away from the trite reverberating arena sound, but it blasts you at close range, with Martin's guitar sounding like a razor-sharp axe. The jam at the end of the opening track This Is Not Love works, strangely enough, because the flute for once is not at the front of the sound; it's wailing back there with the guitar and rhythm section, competing instead of dominating. The lyrics in Sparrow on the Schoolyard Wall, criticized by some as not rock-like, seem agreeably humane coming from a rock star, and are made non-saccharine by the faintly sleazy, Aqualung-ish undercurrent of a mature man taking an inordinate interest in the welfare of a schoolgirl. Still Loving You Tonight will attract some scorn for being non-ironic, but can the Dylan acolytes offer a better bittersweet song about a restless rover? Doctor to my Disease plants Tull firmly in the 90s, and Sleeping with the Dog with its growling guitar would bring a cordial nod from Howlin Wolf. And, Gold Tipped Boots Black Jacket & Tie is a fey, possessed caper that sly, wild-eyed jesters throughout history would appreciate. Anderson shows vocal maturity on this outing, singing rhythmically with perfect timing and emphasis, making us forget momentarily that his roasted voice is a shadow of its former deep husky glory. Drop the fill-in tracks like White Innocence and Jesus coming to play (Tull in all honesty hasn't fared well with filling up a 60-minute CD), and you have an album that gives reason to think that Tull will soon be recognized alongside Neil Young (and the much less deserving Stones) as the good sort of dinosaur that justly refuses to become extinct.