Customer Reviews

Catfish Rising

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My own favorite Tull period is roughly 1975-79, I also love their earlier albums, and my least favorite is their early-1980s stuff. As of _Crest of a Knave_, they were back in the groove again as far as my own tastes are concerned (though other fans' mileage may vary).

This one is probably my favorite of their post-_Crest_ releases. It's light and humorous, with more acoustic guitar than its somewhat ponderous immediate predecessor (_Rock Island_), and it represents Ian Anderson at his most lyrically playful since "Mother Goose". It's also -- though this aspect is easy to overstate -- something of a return to the bluesy flavor of the early Tull.

In particular I really enjoy "Thinking Round Corners" (both the song and the activity), and if you like Tull's opening rockers, they don't come much better than "This Is Not Love". (On the other hand, "White Innocence" sounds too much like "Budapest: The Sequel".)

It's too bad this release has been somewhat forgotten and overshadowed, because it's actually a very strong CD. Here's hoping it makes a comeback among new Tull fans. If you're interested in hearing some "late-period" Tull, I recommend _Crest of a Knave_ and this one. Anderson and the boys reinvent themselves ever other CD or so, and their newer music is just as inventive as their "classic" stuff.

With the early 80's albums dominated by synths, this album is pretty much devoid of any - this one's all about the guitar. With 13 tracks it's fair to say that it does contains it's share of "filler," but it also has some truly great songs on it.

Occasional Demons is cool song that chugs along in ZZ Top fashion.
Roll Yer Own is a funky little acoustic piece which tells the story of one "taking matters" into their own hands.
Thinking Around Corners is anything but ordinary, but highly entertaining.
Doctor to My Disease is a great rocker.
Tall Thin Girl and Gold Tipped Boots Black Jacket and Tie are fun acoustic based tracks contained similarly to the way Aqualung had Mother Goose and Up To Me.
Tull also treats us to their most conventional blues tracks ever with Sleeping With Dog and Still Loving You Tonight.
Closing the disc is a another blues-based but loose acoustic track entitled When Jesus Came to Play.

This a Top 10 Tull CD in my book. Certainly their best work in the 90's.

The reviews so far have been disgusting. This is not a past-their-prime Tull release, but I'd rank it as one of their two best albums. I always find myself going back again and again to this cd. It's not just the best they've come out wtih in a while, this may possibly be the best they've come out with.

The cd has an irresistable lowkey bluesy rock feel to it. This is not love really starts the cd going with a good beat. The next three songs have a slower beat, but a deep blues sound going through them. Sparrow on the Schoolyard Wall and Thinking Round corners get very upbeat, with some great flute and mandolin part reminicent of Tull's folk-rock era. Thinking round corners really comes right at you with its offtempo and unexpected sound, making you really have to "think round corners" to appreciate the song. And then Like a Tall Thin Girl is my absolute favorite song of the album. Anderson is just strumming recklessly on the mandolin, pounding out an irresistable beat, singing strange, and at some times ridiculous, lyrics. You just have to hear the mandolin in this song for yourself. Gold Tip Boots Black Jacket and Tie has lyrics you won't be able to get out of your head mixed with great flute and guitar work. And When Jesus came to play ends the cd quite nicely with soulful vocals and pleasing interplay between electric guitar and mandolin.

A great buy for anyone looking to expand their Tull collection.

I've been a big Tull fan since 1968, and have seen them "live" 11 times over the years. I don't quite have all their releases yet, but I'm working on it, and am only missing a few.

That being said, and being the Tull afficianado that I am, I have to say, this is one of the best releases of their later period. Granted, this is not up there with "Aqualung" or "Thick As A Brick", but this is a commendable CD, containing some great Tull tracks. "Rocks on The Road" ranks among my top 5 or 6 Tull tunes ever, and "Roll Yer Own" is also a great song. I think Ian's songwriting on "Catfish Rising" is still top-notch.

Not the best Tull CD, but one definitely worth having.

Tull did NOT die after Thick as a Brick!! they never did. and with Catfish Rising they prove it.This Is Not Love, track 1, shows that Martin Barre can do riffs at least better than Jimmy Page IMO he is better.And the mandolin don`t stop as Ian and Pegg both play it so well.and it`s not that synth Tull you may have heard about, they quit that in `87With Crest of a KnaveSo good, just get it

Jethro Tull fans disagree among themselves regarding which Tull album is the best. This fan can't make up his mind. But, "Catfish Rising" is, in my opinion, among the serious contestants. I hated it at first, just as I disliked most Tull albums on first listen. Eventually I began to enjoy all 13 tracks.

My personal favorites are "Like A Tall Thin Girl," and "Rocks on the Road". My least favorite on the album is "White Innocence." It's a decent song, but it sounds too similar to "Budapest" (from Crest of a Knave). This album features lots of electric guitar, but contains material that is more varied than "Rock Island," their previous release.

This recording has some good moments but doesn't rank in my mind with my list of Tull's best ('Stand Up', 'Aqualung','Songs from the Wood',maybe 'Roots to Branches'). The highlights in this varied set include the more acoustically oriented pieces ('Gold Tipped Boots Black Jacket and Tie', 'Thinking Round Corners', 'Like a Tall Thin Girl') and one of the harder rockers ('Doctor To My Disease'). I think that the bluesy number 'Sleeping With The Dog' sounds forced and pales greatly in comparison to 'Someday the Sun Won't Shine For You' from their first album, recently resurrected on their highly recommended live 'Living With The Past' album. The long piece 'White Innocence' drags a bit. The rest of the material is average.

I have been trying to get familiar with his newer stuff because I will be seeing Tull in concert for the first time with my Dad next Friday. Out of all the newer albums I heard, this one caught my ear and has the strongest tunes in my opinion. I have been playing Catfish Rising in my car for two weeks straight now and I can't wait until October 14th to see them live.

It's amusing to read all the reviews on here of this album, and I have no question as to why this album was so harshly criticized by so many, some even saying it is their worst. It certainly isn't the archetype of Tull, and it certainly is a little bit dated.

The idea that is tried to be passed off is that this is Tull's blues album (aside from their first, of course) and while it features a good bit of blues songs, the content of the individual songs, and especially of the album is a whole is much more creative, textured and interesting then you would be led to believe. Of course, you can't expect Anderson to settle for the tried and tried again method of 12 bar blues in even the simplest of the songs on this album.

Another thing that is not pointed out too much about this album is that a good portion of it is led by Anderson and Barre's whispering mandolins. Which as you can guess, give this album a softer quality than most of their albums, even though there are some very hard rockers on it.

I honestly do not believe any Tull fan cannot find one song on this album that they love, save the Tull fan just all around hates Ian's vocals after the 70's. Even then, there are songs on here that are undeniably catchy and ideal to the Tull fan.

I would like to point out that Martin's guitar is featured without reserve on this album. Not so much in killer riffs like the previous Rock Island, but in soft (and sometimes intense) bluesy guitar licks. Any Tull fan wanting to hear more of Barre would find this album quite exceptional.

The song lyrics can sometimes be quite raunchy (as Ian has shown little hesitation with over the years), as well as very introverted and personal, which would bring us, I would think, to Ian's vocals. While many people are very unimpressed with the change in Ian's vocals up to this point in his career, they may find many of the more relaxed songs provide a nice landing ground on which Ian's vocals are given room to breathe.

This Album is obviously not meant for everyone. Don't buy it with any expectations of what it will sound like, because, unless you have heard it before, the reality will be quite different. Whether the difference is good or bad certainly depends on the fan. I will say that most people who are not Tull fans will want to look elsewhere for an introduction to Tull.

I really expected this to be so much better, with reviewers saying that Tull had returned to its blues roots. Even the music snippits sound promising. There are a few good songs here. The rest of the album needs to be edited and could have benifitted from a producer. Then again I've heard of producers ruining albums, so who knows?

The first two tracks begin with AC/DC guitar riffs and don't really go anywhere. The first good song is track 4 "Rocks on the Road". "Thinking Round Corners" is possibly the best track here. I was hoping the 2nd half of the album would be more consistant, but after the "Doctor to my Disease" we have "Like a Tall Thin Girl" which is musically very good(think "Fat Man" from the Stand Up LP), but suffers from cliched and possibly trite lyrics. This is where some editing could have helped lyrically. Ironically "When Jesus Came to Play" has excellent lyrics, but is musically uninteresting. I agree with the reviewer who states that this could be a great track if they had powered it up a little bit. The last really good track is "Gold Tipped Boots, Black Jacket...". If you go for the remastered version, at least you get two bonus tracks.

Post Script: I recently heard the live version of "Like a Tall Thin Girl" and it is actually quite good. Ian's delivery of the lyrics is much better on that version.