Rock Island

Jethro Tull | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 23, 1996)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Indent Series
• ASIN: B000005JFQ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #793,949 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Kissing Willie

2. The Rattlesnake Trail

3. Ears of Tin

4. Undressed to Kill

5. Rock Island

6. Heavy Water

7. Another Christmas Song

8. The Whaler's Dues

9. Big Riff and Mando

10. Strange Avenues

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mistake in the critics review below, October 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Rock Island (Audio CD)

Rock Island does what you would expect from it's title: it ROCKS. And it does so more than any other Tull record, but never without the same amount of skillful song writing and expertly executed performances that fill most of their best efforts. Kissing Willie is the leering Tull of yore, gleefully singing about oral pleasures, while the musical hooks are as clever as anything Ian has ever written. Another Christmas Song is a mature and thoughtful return to the seasonal tune, written with a feeling and love for the holiday that makes this another classic Christmas song. Rock Island as a song cleverly keeps it's music personal and confined, creating the appropriate atmosphere, until in the end the real world comes crashing down upon it's shores in relentless waves. Ears of Tin successfully sets the folk and rock elements against each other to again create a musical landscape that fits the lyrics to perfection, written and performed with masterful skill. Heavy Water--a song that did receive some radio exposer--is a fine rocker, as is Undressed to Kill which manages to musically create the sort of sexual tension one might experience in just that situation. By the time we get to the end of the song, that tension is finally broken with a bursting forth of guitar and flute that suggests that the man in the song has finally "unloaded" his warm dream. The Whalers Dues is the real standout track on this release though. It rocks and rolls like a ship of fools on a churning sea that literally spills out of the speaker grills, against the waves of angry voices screaming, "NO!" in answer to the Whalers plea for understanding and forgiveness. Big Riff and Mando tells it's tale with a clarity that is rarely achieved by other lyricists, and with the usual musical professionalism that is Jethro Tull. Strange Avenues is a perfect conclusion, sounding like a truly personal moment from Ian's own rock island. In comparison to anything else this band has ever done, this record not only holds it's own, but stands well above some of the others.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Be patient!, November 30, 2003

By 

"mrjimothy" (The southwest corner of northeast North Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rock Island (Audio CD)

Like many of Jethro Tull's albums, this one takes awhile to get used to. However, unlike some of the other ones, Rock Island is pretty shoddy at first, yet after it has been listened to a few times, it becomes better than most.

The album follows a few definite themes, such as man's destruction of nature (Heavy Water, The Whalers' Dues,) isolation (Ears of Tin, Rock Island, Another Christmas Song,) and Big Riff and Mando being possibly the funniest track that Ian has ever written. If you listen to this album a few times before throwing it onto a trash heap, you'll be glad that you did. Trust me.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It's not THAT bad, May 5, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Rock Island (Audio CD)

i've read some really negatory reviews of this album on here, but really its not that bad. it does rock and there are some good tull songs. this album is simpler than alot of tull's more "concept" heavy recent albums. rock island particularly is damn catchy. i really think you can find albums that are better examples of putrid trash or whatever these yahoos called it. tull rocks your socks.