Rock Island [Original recording remastered, Extra tracks]

Jethro Tull | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 31, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered, Extra tracks
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B000GIWRIO
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #86,388 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

11. Live From Zurich: Christmas Song

12. Cheap Day Return/Mother Goose

13. Locomotive Breath

Editorial Reviews

Digitally remastered edition of this 1989 album. Following the success of 1987's Crest Of A Knave, which won a Grammy in the Hard Rock category, group leader Ian Anderson responded two years later with Rock Island, a record that re-imagined Jethro Tull as a modern-rock act. Anderson is joined on this album by Martin Barre, Martin Allcock, Dave Pegg and Peter John Vettese. Features 10 tracks including ''Another Christmas Song'', ''Rattlesnake Trail'' and more. EMI.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Rocking the Boat (a little harder than usual), December 18, 2006

By 

Eugenius Dobson (from a global perspective I'm right here.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rock Island (Audio CD)

I remember hearing Kissing Willie on the radio a week or so before the album was released and it sounded to me like the Jethro Tull of yore returned with guitars and flute to the fore. Yes the lyrics are a bit obvious but it's a good sexual romp through a rocking tune, and while the record does rock more than is usual for the Tull, (even the mandolins occasionally sound almost heavy metal!) it does so through a landscape of interesting lyrics that range from the sexual to the political, the introspective to the observational, even taking a side trip on a sleigh to the seasonal. Musically it has moments that are both straight forward rock to more complex rocking arrangements. I think Kissing Willie, Ears of Tin, Rock Island, Another Christmas Song, The Whaler's Dues, Big Riff and Mando and Strange Avenues are the standout tracks. However they are standout tracks that stand out in a bunch of great songs that all stand up to shake their collective behinds in a very dramatic and boisterous manner.
The bonus tracks are from the Zurich dressing room tapes. While they have appeared elsewhere they're always good to hear, and they do help to bring the listener down a little more gently and less abruptly than the original release did.
The sound quality on this remaster is a great improvement over the original release of Rock Island. All of the instruments shine through clearly now and the sound is completely lifted up out of the muddier waters it used to lay in.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Electric Tull, June 17, 2007

By 

Mark Indy (Indiana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rock Island (Audio CD)

"Rock Island" is an album for those Jethro Tull fans who are more inclined toward the heavy rock side of Tull over their folkier, accoustic side. It opens with the fast paced rocking "Kissing Willie" and is followed by the riffy "The Rattlesnake Trail" complete with Martin Barre's searing guitar fills.

Then comes my personal favorite from the album "Ears of Tin." It's one of those 'stop-go' songs. The verses are melodic, featuring mandolin and flute while the refrains contain pulsating hard rock. Next is "Undressed to kill," a slow, steady rocking song. Then comes the title song, which is fairly subdued until the fast paced instrumental break.

"Heavy Water" is another moderate to slow paced rocker, which is followed by the subdued and melodic "Another Christmas Song." Then comes the another of my personal favorites: the slow, brooding "The Whaler's Dues." Between Martin Barre's jagged electric guitar fills and Ian Anderson's wheezing flute, the song just gets under your skin and stays there.

The last two songs from the original release, "Big Riff and Mando" and "Strange Avenues" are lackluster, in my opinion. But overall, "Rock Island" is a consistently enjoyable album. The song quality might not be as high as on their previous release, "Crest of a Knave," but it has the advantage (or disadvantage, depending on taste) of containing far fewer ballads than 'Crest.'

There are many who believe that the quality of Jethro Tull's music began a permanent decline following "Aqualung" in 1971 or "A Passion Play" in 1973. However, the music on "Crest of a Knave," "Rock Island" and "Catfish Rising," Tull's 1987, 1989 and 1991 releases, convinces me that Ian Anderson's songwriting has, if anything, improved over time.

As with most Tull albums, you'll need to give this one a half dozen spins in your CD player before familiarity breeds enjoyment.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rock Island rocks! - Plain and Simple, January 8, 2009

By 

John Prothero - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rock Island (Audio CD)

What really sold me on this album is how it holds up to the classic sound of all my favorite Jethro Tull albums before it. While the album overall is nothing less than "fantastic", my favorite tracks are the title song "Rock Island", "The Rattlesnake Trail", "Ears Of Tin", "Heavy Water" and "The Whaler's Dues". This CD will always be on my best Jethro Tull albums list and comes highly recommended.