Customer Reviews

Rock Island

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

"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.

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.

I have no idea if any of todays' folk metal musicians ever listered to Jethro Tull, but these guys have been mixing hard rock/metal with British traditional music since the early 70's. This brew has given Tull a certain recognizable sound which has defined them throughout their career even though they have incorporated a wide variety of influences over the years. Rock island has a hard edge to it which tilts it more toward metal than some of Tulls' earlier work but Ian Andrerson's flute and melodic sensabilities still make it classic Tull. I believe that Tull fans who liked Aquqlung as well as On the Crest of a Knave will enjoy this release. I also think that fans of folk metal will like this album since Jethro Tull were a folk metal band long before the term for the genre was coined.

I remember buying this on LP when it first came out. I had gotten into the band shortly after "Under Wraps" came out, and Anderson was having throat issues, and it was unsure at the time if the band would continue. "Crest of a Knave" was the first Tull album in three year, and at the time, that seemed like forever. Part of that might have had to do with the uncertainty, or perceived uncertainty of the future of the band (I don't remember if anything was ever said by the band to make anyone think that the band might not continue, or we were just a bunch of paranoid, conspiracy theory high school idiots...). But anyway, I thought "Crest of a Knave" was great, part of that stemmed from it being a new release by a band I loved (as opposed to an album that had been out for ten or fifteen years). But when "Rock Island" came out, I remember thinking it was kind of a "Son of 'Crest of a Knave.'" It was good, but where "Crest..." had no filler songs (except maybe "Raising Steam"), there were some filler songs on "Rock Island." I remember a friend saying that no one likes an album by a classic band when it first comes out, it's never as good as their old stuff, people thought the same when "War Child," or whichever album came out, but now they're hailed as classics. And I have to agree. I like it better now than when I first heard it, and honestly couldn't tell you what songs I thought were filler when I first heard it 20 years ago. Same league as their classic albums? No, but I think it is better than "Too Old to Rock n' Roll...", so it does hold its own, I think.

As a Tull fan, I rank this in the top five of Tull recordings. Jethro Tull, at the band's best, strikes a balance between complexity and order in the music while lyrically exposing the beauty and truth of our humanity. Though Ian Anderson has plenty of help, he IS the band. The music would not exist without his writing and composing. As a collection of songs, humor and bawdiness are found on the best of the Tull releases which remind us that it IS, after all, only rock and roll and we need to look up from our philosophy and history books now and then and just rock out with sexy company.

This is one of those cds that you have to listen to the whole thing to experience the whole vibe of the rock island cd!! If you like music you will love this! If you like Jethro Tull it is a must have!! Some cds are so good it is hard to descibe ,this is one of them!! This was put out in 1989 and the next 2 cds were very good also but this one really stands out!! The Whalers Dues is my favorite also Another Christmas Song!!

I had stopped listening to Tull in the late 70s, but have started listening again after catching a live show. This is a great CD. Don't miss it!

When I listen to Messrs Anderson & Co., I keep asking myself: Why should this devil have all the good tunes? I listen to "Jethro Tull" for 40 years, and I am quite happy with "Rock Island". I like it and I don't consider my money misspent

Jethro Tull's "Rock Island," their 1989 follow-up to "Crest Of A Knave," is a solid album with a lot of great Tull songs, including rockers like the suggestive "Kissing Willie," "Ears Of Tin," "Undressed To Kill," the title song, and the epic-sounding "The Whaler's Dues." Other highlights include the good cheer of "Another Christmas Song" and the reflective "Strange Avenues." The singing voice of Tull leader Ian Anderson isn't quite as rich as it once was, but he still sings well enough, and he still writes excellent songs and plays a mean flute & acoustic guitar (Ian also contributes some fine keyboard parts throughout the album, along with Martin Allcock & Peter Vettese). Martin Barre delivers the goods on lead guitar, while bassist David Pegg and drummer Doane Perry play with tremendous flair. Though I wouldn't say this album ranks amongst the band's greatest works, "Rock Island" is nonetheless rock solid Jethro Tull.