Customer Reviews

Songs From the Wood

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

One of the three or four best Tull albums and the finest synthesis of hard and prog rock, Celtic folk and more imaginable -- plus great lyrical themes. Not 70's bubble gum pop and not '70s heavy metal. Totally unique. With the exception of Pibroch, this is a relentlessly upbeat collection. My kids LOVE Hunting Girl (they don't understand the lyrics!), Whistler and Songs From The Wood. Cup Of Wonder, Fires At Midnight, Solstic Bells, Velvet Green, Jack-In-The Green -- oh, come on -- this is just a tremendous effort! If you don't have it BUY IT. If you have it already play it, and lose yourself in a better time. The gold CD has terrific sound quality.

SONGS FROM THE WOOD is Jethro Tull at their rustic best. The album flows easily from one classic Tull song to the next. The title track gets things off to a great start and sets the mood and pace for an album filled with celebrations and gutter rhymes. This is easily the Tull's most optimistic sounding record ever made. Jack in the Green is a classic fairy tale that holds you spellbound with it's storytelling and musical grooves, while Cup of Wonder gets you up on your feet to celebrate life in high fashion with a hook that catches you up in it's merry dance and never let's you go. Hunting Girl gallops along in rocking fashion to the fantasy of close encounters in the great outdoors, whipping up a frenzy as it goes. Solstice Bells rings in another rousing tune, while Velvet Green sends you back through the ages to another time for more intimate encounters under starry skies. The Whistler breathlessly hooks you into it's mesmerizing tune, while Pibroch creates a moody atmosphere of late night ships that have passed in the night, almost undermining the rest of the record's optimistic glow. But just when you think the mood has turned darker, the song kicks up it's heels and dances a merry jig. Fires at Midnight kicks up it's heels in another way, relaxing after a long day of hard playing. The fun of that "playing" is found here in these lively songs, written and performed with more than the usual flare of excellence that one expects from this modern day band of merry minstrels.

Move over Aqualung, Songs from the Wood is here!! Get ready for a ride through the velvet green hills of Ireland. Every time I listen to this album I think of the Renaissance Fair. Ian Anderson's flute and whistle playing is unbelievable. I have 14 of their albums (from This Was to Heavy Horses (except too old to rock...., Broadsword and the Beast, and Orginal Masters) and I don't think Ian plays the flute any better then in songs from the woods album. This album is the central album for Jethro Tull. Aqualung is good, but Songs from the Wood is definitively the album where Jethro Tull brings out their best. If I had to listen to one album the rest of my life it would be this one. Truly a masterpiece!! Find another album where someone plays the lute, mandolin, and glockenspiel and rock n' rolls!! Just a closing note: Ian Anderson plays every single instrument in Jack-in-the-Green!! Enjoy pure Tull at their very best!!

The are too many adjectives to describe this inspired work: folky, accoustic, progressive, harmonious, and catchy all come immediately to mind. However you describe it, Songs From The Woods is a wonderful recording.

And while it lacked the commercial success of Aqualung, or the epic musicianship of Thick As A Brick, it shows a band at the height of it's abilities playing a form of music that few have attempted. And while I hate labels for music, this could be considered "classic progressive accoustic folk rock"...I prefer calling it classic Tull.

The songwriting is wonderful, invoking a woodsy medeival feel that wood be perfectly suited to renaissance fairs, were it not for the drumming and the (albiet sparse) electric guitars... somewhat similar to Gentle Giant's Freehand album, but not as challenging of a listen.

The song "Solstace Bells" brings to mind a Christmas Morning, while the harpsichord and bells of "Velvet Green" bring to mind garden parties in some stately English manor.

One of the high points of this recording is the use of instrumentation. Every instrument is extremely powerful in it's subtlety. I consider SOTW to be one of the best orchestrated recordings of the classic progressive era.

Lastly, this is a strangly romantic album...and while I would not normally equate Jethro Tull with romantic music, Songs From The Wood makes excellent background music for that quiet, candlelit evening with someone special. Then again, maybe I'm just weird.

Anyway, if you haven't checked out this wonderful piece of music, do so!

"Songs From The Wood" was sort of a strange album to me at first, since all the reviews had raved about it being brilliant. When I first listened to it, I was NOT completely blown-away, and a little disappointed. But after many listenings (hundreds by now!), I have realized what all the fuss is about this album. This is a brilliant work of amazing music and imagery, one that begins to reveal itself over a period of time (like many great albums). There are so many subtleties, that one doesn't truly begin to "understand" this album until multiple listenings. Ian's music is truly brilliant, and the lyrics alone are beautiful poetry. I own the "Original Master Recording Gold CD", and while it sounds fine indeed, I believe this album and many other Tull records are in dire need of remastering. Still buy it, it's amazing!

This Album (thats what it was called when I first bought it)took so much heat when it was released, during a time of super groups, back then it was a breath of fresh air,a break from the expected,now that most of those groups are tapped out,finished,or dead this CD is still a breath of fresh air my favorite is 'Velvet Green' basically a song that could've been performed in the 1500's talk about unplugged! this effort has also become a benchmark for Tull fans today I see many reviewers comparing todays latest work against this classic. after all it takes 20 years to make a classic right? In the end it is timeless,a staple for ALL Tull fans.

You can smell the green grass. You can take some fresh-cold air. You can have a walk among the trees, smell the wet ground and put all your troubles away. Suddenly, "SONGS FROM THE WOOD" is ending. You open your eyes and find yourself back at home, in the dirty-noisy city, with all the bills around, and the CNN is bringing you some more hot news of the real world.

For my money, this album and the next (_Heavy Horses_) were the greatest Jethro Tull have ever produced. At any rate they're my two personal favorites.

This one came as a surprise to nearly everybody. Sure, Tull had incorporated some elements of English folk into its music. But what Anderson & Co. did on this album was altogether new.

Anderson had just moved to the country, you see, and Tull's music reflects as much for about three albums in a row (the third is _Stormwatch_). In particular, the music on this album marks a tremendous shift away fom the dark, ambiguous, ominous broodings about urban life and such that had marked so much of Tull's work from roughly _Benefit_ to _Minstrel in the Gallery_. Things started getting a little darker on _Heavy Horses_ and even more so on _Stormwatch_. But this one is pure light.

Not "lite," though. This is some of the most complex and engaging music the band had ever created, and part of the reason is undoubtedly that Anderson made extra-sure to give everybody a chance to contribute to the pot.

The personnel were right, too. The lineup at this point was a dream: Martin Barre (of course) on guitars and other stringed devices; Barrie Barlow on drums and percussion; John Evan on keyboards; David Palmer doing orchestration and playing some keyboards himself; and (the late and much missed) John Glascock on bass. This lineup also appears on _Heavy Horses_, but Glascock tragically died before _Stormwatch_ was completed.

Anyway, this is just a great bunch of songs. There are lots of Celtic influences as Anderson pays homage to his Scottish roots, and Barre particularly shines on the grand "Pibroch (Cap in Hand)". (A "pibroch" is a kind of bagpipe song; Barre does a fair imitation of that instrument's "flavor" with a reverse-echoed electric guitar. And the instrumental portions are so long that the band called it, and in concert used it as, a "pee-break".)

The rather darker _Heavy Horses_ is every bit as good, but I reviewed that one a long time ago and won't repeat myself. Anyway, Tull and Anderson have never released anything I would call a _bad_ album, but these two include what I believe to be their greatest moments.

"Songs From the Wood" would appear to be an appropriate title for this 1977 Tull release. Complete with Ian Anderson's gruff, devil-may-care singing, along with his incomparable flute and mandolin playing, accompanied by Martin Barre's lute strumming, the mood is reminiscent of Elizabethan-era folk songs that strongly evoke thoughts of sitting round the fire in the woods of the north of England, with Robin Hood and Maid Marian no doubt soon to appear. There are good, strong rockers too. The martial rhythm of "The Whistler" is unresistable, and "Cup of Wonder" impresses, as the strongest tracks on the album. The title track sets the tone and lets the listener know that good ol' fashioned "kitchen prose and gutter rhymes" are on the agenda. In fact, what sets this album apart from earlier JT albums is the lightness in tone, but the music is classic Anderson/Barre. "Velvet Green" is the most evocative piece, with strong English folk stylings in evidence; in other words, the fantastic mandolin/flute solo. "Pibroch (Cap in Hand)" is a bit annoying, too loud for the overall mood of the album, and awfully silly in content. But the final track, "Fire at Midnight", is a short and poignant "glad to be home after a tough day" song. "Hunting Girl" and "Ring Out, Solstice Bells" are O.K., but aren't as memorable; still, they are servicable songs that keep the cohesiveness of the album intact. All in all, a nice effort free from the heaviness of early 70's Tull.

While when most of my friends gives their opinion as "Aqualung" or "Thick as a brick" being Jethro Tull's best work. I will give my nod to this wonderful album called "Songs from the wood". Like the name hints this album is very much folk influenced. All the songs are good (and from the wood). The title track, Hunting girl, The whistler, Pibroch (Cup in hand), Fire at midnight are too good. Actually I should write name of all the songs. This album should have influenced a lot of artistes. I don't know whether it really had, but one thing I can write this is one of the best albums of all time. Anderson's flute never sounded so good. Tull never sounded so gentle and at the same time so creative. If you want to buy a Tull album (if not why are staring at this page) buy it. Then go for Aqualung, Crest of a knave and other amazing stuff.