Rock Island [ORIGINAL RECORDING REISSUED]

Jethro Tull

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 14, 1999)
• Original Release Date: September 1989
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B000008H1X
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #156,959 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Kissing Willie

2. Rattlesnake Trail

3. Ears of Tin

4. Undressed to Kill

5. Rock Island

6. Heavy Water

7. Another Christmas Song

8. Whaler's Dues

9. Big Riff and Mando

10. Strange Avenues

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Underrated, January 23, 2003

By	John S. Ryan "Scott Ryan" (Silver Lake, OH) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Boy, ever since about 1980, Tull haven't been able to win. If they vary from the program one iota, everybody complains that they haven't released another _Aqualung_ (or _Thick as a Brick_ or _Songs from the Wood_ or <insert your favorite here>). But if they stick to a formula that has made their fans happy, they get pasted for not being sufficiently innovative.

The latter is what happened with this fine album. Hard on the heels of the fan-pleasing (and Grammy-winning) _Crest of a Knave_, Ian Anderson and the then-current gang turned out a nicely crafted album of rock tunes along the lines of what fans have always considered their "classic" material. And they took it in the eye.

Okay, the songs aren't the absolute very best that Anderson has ever written. But outside of Lake Wobegon, not every album can be above average. And calling this album "lackluster" is on a par with saying, "Wow, Gielgud really phoned in _that_ performance, didn't he?"

Even if it were true, the fact is that Tull can _afford_ to phone in a performance now and then; even their most lackluster effort (which this isn't) beats the heck out of nearly anybody else's top-drawer material.

This stuff isn't really lackluster anyway, so I'm not sure where those complaints came from. I suspect some listeners are just automatically suspicious of slick production, as though it's always a cover for poor songwriting.

Well, it can be, but in this case it's not. I don't think Anderson's songwriting here is as inventive as on the next one, _Catfish Rising_ (which is a lot lighter and "free-associative", nowhere near as serious and intense as this one mostly is). But it's tight and clean, and there are several really striking songs in the set (notably "Another Christmas Song"). There are a couple of not-especially-high points (I'm not a huge fan of "Undressed To Kill") but at its worst it's listenable.

If you're looking for classic Tull, don't start here; start with their older stuff. If you're looking for the "best" of Tull's 1985-present output, I'd recommend _Crest of a Knave_ and _Catfish Rising_ first, followed by the rest of them (in no particular order): _Roots to Branches_, _j-tull.com_, and this one.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Contains Some Classic Tull Songs!, May 21, 2004

By	Graboidz (Westminster, Maryland) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Following up Crest of Knave, Rock Island was put into a tough position. Knave was a first for Tull, a Grammy winner and featured a new sound that combined most of their previous sounds into something new. Tull carries that same sound from Knave to Rock Island, but it doesn't come off as well here. Rock Island is a really solid Tull disk. Rock Island seems a little more mellow than the average Tull album. "Kissing Willie", "Ears of Tin", and "Big Riff & Mando", are really the only fast tempo, upbeat songs on the disk. But it's the slower songs, "Another Christmas Song", "Whaler's Dues", "Strange Avenues", that make Rock Island shine. This disk always reminded me of the Tull classic Stormwatch album for some reason. It's almost like Ian Anderson took a decade back-step when writing these songs. "Whaler's Dues" is probably the highlight of the album, just because it sounds very different from the rest of the songs on the disk. It seems like "Whaler's Dues" should have been placed on Stormwatch right after "North Sea Oil". Overall Rock Island is worth the money, and if you think Jethro Tull disappeared after Crest of a Knave, the you should really pick up this album and the 5 star "Catfish Rising" to hear where they went after Knave.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My personal start to become a tull-Fanatic, January 12, 2004

By	misternelson (Bavaria, Germany) - See all my reviews

This album was my personal start to become a real tull-fanatic. I bought it on vinyl many years ago and it still is one of my favourite albums. It brings rock, a light blues-feeling, catchy melodies and the tull-typic dark atmosphere together an brings out a unique and impressing piece of music. My favourites are "Ears of tin", "Another christmas song" and "Strange avenues". It is lightly true that Ian's voice is not as strong as on the 70s-albums, but it creates a sound that fits to the instruments and completes the album.
If you also like the modern Tull releases: I can highly recommend this album to everyone! It is one of the best Tull releases.