THE BROADSWORD AND THE BEAST

I have to give them props, yes, for adding moody synthesizers to their sound. It's a risky, bold move for a folk band to not only go from being an unplugged band to a plugged one, but to go from being a folk band to a synthesizer-driven rock outfit. Naturally, it alienated a number of fans, and in truth, it detracts a lot from the energy and impact of their music. Rather than upbeat and energetic, we get melancholic and mellow tracks slowly churning. The flute kind of melts away more often than not, though the guitars do their best to step up and fill the gap. Overall, though, the song structures are much simpler than can be found on any Tull album before this one.

As far as individual songs go, many are simply uninteresting and nothing new. The album only picks up much steam in the semi title track, Broadsword. A cheesy sort of keyboard noise powers this almost power metal track, hurling twinned guitars above like anthemic announcers of epic importance. The song then becomes Pussy Willow, a driving song with some really nice piano and a quality vocal line. That track, then moves into Watching Me Watching You, a creepy song with a lot of interesting vocal bits. Those three songs, however, are really the only highlights on this album, which just seems to be music produced by a band a ways past its due.

In all, this album is almost not worth the money except to serious Tull fans, though the three track spread at the beginning of side two does give it a bit more pull. If you aren't terribly familiar with the band, start with the 70s and work your way forward into the 80s products.

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