HEAVY HORSES

Whenever I picture Jethro Tull, the music of both this album and its predecessor, SONGS FROM THE WOOD, come to mind (moreso than THICK AS A BRICK). To put it in simple terms, there are plenty of dense folk textures interspersed with a hard rock feel.

Most people will point to AQUALUNG and THICK AS A BRICK as the best Jethro Tull albums. While I do admit that both albums are terrific in their own respects, this album and SONG FROM THE WOOD always seem to be better in my mind as neither receive the hype that the more popular Tull albums do. This gives a much better luster to some of Jethro Tull's lesser known tracks like ''Journeyman'' and ''Rover''.

I know I'm making a ton of comparisons between SONGS FROM THE WOOD and HEAVY HORSES, but I believe both albums are constructed similarly with HEAVY HORSES being slightly weaker. The longer songs, while strong and peppy, take too long to get going. Their beginnings are slow and in the case of the title track, too pretty. That can be somewhat of a problem with the album, its prettiness can put off many a listener. There are plenty of goofy, syrupy folk stuff with ''One Brown Mouse'' taking the cake.

However, there are plenty of gems to find here from the bouncy ''Acres Wild'', the scurrying, frantic ''...and the Mouse Police Never Sleeps'', the pumping bass of ''Journeyman'' and ''Rover'' in general. Most traditional progsters will find albums like THICK AS A BRICK more suitable to their tastes, and I have no problem with that. I just choose to be slightly nonconformist and prefer to stick with the folksier albums. Now stop looking at me like that!