WAR CHILD

I guess that it was inevitable for Jethro Tull to return to the shorter song format after the two album-exploration of the lengthy one-song material, even though I always have considered A Passion Play merely a collection of shorter tracks fused together for all the wrong reasons.

According to what I could gather, a few of the songs that made it to War Child were actually written during the early A Passion Play sessions in France only to be stored in the vaults until further notice. This could suggest that the band had more time to work on this follow-up album but listening to this final product doesn't reveal any such qualities. Still, it was a pleasant experience to finally hear a few glimpses of something that resembled excellent material in comparison to the previous offering. The opening title-track is a great example of such an occasion featuring a catchy chorus and a nice build-up to the rest of the album.

It does take a while until the next truly excellent moment which Skating Away On The Thin Ice Of The New Day definitely represents in my humble opinion. This very beautiful ballad sets a great tone for the next couple of tracks from those same early 1972-1973 writing sessions. It seems to me that Ian Anderson was uninspired when he added the last two tracks titled The Third Hoorah and Two Fingers to the album. These weaker tracks do make up a large portion of the record which ultimately is the main cause behind my decision of not awarding War Child any rating higher than the one you see above.

War Child is another strong Jethro Tull album that gets spoiled by quite a few uninspired moments simply making it only another good, but non-essential album on the part of the band.

***** star songs: Skating Away On The Thin Ice Of The New Day (4:12)

**** star songs: War Child (4:37) Queen And Country (3:01) Sealion (3:41) Bungle In The Jungle (3:37) Only Solitaire (1:39)

*** star songs: Ladies (3:19) Back-Door Angels (5:27) The Third Hoorah (4:52) Two Fingers (5:20)