RÖKFLÖTE

What are the highs and lows of RökFlöte, and will it be considered a winner, or a loser, by the band's supporters?

On the evidence of its compositions, Jethro Tull have created a success that many Tullsters will adore. The album contains numerous aspects that comfortably fit the "new old Jethro Tull album" moniker. In this respect, it ticks many of the accepted boxes and will probably exceed expectations.

For example, the guitar is high in the mix. There are musical references to specific passages from past Tull albums and allusions to the styles of previous Tull releases.

The band's performance is fresh and uninhibited. Anderson's flute playing is impeccable. There are frequent occasions when the fearsome interplay between flute and guitar is simply magnificent. This release regularly contains outstanding instrumental passages. The tunes are melodic and lyrically astute. Although the album regularly vibrates the chest and rocks the senses, there are still many interesting changes in pace and direction.

The Perfect One and Cornucopia are probably the prettiest tunes on the album. They certainly provide the album with a different set of colours. The Perfect One journeys gently through sun-shadowed passages and rolls and shifts with purpose in heavier flute-splashed squalls.

RökFlöte is probably the most convincing that Jethro Tull have sounded as a collective since their Roots to Branches release. The band's lively and outstanding performance outweighs anything from the Dot Com era, or from Ian Anderson's TAAB2 and Homo Erraticus releases. There is a vigour, excitement and sparkle to the band's performance that has arguably been missing for years.

The combination of Joe Parrish-James' upfront guitar tones, with Anderson's virtuoso flute performance works fabulously. Whether by accident or most likely by design, there are many junctures when Parrish-James adopts a style and a muscular tone that Martin Barre might have utilised, had he been involved.

Parrish-James' outstanding and prominent contribution to the overall mood of the album is a significant reason why RökFlöte might be positively received by that section of Tull aficionados who lamented the departure of Barre. RökFlöte contains no acoustic tunes. Indeed, Anderson very rarely plays acoustic guitar in concert these days, and the few acoustic guitar parts on the album are credited to Parrish-James. It might be assumed that an absence of the short acoustic tunes that Anderson is renowned for, would have a noticeable detrimental effect on the success of the album. That it does not, says something about the sequencing of the tunes and the quality of the all-out rockers such as Wolf Unchained and The Navigators.

Both tunes have a relatively straight-forward hard-rock style, that on a cursory listen comes across as much too simplistic to have been composed by Anderson. However, as might be expected, both tunes do not stick to a predetermined hard-rock script. In this sense they exude the essence of what Jethro Tull are all about; creative melodies, unusual progressions and fine instrumental embellishments.

The Navigators begins in an upbeat fashion and has a biting flute riff that gives it a similar sort of snarling appeal as Roots to Branches' Dangerous Veils. The Navigators stridently exhibits power flute blowing, in an exciting display of metallic, silver-tubed virtuosity. For good measure, its concluding section satisfyingly channels some of the mysterious Eastern vibes that were prominent in Roots.

Both Wolf Unchained and The Navigators offer a chain of excellent opportunities for the group to stretch out in a succession of satisfying, gilt-edged instrumental breaks. Despite the success of these leather-stained rockers and the overall appeal of the many flute and guitar interactions, I certainly missed the changes in pace and earnest appeal that the delightful acoustic numbers offered in The Zealot Gene.

However, despite RökFlöte generally being a much harder-edged album, melody is never sacrificed, or replaced by brash aggression. For example, the gently evolving Cornucopia is forged and sculpted by an enchanting flute line. This recurs, floats and flutters elegantly, to highlight the tune's appealing initial melody. For some reason, its eloquent nature and reflective ambience recalled some of the beauty of Stand Up's Reasons For Waiting.

So will Tull fans get what they want, what they really really want?

Overall, RökFlöte can be placed in the middle ranks of Jethro Tull and Anderson's thirty studio album discography. This assessment probably reflects RökFlöte's exceptional and slightly unappealing facets and all points in between. Yet, this album's overall excellence outweighs any negligible reservations that might arise. The fact that it succeeds on so many different levels and in so many appealing ways, is probably much more than any Tullster could reasonably expect in 2023.

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