CATFISH RISING

Well what do we have here? I was kind of hoping to find the old Tull hiding in the album sleeve. "This is not Love" - almost had me looking at te cover to see if there weren't bearded gents wearing mirror shades on it somewhere. KInd of like a ZZ Top and Springsteen get together with Anderson / Knopfler. "Occasional Demons" - I had to read the credits at this point to ascertain that no ZZ Top members were collaborating here. "Roll yer Own" - Tull does Bluegrass? "Rocks on the Road" - KInd of a bluesy track about the hassles to be found along the way. Not bad. "Sparrow on the Schoolyard Wall" - Rock fare. Nothing special. "Thinking round Corners" - I laughed aloud at points in the track - fun to be had here. "Still Loving You Tonight" - The Blues. Looking for Gary Moore. "Doctor to My Disease" - Rock n Roll and Blues mix. "Like a Tall Thin Girl" - Quirky bawdy romp. "White Innocence" - Softer track. Virgins and all. Best track thus far here however it only towers a little. "Sleeping with the Dog" - Blues number. "Gold-tipped Boots, Black Jacket and Tie" - Quirky folksy thing. "When Jesus came to Play" - I don't like this track at all. "NIght in the Wilderness" (Bonus Track) - by this time I'm really tired of this album. "Jump Start" (Live) (Bonus) - Too little too late.

Well - some fun to be had here however I found reviewing this to be a tedious affair. There are no really strong tracks here unlike the previous releases where there was always a towering number or two or three. This is - a lot of the time - Anderson does the Blues, the Dire Straits thing, Straight Hard Rock, quirky tracks - or whatever. I find myself wishing that Anderson would do the original Tull thing again. Two stars.