SONGS FROM THE WOOD

Excellent album, (almost) bad timing. If Songs From The Wood was released an year before, I guess it would have been met with much more critical and public acclaim. For 1977 was the ´year of the punk´ and Too Old To Rock´n Roll Too Young To die (with its sparse instrumentation and short, direct songs) would be considered a more fitting release for the time (something Pink Floyd achieved with Animals). Nevertheless, Songs From The Wood did get some atention and rightly so. It is one of Jethro Tull´s best.

While JT was a hard band to label during their golden years, this is truly a much more prog folk album and in this vein, a masterpiece. Ian Anderson seemed a bit lost on what to do with this band in their previous releases (even if they were still good). With Songs From The Wood his muse was back, the band in great shape (Martin Barre is especially inspired and JT did get some more extra input with the permanent arrival of arranger David Palmer as a second keyboards player) and the sound is absolute exciting. Tunes like Pibroch (Cap In Hand), Hunting Girl and the title track are among Jethro Tull´s best (but I should say the album as a whole works very well, with no fillers). It was one of the few prog albums in that year (along with Going For The One) that sounded conving and powerful despite the hostile enviroment it met when delivered.

I was very glad with the CD remastered version with two extra tracks (Beltane is quite good). The booklet is fine and the remixing improved the overall sound. After 30 years it is still a joy to hear. Highly recommended.