STORMWATCH

1979's 'Stormwatch' was the final album recorded by the "classic" lineup of Jethro Tull, the final album of theirs from the seventies, and obviously the third and final album of the supposed "prog folk" trilogy. This time Ian Anderson gazes across the British coastline and reflects upon some maritime impressions, with an interesting intertwining of themes from daily life, mythology and folklore, and it may perhaps be the strained atmosphere within the band, or a premonition of its future, but this album is definitively moodier and gloomier than the two preceding records, there is a delightful taste for dramaticism and suspense that may be challenging for certain listeners, but 'Stormwatch' is a brilliant album containing all the mandatory Jethro Tull ingredients, yet it remains an underrated work that is often overlooked, and occasionally even neglected.

This is a skeptical and reflective album, but also a sufficiently picturesque and stylistically diverse one, managing rather well the usual levels of variety and experimentation within Jethro Tull. Songs like 'Orion' and 'Flying Dutchman' reveal the melodramatic side of Ian Anderson's ingenious writing, while the more subtle and adventurous tracks remain 'Something's on the Move', 'Old Ghosts' and the fabulous mini-epic 'Dark Ages', a suspenseful, moody song that impresses with its delicate handling of the dramatic. Tull also offer two shorter instrumentals, closing off the two sides of the vinyl, both of which are beautiful and melancholic, and again, surprising to an extent as entries on a Jethro Tull album. The opening track 'North Sea Oil' is another good song and a strong opener that is on par with the opening tracks from the last few Tull albums, while 'Home' and 'Dun Ringill' seem to be less ecstatic and therefore, less inspiring. The 2004 remaster reveals songs dismissed during the original sessions, while the whole package proves just how strong Jethro Tull were at that time, with 'Stormwatch' capturing the end of a period I find fruitful and interesting, even if this very album is underrated.

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