April 23, 1976 - Too Old To Rock 'N' Roll: Too Young To Die!

About three weeks since my last release and a short 7 months since "Minstrel In The Gallery", Jethro Tull released their ninth studio album "Too Old To Rock 'N' Roll: Too Young To Die!" on April 23, 1976. In the time since their last amazing album, bassist Jeffrey Hammond left the band and is replaced on this album by John Glascock. Hammond had been on the past 5 albums which contains some of Tull's best stuff and he will be missed. This new record is another concept album, centered around fictional rocker Ray Lomas who found success early on but as time passes his music goes out of style. Ian Anderson came up with the idea and wanted to show that if you stick to what you do it may go out of style temporarily but everything comes back eventually. Their other concept albums were really great, let's see how this one holds up!

The album kicks off with "Quizz Kid" and it opens with Anderson on acoustic guitar and an orchestra conducted by Dee Palmer, who has worked with Tull for several albums now. Martin Barre takes over the riff with some cool electric guitar as Anderson plays some nice flute. Glascock plays some pretty good bass in the verses as Anderson sings in his usual vocal style. The verses are more acoustic and softer while the chorus is a bit heavier led by electric guitar and some more cool flute. It's a pretty solid rock riff, not spectacular but still pretty good. Anderson goes off for some great flute at the end as this opener fades to a close. The next song is "Crazed Institution" as the bass and acoustic guitar sound cool in this opening as Anderson sings nicely along. He plays some nice flute as well as Barre adds bits of electric guitar. John Evan plays some great piano that spices up this quiet verse as well as some other cool keyboards. Once again there's no solo or anything that really reaches out and grabs you, but they continue to play another solid rock riff that carries the many verses. Not their best stuff so far, but still cool stuff. Track 3 is "Salamander" and it's led by some speedy acoustic by Anderson and it sounds pretty awesome! He plays some really quick stuff that sounds fantastic and he just keeps going! Anderson sings lightly overtop in what us not one of his best vocal performances but he is really strumming that acoustic! He adds some cool flutes to the mix as well as this song is pretty much all Ian, and he doesn't disappoint as I thought this was easily the best one yet. Up next is "Taxi Grab" as Barre kicks this one off with a wicked electric guitar riff. Glascock copies on bass as Anderson begins the first verse. Ian plays harmonica in this song as well and he does that as well as he plays any instrument, it sounds great! This slow blues-rock beat sounds pretty good and reminds me of their earliest albums. Barre plays a pretty sweet guitar solo and Anderson continues to play some mean harmonica. They jam out the chorus until what seems like the end, only to bring it back for one final riff. The side finishes with "From A Dead Beat To An Old Greaser" and Anderson opens with some sad singing and some cool acoustic guitar. The orchestra comes in and really gives it an emotional feel as Ian's soft singing fits the mood quite well. Palmer conducts a beautiful orchestra throughout this song and it's actually Palmer himself who plays the saxophone we hear. He plays some nice slow jazzy stuff and Tull perform this sad song very well. It was a different but interesting song and while none of the songs on this first side were bad by any means, there also wasn't a lot of captivating stuff.

Side two begins with "Bad-Eyed And Loveless" as Anderson opens it by himself with some interesting acoustic and his usual singing. It's just him for the whole 2-plus minute song and he plays some cool guitar but I feel the rest of the band could've spiced it up even more. Up next is "Big Dipper" and Ian kicks this song off with some speedy flute that sounds pretty great. Anderson's singing sounds good as usual and whenever he's not singing he's playing some cool flute. The rest of the band form a solid slow rock riff with Evan adding some cool keyboards. The guitar and bass sound good as well as Tull continue to show they are full of new rock ideas, but this album just doesn't have that wow factor that was all over their last album. The title track "Too Old To Rock 'N' Roll: Too Young To Die" follows and Anderson's lyrics reflect the mood of Gary Lomas: he's old enough that his music has fallen out of favour but he still feels young enough to play on. Barre and Evan open the song with some cool stuff before they settle into a quiet, slow rock riff. Evan plays some nice piano to lead the way and Glascock's bass sounds good as well. Anderson's vocals sound pretty good and Palmer conducts some more cool orchestra that adds to this slow beat. Once again, Jehtro Tull put this song together quite well and it sounds great for a slow rock song. But Tull are capable of turning regular rock into jaw-dropping awesomeness, yet they don't ever seem like they want to go that way on this album. They speed it up a bit at the end as Barre plays some cool guitar before wrapping it all up nicely. Track 9 is "Pied Piper" and it opens with a nice acoustic riff and some nice soft singing by Anderson. He adds a cool little flute bit as well and Evan plays some cool keyboards. The orchestra once again improves the riff, adding some epic stuff to this interesting little jam. It seems the theme of this album is not to stand out too much as they seem content to continue the main verse and chorus over and over. I sound like a broken record, but again the song isn't bad at all, it's just way too nonchalant and lacking the real quality that I know these guys are capable of. The final song on the record is "The Chequered Flag (Dead Or Alive)" and has a sad and also trippy opening with some cool keyboards by Evan. The orchestra sounds beautiful again and I think Anderson's singing is beautiful as well. I'm a little disappointed it's another soft rock song, but they continue to show that they can do this style very well. It's much more accessible than the long prog epics which I'm sure some people enjoyed, but I am more of this progressive type and miss the grand epics with all their moving parts. The orchestra is front and center for the whole song and while it sounds nice it's a little too dominant, overshadowing the other talented members. This song and album comes to an end as they conclude this very different concept album.

That is the end of "Too Old To Rock 'N' Roll: Too Young To Die!" and as I said throughout the review I did enjoy the album. I don't think it had any bad songs, but I also think it had no amazing songs. They just seem happy to be average on this record which is disappointing considering they released one of their best albums just 7 months ago. Speaking of, how does this compare to the rest of their catalogue? I previously thought "War Child" was their least good offering but I think that it did contain flashes of greatness, but like this new album it had mostly shorter songs. This new album becomes the new bottom rung on the ladder for me and I really hope that these guys pick it up again next time. I know they still have it in them, unleash the beast!