September 11, 1987 - Crest Of A Knave

Just three days after my last release but a long three years since "Under Wraps", Jethro Tull released their sixteenth studio album "Crest Of A Knave" on September 11, 1987. The reason for the long gap between albums was a throat infection that caused frontman Ian Anderson to have throat surgery and his voice ergo sounds a bit different from here on out. This is awful news obviously but I'm glad that Ian and the gang are back making more music even if Anderson has a smaller vocal range than before. Martin Barre and Dave Pegg are both still around but keyboardist Peter-John Vettese is no longer with the band as Anderson plays the keyboards himself on this album. Ceeeeeeelebrate good times c'mon! I am very happy to see Vettese go and with him goes the 80s electronic sound from the past couple albums as Jethro Tull return to a more standard hard rock sound. These are some very positive changes and another one is that most of the songs feature an actual drummer again! There are still a few songs with programmed drums but most of them are done by either Gerry Conway (who was the drummer on "The Broadsword And The Beast") or Doane Perry, who had been their drummer for their last tour. I'm excited to listen to some more classic sounding Tull, let's dive in!

The album begins with the big hit single "Steel Monkey" and although it doesn't sound like a typical Tull song, it nonetheless sounds pretty good as it's driven by a fast-paced and catchy keyboard riff (that thankfully does not sound like lame 80s synths). Anderson begins to sing the first verse and for someone who's had throat surgery, he still sounds like the good old Ian we know and love and he does a fine job singing I think. Things flow right into the chorus and Barre plays some nice, epic guitar that sounds cool and it carries over into the next verse making things sound even better. After this verse another chorus Anderson plays a cool little keyboard bridge that sets the stage for a guitar solo, but it must be noted that Anderson's keyboard playing is pretty sweet as he is just so freaking talented at so many instruments. Barre delivers a solid short solo and after they play a final verse and chorus Martin really gets to go off with a much longer solo to end the song. He plays some pretty sweet stuff as the song slowly fades to an end but he certainly didn't sound done when the song finished (grrrrr)! Up next is "Farm On The Freeway" and Anderson sets the stage nicely for himself with some slow and epic piano before taking over on flute. The throat surgery doesn't seem to have affected his flute playing too much either thankfully as we hear some pretty cool flute in this epic opening. Barre takes over with some light guitar as Anderson sings a smooth verse and chorus. After he sings the name of the song to end the chorus we hear some more cool flute and things get louder for the second verse. The lyrics of this song are about eminent domain and a farmer who is told his farm is being made into a freeway, whether he likes it or not. After another chorus they move into a lengthy instrumental section with lots of cool parts to its starting with some synced up guitar and flute. Barre and Anderson both play lots of great stuff in this section and these two old friends play off each other beautifully. After a couple minutes of awesomeness they go back to the quieter, epic beginning and nicely roll back into another verse and chorus. Perry plays a solid drum fill at the end of the chorus and Anderson and Barre nicely play out the end of the song with some slow and epic stuff. This is the best Tull has sounded in years! Track 3 is called "Jump Start" and Barre plays some cool acoustic guitar while Anderson adds some cool flute and sings in a nice softer voice to match the mood. It's just the two of them for the whole first verse and chorus and Pegg comes in with some solid bass for the next go through. Barre switches to electric guitar after a couple verses in a nice shift and after a couple more Anderson fires off for a flute solo! It's a really awesome solo as Ian plays a ton of great flute for a decent amount of time. Barre goes back to acoustic as they quiet down for another verse, but the whole band is back for the chorus and then it's Barre's turn for a solo! He also gets a decent amount of time to show off and he does a great job with some sweet guitar. He takes us to the end of the song again, but instead of a fadeout they end things much better with some solid guitar. Track 4 is "Said She Was A Dancer" and Barre plays some cool guitar to start it off before they settle into a soft and mellow main riff. Anderson adds some light keyboards in the background and Pegg plays an acoustic bass that sounds nice as Anderson sings a solid verse. It flows right into a similar chorus and Barre continues to keep things interesting with lots of cool little guitar bits. They play several smooth verses and choruses and Conway does a nice job with the slow drum beat throughout. The song ends a little suddenly as it seemed like they were mid-verse, and even though this was probably the worst song so far I still liked it way more than anything off their last album. Track 5 is "Dogs In The Midwinter" and Anderson plays some nice organ in the background while also playing some cool flute to lead the way. The organ falls away and the bass, drums and guitar join in to form the main riff as Anderson continues to play some cool flute overtop. Barre plays some solid guitar as Anderson sings the first verse and chorus and he adds some cool keyboards and flute in short spurts to keep the chorus interesting. They don't stray from this formula as they play several more verses and choruses, but things sound solid the whole way through. They finally break free from the pattern at the end as Barre closes the song out with a short but pretty good guitar solo. The next song "Budapest" is the longest on the album and Jethro Tull's first ten-plus minute song in a while! Anderson opens it with a cool piano riff and plays some more great flute that makes for a slow and epic opening. They shift nicely into the main riff which is led by some cool acoustic guitar and Anderson sings a solid verse. The lyrics are about having a party to celebrate an athletic woman's achievements and Ian does a nice job telling this story and describing the attractive woman. After each verse he sings "in Budapest. One hot night in Budapest" and the next verse has some cool electric guitar from Barre as well as some strings. They continue to play this main riff and each verse we hear a little something new that keeps things interesting throughout, whether it be guitar, flute or keyboards. They take an instrumental break and Barre and Anderson play off each other very nicely once again as we hear lots of cool bits of guitar and flute. They cover and take over for each other really well and it's a pretty cool interlude before they return to the main riff. After another verse they quiet things down as Anderson plays a cool backing piano riff and then he and Barre proceed to play overtop. There's even more cool guitar and flute and this part sounds pretty great! It's so awesome to hear Tull playing lengthy amazing rock parts again and the strings take over at the end of this part and really nicely segue back to the main riff. They play a solid final verse and Anderson continues to sing "hot night in Budapest" as Barre plays us out with some final cool guitar bits. Track 7 is called "Mountain Men" and it starts with some very Chinese-sounding synths (reminds me of Rush's "Tai Shan" which we heard recently) that I'm not the biggest fan of. They sound alright but it's certainly unlike anything else on this album and not my favourite. Anderson plays some flute that fits this mood really well and the synths fall away once they reach the verse as Barre takes over on guitar. Anderson sings in a low voice to start off and Barre's guitar is lighter, but things ramp into a full rock verse with Barre playing some nice guitar. After a couple verses Anderson takes off with a new flute riff and segues nicely into a whole new verse. Anderson plays some decent keyboards that drive this new riff and he sings a new verse and chorus as well as it seems we've finally arrived at the "main riff". Barre comes in and out with bits of cool guitar as they jam through another couple verses and choruses before Barre gets in a short but sweet solo. They play a final chorus and start a final verse, but it seems to end pretty quickly as they cut things a little short. Up next is "The Waking Edge" and Anderson plays some droning synths in the background as we hear a repeated pattern of piano, flute and then guitar. It's a cool opening as each instrument takes turns playing some short and sweet stuff and after a minute and a half of this they finally settle into the main riff. Anderson leads the way with a nice piano riff and some solid vocals and after the first few lines by himself the rest of the band joins in to complete this slow but solid main riff. Anderson adds some synths the next go round as they slowly jam through another verse and we also hear a strings section that fits really well with this slow song. After a couple slow verses they move to a brief instrumental part with some light guitar and bass from Barre and Pegg but nothing too flashy. Then it's right back to the main riff for a final verse to finish things off. Track 9 is "Raising Steam" and Barre starts things off with a pretty sweet guitar riff before Anderson joins in with a pretty fast keyboard riff. The two riffs mix pretty nicely together as neither is trying to dominate and they both are playing some cool stuff. It makes for an upbeat and pretty catchy main riff and Anderson starts to sing a nice verse to match. Things flow tight into a similar chorus and they end the chorus with Ian singing "I will not be coming back" and we hear just Barre's guitar for a couple cool seconds before the keyboards return and it's off to the next verse. They play another solid verse and chorus before Barre takes off for a solid guitar solo. It's not extremely fast but it fits the mood of the song very nicely and the end of the solo carries into the beginning of the next verse as they smoothly fade back into the main riff. After another verse and chorus Barre cues up another solid solo as Anderson continues to yell the name of the song until things slowly fade to an end. This is where the original album ended but there was an added bonus track in 2005, so the final song on the album is now "Part Of The Machine". Anderson plays some interesting flute as well as some cool acoustic guitar that drives this riff. He switches from flute to vocals and begins the first verse as the acoustic continues to carry the riff while Barre adds bits and pieces of electric guitar. After a quiet first verse the bass and drums complete the riff as things sound louder and more full in a better second verse and chorus. They briefly quiet things down again, only for Anderson to explode out of the silence with some cool flute. His short flute solo leads right into a guitar solo for Barre and he does a wondeful job with this short but great solo! This leads flawlessly into a new flute-led riff as Anderson takes the lead with some more great stuff. This whole instrumental section is pretty awesome and they connect all the little parts together very nicely, including a smooth segue back to the main riff at the end. Barre spices up this latest verse with some cool guitar and after another chorus Anderson continues to sing the name of the song and Barre plays some more sweet guitar bits as they jam things out for the final minute and Anderspn ends the album with one final cool flute bit.

That is the end of "Crest Of A Knave" and I thought it was a pretty solid album and a very welcome change from recent Tull efforts. "Budapest" was probably my favourite song off the album but I thought every song on the album was pretty solid and it's really great to hear Jethro Tull back to making some good rock music. Despite Ian Anderson undergoing throat surgery, this is still the best Tull album in nearly a decade, which is quite the achievement! I think it blows their past two albums with Vettese out of the water and I like it better than "A" as well, making this newest effort easily their best of the 80s. I also think it's better than their last album of the 70s "Stormwatch" and now we're getting into the good stuff! I don't think it was better than "Benefit" but for their 16th studio album to make it into the top 10 is definitely something to applaud. Hopefully Jethro Tull stay on this track and we have some more cool rock music to come!