-Jim Miller, Rolling Stone
On October 14, 1974 Jethro Tull released WarChild, their follow-up to the critically slammed sidelong epic suites of A Passion Play. The songs, including FM staple "Bungle in the Jungle" and the pre Passion Play recording "Skating Away ( on the Thin Ice of the New Day)", are shorter while Ian Anderson remains a complex, cynical lyricist.
The album climbed to #2 on the US charts but 40 years later, I just can't get excited about the WarChild.
Musical appreciation is (ha! cliche alert) majestically and irrefutably subjective. I happen to love War Child, so different from Passion Play to which you refer. Queen and Country, Back Door Angels and Sealion are stellar Tull tracks ditto the lovely acoustic duo of Ladies and Only Solitaire added to the two tracks you mention make for a damn good album. You may be unmoved by this album but at least you posted it for which many thanks.
ReplyDeleteI tried to listen to this in its entirety at several sittings and never found myself enjoying the album. Probably still exhausted by trying to treat A Passion Play and its predecessor seriously
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