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Jethro Tull

Crest of A Knave (Reissue)

Review by Gary Hill

Part of a series of reissue released this year, this is a fine Tull album, although not really from their classic period. In fact, it was this disc that found the band taking “Best Metal Artist” Grammy in the first year of that award. This was to the dismay of nearly all, including fellow nominees Metallica. Indeed, when ‘tallica did win the next year, they thanked Tull for not putting out an album that year. This disc is certainly not metal, though. It is rather stripped down, and at times crunchy, but it is all Tull style prog. The lineup on the CD is Ian Anderson, Martin Barre and David Pegg.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: The Early Years Volume 1 at garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-The-Early-Years.

Track by Track Review
Steel Monkey
Hard rocking, but still progish, this one is a solid tune that got a good amount of radio play.
Farm on the Freeway
Rather bluesy, this one is also quite strong and also got a good amount of airplay in its day. It is somewhat balladic and has some very good flute work. The lyrics are about the plight of the American farmers in the modern world. The song has some great textures and drops to just flute to end.
Jump Start
Acoustic guitar based, this one is a great ballad. It gets a bit hard-edged as it carries on and has a great flute solo/instrumental break. It drops down after the break, then jumps back up to another killer instrumental section that gives us the outro.
Dogs in the Midwinter
Harder edged and faster paced, this is a strong tune that features some killer bass work and a great arrangement.
Budapest
“Budapest” is a progish ballad with a great texture and some very tasty guitar work. It has some awesome textures.
Mountain Men
Another great balladic tone starts this cut. It becomes harder edged and very proggy. This is a great composition.
The Waking Edge
With a great progish intro, this ballad is off and running. It is another strong tune.
Raising Steam
A hard edged prog rocker, this one is a good cut, but not overly exceptional. It does, however, have a tasty guitar solo.
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