Heavy Horses

Rip It Up, Issue 13, 1 July 1978, Page 12

Heavy Horses

Duncan Campbell

Jethro Tull Heavy Horses Chrysalis Jethro Tull’s lan Anderson is the antithesis of every rock star you've ever known. His contempt for blue jeans, most modern

music apart from his own, and the sex, drugs and rock ’n' roll syndrome is boundless. Anderson has long been Tull’s sole creative force, and his fanatical following has never wavered. Once a Tull fan, always a Tull fan. Their unique fusion of free-form jazz, classics and English folk is a heady, spellbinding mixture that is highly addictive and extremely popular. Witness the enormous queues in Queen St for tickets the New Zealand Tull tours of 1972 and 1974. Heavy Horses, the band’s eleventh outing, reflects a mellowing of mood that was already evident in the previous album, Songs From The Wood. Anderson, once the man without a home who lived out of suitcases, is now settled in an elderly farmhouse in the English countryside, with his second wife Shona, and

baby son James. His new-found delight in country and family life is now a strong influence. Gone is much of the heavy, electric riffing that was once a Tull trademark, to be replaced by a skilful weaving of acoustic guitars, flutes, violins and percussion instruments. Not a “Locomotive Breath” in sight. The melodies are subtle and take time to appreciate fully. There are strong Elizabethan and Celtic strains, no more so than on “Acres Wild”, where Darryl Way’s violin combines with some very primitive hand drumming to produce a sound as traditional as The Chieftains in full cry. The imagery of the lyrics is decidedly pastoral, with Anderson playing the squire of the country manor. Cats prowl the barn (“The Mouse Police”), moths dance around candle flames (“Moths”), and anxious eyes are cast towards the weather vane to see what the day will bring ("Weathercock”). In “No Lullaby”, Anderson sings to his baby son, warning him of the “dragons and beasties” that lurk in the outside world, and the battles he must fight. Only here and on the title track is the band allowed to extend itself. Otherwise, the reins are held tight. Not everyone’s glass of mead, but then Jethro Tull never have been. It’s another love-it-or-leave-it sound, and this one won't gain any new fans. Even Tull fanatics will find it difficult listening at first, but perseverence will bring rewards. Jethro Tull are very much alive and well and living in the country. Not as tough or as biting as in days of yore, but still in a class of their own. lan Anderson is no longer a rampant young stallion, but he can still sire a good ’un when the occasion calls. Long may his I urn reek.