The Prog Rock Album Club

Unknown Soldier · 02-13-2014, 04:18 PM

Album title: Divinities: Twelve Dances With God
Artiste: Ian Anderson
Nationality: British
Year: 1995
Subgenre: New age
Player(s): Ian Anderson (Flutes); Andrew Giddings (keyboards); Doanne Perry (Percussion); Douglas Mitchell (Clarinet); Christopher Cowrie (Oboe); Jonathan Carrie (Violin); Nina Gresin (Cello); Randy Wigs (Harp); Sid Gander (French Horn); Den Redding (Trumpet)
Familiarity: I know around 80% of the JT discography pretty well and on a band like Jethro Tull that's a fair amount of albums, even through the last band effort was in 2003. As for Ian Anderson I'd never heard one of his solo albums before.
Favourite track(s): Absolutely nothing stood out.
Why? N/A
Least favourite track(s): Again nothing was really bad either.
Why? N/A
Any preconceptions prior to listening, whether good or bad? Well considering that Jethro Tull are a fairly multi-genre band they always have that distinctive sound provided by Ian Anderson and I expected some kind of strong JT connection on this album. When I heard this album though, it's a good job I knew it to be an Ian Anderson album, as I would have never have guessed upon listening to it.
Artwork: New age I guess.
Factoids you'd like to share? Can't think of any.
Initial impression: I soon realised that this is an instrumental and all flute, two factors which bore me.
End impression: Couldn't listen to it again.
Comments: I'd hardly call the album rubbish but its certainly not my thing, I mean listening to "In Maternal Grace" was kind of like sitting in a Chinese restaurant listening to therapeutic music whilst eating! From an objective point of view the arrangements and playing are good and for anybody into this kind of style I guess it's a good listen. Saying that though, some of the reviews I glanced at gave it fairly average review, a rating I'd agree with. I hardly know Ian Anderson's solo discography, but based on Jethro Tull, the album is a far cry from the excellence of Aqualung or the band's solid 1970s folk rock albums (I don't mention Thick as a Brick here as I don't like the album, even though it's head and shoulders over the nonsense of Passion Play) Personally I always enjoyed their folk rock material over their proggy stuff and I'm not even that much of a folk rock fan at all! But upon listening to Divinities I couldn't relate it at all to any previous classic Tull material.

A very average 3.0 based on its solid playing only.

PS, swiped the info section at the beginning from TH's review