Moss

I heartily approve!

Trollheart

Yeah, I use that for my "Meat Grinder" section in my journal. Problem is, more often than not I come across bands that are a) unsigned b) dead c) never released anything other than demo tapes or d) so obscure and unknown that it's impossible to get any of their music anywhere.
That looks a little more like it... Thanks!
Cool. You interested in joining our other club?

Edit: I see you are. Good man!

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Unknown Soldier

Martin Popoff is one of my favourite metal critics.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Trollheart

Album Title: Heavy horses
Artist: Jethro Tull
Nationality: British
Year: 1978
Subgenre: Folk/Prog
Player(s): Ian Anderson (Vocals, flute etc), Martin Barre (Guitar) Barriemore Barlow (Drums), John Evan (Organ, Piano), David Palmer (Keyboards) John Glascock (Bass)
Familiarity: Very little if I'm honest, and what I have heard I have never liked. The flute again, y'see?
Favourite track(s): “Moths”
Why? I just love the melody, even if Anderson does insist on rushing the last line of every verse as if he's trying to keep up with the band.
Least favourite track(s): “Rover”
Why? It's just too meh for me. I don't really like anything about it.
Any preconceptions prior to listening, whether good or bad? I honestly expected this to be a hard slog, given my feelings about Tull.
Factoids you'd like to share?
End impression: Not half as bad as I had expected. More real prog rock than folk. I've caught myself humming the tunes more than I thought I would.
Comments: When this album came up I groaned. Oh god! Not Tull, spake I! Then I ran my usual research on Wiki and found that it was responsible for a change in the band's music from outright folk and medieval styles to a more modern rock approach rooted mostly in real-world issues: not so much of the trees and forests and more of the city skyscrapers perhaps? The first track had me nodding along I must admit, even with the flute so prominent. It's quite catchy, though what the hell it's about I can only guess at. No I can't.

I have to admit that much of my dislike for Tull stems from Anderson himself. I don't like him. I don't like his “crazy old wizard” image, I don't like his flute and I don't like his voice. Other than that he's ok. But I warmed to him a little on this album. Wasn't mad about “Acres wild” and “No lullaby” just bored the hell out of me. It wasn't until “Moths” hit that I actually sat up and took notice. It's almost an AOR style song in ways and easily my favourite, even if he does keep the kind of Olde English Rose lyrical theme. “Journeyman” reminded me of “Jive talking” (!) and then as I said I bloody hate “Rover”. Ugh.

The album recovers well with “One brown mouse”, which would have been another contender for standout along with the title track, even if the latter is a little too long. The closer is ok too. Overall, not as bad as I had expected but not enough to change my mind about Tull, or Anderson. Good effort though, another case of some good tracks but a lot of bad ones.

Rating: I'll give it a 3.5, but no more than that.

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Unknown Soldier

Album Title: Heavy horses
Artist: Jethro Tull
Nationality: British
Year: 1978
Subgenre: Folk/Prog
Player(s): Ian Anderson (Vocals, flute etc), Martin Barre (Guitar) Barriemore Barlow (Drums), John Evan (Organ, Piano), David Palmer (Keyboards) John Glascock (Bass)
Familiarity: As it's my best period from the band very good, even though I hadn't heard this album in years.
Favourite track(s): "Weathercock" and “Moths”
Why? Just a couple of wonderful tracks
Least favourite track(s): None
Why? N/A
Any preconceptions prior to listening, whether good or bad? Was actually quite looking forward to listening to the album again, even though I wished it had been Songs from the Wood.
Factoids you'd like to share? A period where the band probably had their most stable line-up, from a band that were always chopping and changing band members.
End impression: An upbeat folk rock recording that is one of their more robust folky recordings.
Comments: This period is my favourite when it comes to Jethro Tull (as there are periods from this band that I really don't much like) I always felt their folk inspired rock was what they did best and should've embraced it even more, instead of the mind-numbing prog of Thick as a Brick and the nonsense that is known as A Passion Play. Overall Heavy Horses though is a good album but not the classic that the previous Songs from the Wood is, but it's still an album that I enjoy quite a bit. On Heavy Horses the band celebrate their folk with their rural agricultural themes and if Songs from the Wood along with Aqualung are my two favourite Jethro Tull albums, then Heavy Horses is in the small batch that I like just below this. Heavy Horses had a great production and an album that really stands up to repeated listens and always sounds fresh, as it has done for me today.

Rating: 4.0

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History