Published on Jul 21, 2004
In the life of every artist who has some true longevity behind
them, there comes an album which is seen as their “black sheep.” It
is the album that sells the worst, has at best one hit song on it,
and becomes the object of scorn by fan and critic alike. It is also
the album that, many years later, is seen in a different light, and
becomes a disc waiting for re-discovery.
I hereby nominate
Too Old To Rock ‘N’ Roll: Too Young To Die! (hereafter
called
Too Old) as Jethro Tull’s “black sheep”.
Now, I’ll admit I didn’t like this one much as a teenager, when
I was discovering Ian Anderson and crew. For years, this disc
(recently re-released on CD) has sat in the dusty shelves of the
Pierce Memorial Archives, seemingly consigned to a fate of just
being part of a complete discography, never to be played again.
Truth be told, this album is surprisingly solid, again featuring
a band in flux but coming to terms with who they were in a
constantly changing musical environment. Moving away from the
Elizabethan folk which made up
Minstrel In The Gallery, Anderson and crew (now featuring
bassist John Glascock) focus on a more rock-oriented beat. The band
dares to write and sing pop-like songs which could easily have made
it onto radio stations at that time.
Of course, critics and fans alike dumped all over this disc, and
Tull retreated and refocused their energies on the
soon-to-be-burgeoning renaissance of folk music. And while I liked
what they would do next, something about the music on
Too Old intrigues me.
Maybe it’s the solid backbeat of the opening track “Quizz Kid,”
a song which screams out at me for rediscovery by someone in the
field of radio, and a shoulda-been single that could have pushed
this album out of anonymity. Maybe it’s the light touch on songs
like “Crazed Institution,” “Pied Piper” and “Big Dipper” that hooks
you in and refuses to let go. Maybe it’s the hint of things to come
in the acoustic numbers “Salamander” and “From A Deadbeat To An Old
Greaser.”
Maybe — just maybe — it’s the ability to divorce one’s self
from the cartoon strip in the album jacket and the remembrance that
Too Old was originally designed to be a stage play. If this
was meant to be a concept album, it fails in that the songs are far
too disjointed for the proposed storyline (despite the fact a few
songs do refer to the Ray Lomas character). And, despite Anderson’s
recent denials that any of the materials were autobiographical, one
can’t help but wonder if the title track was meant to be a slam at
anyone who thought that Tull, then nearing their 10th anniversary,
no longer fit in the music scene.
While
Too Old was not a success in 1976, the disc has proven to
have great lasting power, and hardly sounds like it was recorded 28
years ago. If anything, time has proven that this album is a decent
effort from Anderson and crew, and one more worthy of respect than
scorn. Is it Tull’s greatest album? Honestly, no — but there are a
lot more successes than failures on this disc.
For a “black sheep,” Too Old is not that b-a-a-a-a-d.
Sorry, couldn’t help myself.