Published on Jul 23, 2004
You cannot believe how difficult it is for me to write this
review. Jethro Tull is my favorite rock band of…well, ever.
This, unfortunately, does not mean that everything they release is
automatic gold. In the case of this album, that rule is painfully
true.
To me, this sudden drop in quality came as a surprise. After
all, the band had just released two of their better records,
Songs From The Wood and
Heavy Horses, and a great live album,
Bursting Out: Jethro Tull Live. With
Stormwatch‘s interesting, dark-looking album cover, I was
hoping that maybe there would be a return to the hard-rockingness
that hadn’t been seen since the controversial
War Child. Instead, we ended up with a half-baked product
that leaves a sour taste in the mouth of the listener.
The album starts out decently enough, with the folky “North Sea
Oil.” The flute/guitar combination is very good. However, this is
one of the only worthwhile songs on the album. What follows are the
nerve-grating “Orion”; the overblown ballad “Home”; and the
painfully overlong “Dark Ages.”
Fortunately, the instrumental “Warm Sporran” saves the album
from being a complete waste. It’s an intriguing little ditty, with
a great rhythm section, and some marvellous flute movements. Other
than that, the only other good song I can find on this album is
track seven, “Old Ghosts,” which isn’t one of their best songs, but
it works.
The main problem that I have with this album is its lyrics. Up
until then, Tull had been renowned for their thought-provoking,
rich lyrics. On
Stormwatch, however, things changed from deep to boring.
“North Sea Oil” has to be some of the worst lyrics Anderson has
ever written. Also, “Something’s On The Move,” aside from being one
of the worst songs I’ve ever heard (honestly, could that chorus be
any more half-assed?), has some of the most terrible lyrics known
to the rock genre.
Continuing the steady flow of unfortunate events, members of the
classic Tull lineup: David Palmer; Barriemore Barlow; and John Evan
would all leave the band after this. If that wasn’t bad enough,
bassist John Glascock died shortly after this album was
released.
Jethro Tull definitely were going through some tough times here.
And the release of this album would be the herald to a drastic
change in both their lineup and their music for a long while. It’s
just a shame that they couldn’t start off this new era with a
bang.