I’ve been listening a lot to the new Jethro Tull album, and have been so impressed by this one. Ian Anderson has taken inspiration from different books of the bible, as well as some current events, to craft a really wonderful collection of songs. Musically adventurous, with heavy riffs (Mrs. Tibbets) as well as some melancholy acoustic songs (In Brief Visitation), and lyrically dense, this is an album that needs multiple listenings to fully appreciate. I’m so happy it has finally come out, as it was delayed by the pandemic, but it’s certainly been worth the wait.

So why the bible, after all this time? It’s not new ground for Anderson, as fans of Aqualung know. Here we have songs about nuclear war, demagogues, the betrayal of Jesus (‘the fall guy,’ as Anderson calls him). There are references to the Song of Solomon, Eros and Agape, the visitation of Elizabeth, an angry God demanding his people use no graven images, and we wind up, finally, at the Fisherman of Ephesus. Somehow all of this works together over a dizzying forty seven minutes, and leaves you wanting more. Well done, Mr. Anderson, and thank you for keeping us entertained, and keeping us thinking all these years. Gerald Bostock would approve.

It’s hard for me to rank these things, as this has been my favorite band for over thirty years, since I was in high school, but it’s really one of the best albums he has released in all the time I’ve been a fan. Few bands could ever reach the heights that the 70s incarnation of Tull did, but I would rate this in the top half Tull albums, for me certainly at least the equal of albums like Roots to Branches. And here I am on a Saturday night, combing through the King James bible to look up each verse he’s referenced over the album’s twelve songs. Not many other bands require you to do this kind of work, but Ian Anderson always has, it seems.

“Here on my heart, engraved dedication

The fall guy was here, in brief visitation”