At the risk of becoming a pariah among Tull/Ian Anderson fans, I must respectfully give this work low marks. Divinities is an enjoyable kind-of-classical-but-not excursion in orchestral music, and The Secret Language of Birds is one of the best albums of all time (at least of what albums I've heard). But, unfortunately, when it comes to IA's solo career, three is a crowd.
Walk Into Light, it seems to me, is a manifestation of Mr. Anderson's early eighties desire not to be seen as "out of it." This is understandable, considering that Tull was a favorite critical dartboard at the time. Granted, Tull's music in the early eighties did garner marginally better critical reviews, but in the process it seems that over half of Tull's core audience was offended by the new changes in direction. Now audience desire by itself shouldn't be the prime motivation of artists, yet it can be used as a tool to determine if the proposed new direction has enough merit to risk alienating that audience. And early eighties techno really didn't possess that merit, in my opinion.
Ian used Peter Vettese, then Tull's keyboard player, as a collaborator on this record. So, we're already in the hole. Vettese contributes icy-yet-cheesy synthesizers, questionable songwriting, and mechanical vocals. Ian's voice is in nice shape and you can almost hear the flute in some places.
Fly By Night was the record's best shot at a hit single. Despite the superfluous keyboards and a very stilted drum machine, it has a certain melodic appeal. Made In England offers about 20 seconds of relief from the oppressive keyboards with some tasteful Strat work by Ian during its opening. Then, back to the plastic ivories. Walk Into Light is a song with personal lyrics and more irritating keyboards, and that goes for User-Friendly and Black and White Television.
End Game is a nice song; maybe Ian put something in Peter's drink. Unfortunately, whatever it was didn't last long. Vettese shows up during the song's bridge with some rather awful synths. Trains is really just bad; an emasculated Locomotive Breath, if you will. Toad In The Hole has some of the more understated mechanical effects, as does also Looking For Eden. Different Germany is my favorite on the record. The use of the synthetic accordion is pretty clever, and the middle section is good. This same section of music was used as the "balloon music" on Jethro Tull: Live at Hammersmith '84, albeit much more shrilly. Apparently, neo-fascism was on the rise in Germany, if one listens to the lyrics. I was 7 when this came out, so personally I can't recall. At any event, Ian seems disturbed by something Teutonic.
At the risk of becoming a pariah among Tull/Ian Anderson fans, I must respectfully give this work low marks. Divinities is an enjoyable kind-of-classical-but-not excursion in orchestral music, and The Secret Language of Birds is one of the best albums of all time (at least of what albums I've heard). But, unfortunately, when it comes to IA's solo career, three is a crowd. Walk Into Light, it seems to me, is a manifestation of Mr. Anderson's early eighties desire not to be seen as "out of it. " This is understandable, considering that Tull was a favorite critical dartboard at the time. Granted, Tull's music in the early eighties did garner marginally better critical reviews, but in the process it seems that over half of Tull's core audience was offended by the new changes in direction. Now audience desire by itself shouldn't be the prime motivation of artists, yet it can be used as a tool to determine if the proposed new direction has enough merit to risk alienating that audience. And early eighties techno really didn't possess that merit, in my opinion. Ian used Peter Vettese, then Tull's keyboard player, as a collaborator on this record. So, we're already in the hole. Vettese contributes icy-yet-cheesy synthesizers, questionable songwriting, and mechanical vocals. Ian's voice is in nice shape and you can almost hear the flute in some places. Fly By Night was the record's best shot at a hit single. Despite the superfluous keyboards and a very stilted drum machine, it has a certain melodic appeal. Made In England offers about 20 seconds of relief from the oppressive keyboards with some tasteful Strat work by Ian during its opening. Then, back to the plastic ivories. Walk Into Light is a song with personal lyrics and more irritating keyboards, and that goes for User-Friendly and Black and White Television. End Game is a nice song; maybe Ian put something in Peter's drink. Unfortunately, whatever it was didn't last long. Vettese shows up during the song's bridge with some rather awful synths. Trains is really just bad; an emasculated Locomotive Breath, if you will. Toad In The Hole has some of the more understated mechanical effects, as does also Looking For Eden. Different Germany is my favorite on the record. The use of the synthetic accordion is pretty clever, and the middle section is good. This same section of music was used as the "balloon music" on Jethro Tull: Live at Hammersmith '84, albeit much more shrilly. Apparently, neo-fascism was on the rise in Germany, if one listens to the lyrics. I was 7 when this came out, so personally I can't recall. At any event, Ian seems disturbed by something Teutonic.