Jethro Tull-Roots To Branches (1995)

The 1990s were the least prolific decade, in terms of recordings, for the band led by Ian Anderson, releasing only three albums widely spaced: "Catfish Rising" (1991), "Roots to Branches" (1995), and "J-Tull Dot Com" (1999). Four years after the classic rock-oriented "Catfish Rising", Anderson gave the group's music a new direction, shifting their sound towards Middle Eastern influences and fusing them with their usual progressive folk-rock and doses of hard rock. For the recording of this new album, the lineup expanded with the addition of keyboardist Andrew Giddings, who joined the regulars of recent years: Martin Barre, Doanne Perry, and David Pegg. Despite the diverse sound of this album, one of the British band's most eclectic, progressive elements are ever-present, such as Anderson's omnipresent flute or Martin Barre's occasional hard rock guitar riffs, enhanced by Giddings' exuberant keyboard work. Excellent tracks like the powerful flute frenzy of "Dangerous Veils", the melancholy of "Another Harry's Bar", the lively folk rock of "Beside Myself", the progressive "Wounded, Old and Treacherous" and "At Last Forever", the hard rock of "Roots to Branches", and the somber and hypnotic "Stuck In The August Rain", make up a work where traces of the band's distant progressive past can still be detected, but which also showcases the musical evolution of its frontman and his continuous search for different musical influences.