Label: Insideout Music
Release date: January 28, 2022
Production: Ian Anderson
Album length: 46.45 min
Genre: Progressive Rock / Folk Rock
Rating: 8.0/10
After nineteen years of total studio silence, the prog rock champions Jethro Tull are back with a new album, “The Zealot Gene”. Even a year before release, nobody could say for sure whether this twenty-second studio outing in the Jethro Tull saga would come out as a new record from the titans of progressive rock or as a solo release from their charismatic, indestructible chieftain Ian Anderson, who is immortalized on the unusually gloomy and dull cover.
Most longtime fans had already written off a new Jethro Tull album over the past decade, especially after Mr. Anderson ‘led them on’ so many times with announcements and delays. The last ‘proper’ studio record, “J-Tull Dot Com”, came out way back in 1999 (yes, that now counts as ‘ancient history’), and most fans never really took the heavily ‘business-minded’ “The Jethro Tull Christmas Album” (2003) seriously.
In almost twenty years, the legendary band has been through plenty of drama, and the two biggest moments were without doubt the (temporary) breakup in 2011 and, soon after, the departure of longtime guitarist Martin ‘Lancelot’ Barre. He played with Ian from 1969 all the way to 2011 and was indispensable in shaping the classic Jethro Tull sound. His exit left a huge hole that even talents like German guitarist Florian Opahle and his successor, the latest Tull guitarist Joe Parrish-James, couldn’t completely fill. For Parrish-James, “The Zealot Gene” is the first outing as the newest member of the legendary godfathers of prog rock. The guitar on most tracks, except “In Brief Visitation” where young Parrish-James appears, was played by Opahle, who thereby ‘booked’ at least one studio record as a member of Jethro Tull. For longtime members Scott Hammond (drums), David Goodier (bass) and John O’Hara (keyboards), “The Zealot Gene” is also a studio debut under the Jethro Tull banner.
Let’s say it right away: “The Zealot Gene” is a thoroughly decent and very solid album, even though plenty of skeptics, including longtime followers of Ian Anderson’s life and work, had doubts before its release. The prog veteran’s biggest weakness, his seriously worn-out voice, is well hidden on the album, since the man carefully steers clear of overly demanding vocal ranges the whole way through. His multi-instrumental talents, led by that unmistakable flute playing, are still in a class of their own and, as ever, key building blocks of the recognizable Jethro Tull sound. Ian wouldn’t be Ian if the lyrics of “The Zealot Gene” didn’t include lots of sarcastic, wisecracking jabs at certain current phenomena in modern society, plus numerous biblical references, which he handles in his typical, gnostic way.
“The Zealot Gene” opens with a very solid prog-folk-rock number, “Mrs Tibbets”, which is about the mother of American pilot Paul Tibbets. During World War II, he piloted the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Longtime Tull fans will notice right away that Ian has stopped dabbling in the world-music elements that marked the stylistically closest albums, “J-Tull Dot Com” and “Roots to Branches” (1995). You can draw a few stylistic parallels with Ian’s last two studio albums as well, which is no surprise, since almost the same crew of musicians played on them as on “The Zealot Gene”. The blues-tinged “Jacob’s Tales”, which deals with jealousy and envy among family members, opens with a slightly goofy harmonica intro and ranks among the less interesting moments on the album.
“Mine Is The Mountain” is far more interesting. It’s an atmospheric and lyrically rather clever follow-up to the “Aqualung” (1971) classic “My God”, with a similar opening arrangement and gloomy mood, while Ian once again takes a swipe in the lyrics at the wrong turns of organized religion, which often abuses God as a handy ‘coat rack’ where some morally warped believer can carelessly hang their misdeeds. The distinctive flute arrangements will make many longtime Tull fans’ hearts skip a beat, while a careful ear will quickly notice that the guitar passages, though mostly on an enviably high level, lack Barre’s ‘magic touch’.
In the lyrics of the title track, which has a hard rock guitar riff, Ian takes aim at the alarming current rise of fascistoid autocrats who play the cards of cheap populism, fear of the unknown, nationalism and the general ignorance of their followers, and who, instead of the pub dives of the past, use various (a)social networks that don’t demand great linguistic skills. In other words, a phenomenon that, sadly, we know all too well here at home too. “Shoshana Sleeping”, which was also released as a single, is another creation with a dark, mysterious vibe, but with erotically spiced lyrics courtesy of that incorrigible old fox Ian. This time a hefty guitar riff and a fairly repetitive rhythm take center stage.
The acoustic-leaning “Sad City Sisters”, where self-proclaimed ‘partybreaker’ Ian reminds us of his well-known disdain for (boozy) after-show parties and everything that goes with them, is marked by pastoral sounds of flute, accordion and mandolin. The next track, “Barren Beth, Wild Desert John”, which successfully merges baroque-folk arrangements with hard rock guitar passages, was inspired by Ian’s story of a slightly eccentric cousin from the Scottish branch of his family, who was a traveling preacher. A decent attempt at ambient revival of the “Aqualung” magic, “The Betrayal of Joshua Kynde”, Ian’s next reckoning with organized religion, is about Jesus, who was betrayed countless times by those who still proclaim themselves his successors on Earth.
“Where Did Saturday Go?” is a relatively simple number with a nostalgic mood, somewhat reminiscent of the two shorter, acoustic-leaning pieces from “Aqualung”. On “Three Loves, Three”, the great philosopher Ian muses in the lyrics about different kinds of love (spiritual, platonic and physical). It flows straight into “In Brief Visitation”, a sort of continuation of the previous track with an almost identical rhythmic backbone and acoustic-leaning arrangements, but a somewhat more relaxed and upbeat atmosphere.
The album closes with “The Fisherman of Ephesus”, which tells of the everyday life of an ancient Greek fisherman from the ancient city of Ephesus, while Ian also recalls an unforgettable Tull concert in the middle of the Ephesus amphitheater in 1991. An unexpected instrumental twist leans a bit on elements of the “Songs From the Wood” (1977) era, which is commendable, even though compared with most of the Tull standards from the seventies, this one sits more or less in the ‘light category’.
“The Zealot Gene” is a thoroughly decent studio comeback from the prog rock veterans, who, apart from the nearly twenty-year wait for a new album, can’t be accused of many missteps. In the Jethro Tull discography so far, “The Zealot Gene” is far from a masterpiece, but at the same time it’s one of their better efforts since the end of the seventies, more or less on par in quality with albums like “Roots to Branches” (1995) and “J-Tull Dot Com” (1999), and much better than the dull blues rock experiment “Catfish Rising” (1991) and the totally botched “Under Wraps” (1984).
Author: Peter “Dr. ProgRock” Podbrežnik
Track list:
1. Mrs. Tibbets
2. Jacob’s Tales
3. Mine Is The Mountain
4. The Zealot Gene
5. Shoshana Sleeping
6. Sad City Sisters
7. Barren Beth, Wild Desert John
8. The Betrayal Of Joshua Kynde
9. Where Did Saturday Go?
10. Three Loves, Three
11. In Brief Visitation
12. The Fisherman Of Ephesus
Line-up:
Ian Anderson – vocals, flute, acoustic guitar, mandolin, whistle, harmonica
Florian Opahle – electric guitar
David Goodier – bass guitar
John O’Hara – piano, keyboards, accordion, organ
Scott Hammond – drums
Joe Parrish-James – guitar on track no. 11
