Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Jethro Tull
Label: Raw Fruit
Release: 1990
Length: 42:09
Rating: 3.5/5
In 1984, Jethro Tull put out their worst album, “Under Wraps”, a first-rate electro-pop-rock abomination that fans still hand out special awards for, if you happen to make it through two spins in a row. Thanks to the drum machine, it also goes down in history as their only album without a real drummer. In those days, thanks in part to the synthetic professor himself, keyboardist Peter-John Vettese, big chief Ian Anderson was all fired up about synth pop and electronics, which he got hooked on with catastrophic results on his solo debut “Walk Into Light” (1983), where he tried to forcibly shake off his prog folk rock legacy. It was definitely a pretty painful transitional period that fans would usually rather forget.
For the prog folk rock old-timers it wasn’t all doom and gloom, though, and things soon started looking up. The turnaround came with the arrival of the then up-and-coming (and, as hard as it is to believe today, young) American drummer Doane Perry. Broad-shouldered Doane, who first showed himself to the crowd on the “Under Wraps” tour, brought along the uncompromising, massive kit-pounding of a classic rock drummer, plus the right rhythmic dynamics, and solved the years-long problem of the constantly revolving drum seat. He’s still a member of the band more than two decades later.
“Live At Hammersmith ’84” is the only official live document of this infamous Tull era, and also their second official live album after the legendary “Bursting Out” (1978). It was recorded at London’s famous Hammersmith Odeon. The performances were taped for broadcast on the British radio station BBC, which recorded a series of similar live releases in cooperation with various rock bands. What you get is a pretty offbeat but interesting selection of songs that only partly reflects the setlist of the time, and it’s far from a recording of the whole night, since the whole thing ends right when it gets really interesting. Ian Anderson was still in good vocal shape that evening. Just a few months later, after the tour ended, he lost his voice completely for a while and had to have surgery. The sad consequence of that vocal blowout was that his voice never sounded the same again, no longer able to reach the higher registers. For a while he sounded a bit like Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits), which he knew how to use to his advantage.
Unlike in the studio, this Tull incarnation was, in the tradition of its predecessors, an excellent live outfit that radiated serious authority, both on the classics and on the lesser-known stuff. It’s almost startling how both “Under Wraps” songs, the title track and “Later That Same Evening”, come off much better than their studio versions thanks to real drums and more dynamic keyboard work. The always entertaining “Pussy Willow”, one of the few good songs on the rather botched album “Broadsword And The Beast” (1982), also comes off very well thanks to the dramatic use of backing vocal harmonies, which are unusual for Tull. Among the classics, “Hunting Girl” stands out by far, played with almost the same fire as in the days of the classic Tull lineup that recorded the masterpiece “Songs From The Wood” (1977), where this prog folk rock delicacy comes from.
The performance of their best-known classic, “Locomotive Breath”, is thrilling too. They played it twice that night: at the start of the show in an instrumental version, and later in a “metalized” take. That is, if you don’t mind synthesizer parts in place of the usual piano. “Living in the Past” doesn’t come off badly either, although the symphonic arrangements, thanks to the “merits” of modern synthesizers, don’t sound anywhere near what they used to, since they lack organic warmth. The recording closes with a slightly grotesque “Too Old To Rock ‘N’ Roll: Too Young To Die”, a classic from the album of the same name, a concept album that some people long wrongly assumed had autobiographical lyrics from Ian. Good old Ian shines with an excellent vocal performance. From there, a deftly maneuvered transition through a keyboard and guitar solo section leads into the central motif of the legendary epic “Thick As A Brick”, which delivers the biggest surprise of the whole recording.
With its limited and offbeat selection of performances, “Live At Hammersmith ’84” is hardly the best snapshot of what a typical Tull show looked like, so nobody but the die-hard faithful will miss it in their collection. The individual performances are at a high level, both the classics and all three of the less dazzling pieces, which will surprise plenty of people who sneer at every Tull incarnation with Peter-John Vettese’s synthetic presence. It’s also one of their last official live documents where Ian’s singing was still at its former level and he wasn’t afraid of some of the more demanding high parts. With some brilliant takes on classics and lesser-known pieces, “Live At Hammersmit ’84” is interesting enough for longtime fans, but on the other hand way too short to give a credible impression of the live scale of this infamous Tull incarnation, which gained far more with Perry’s arrival than it first realized.
Lineup
Ian Anderson – vocals, flute, acoustic guitar
Martin Barre – electric guitar
Dave Pegg – bass guitar
Doane Perry – drums
Peter-John Vettese – keyboards
Production
Tony Wilson and Dale Griffin (for BBC)
Track list
1. Locomotive Breath (instrumental)
2. Hunting Girl
3. Under Wraps
4. Later That Same Evening
5. Pussy Willow
6. Living In The Past
7. Locomotive Breath
8. Too Old To Rock ‘n’ Roll Too Young To Die
