Tull Brao

Stormwatch is the twelfth studio album by the progressive rock group Jethro Tull, released September 1979. It is considered the last in the trilogy of folk-rock albums by Jethro Tull (although folk music influenced virtually every Tull album to some extent.). Among other subject-matters, the album touches heavily on the problems relating to the environment, oil and money. Stormwatch was notably the last Tull album to feature the "classic" line-up of the 1970s, as drummer Barriemore Barlow and keyboardists John Evan and David Palmer left the band the following year after the end of the Stormwatch tour, while bassist John Glascock died from heart complications during the tour.

The leap from 1970's Benefit to the following year's Aqualung is one of the most astonishing progressions in rock history. In the space of one album, Tull went from relatively unassuming electrified folk-rock to larger-than-life conceptual rock full of sophisticated compositions and complex, intellectual, lyrical constructs. While the leap to full-blown prog rock wouldn't be taken until a year later on Thick as a Brick, the degree to which Tull upped the ante here is remarkable. The lyrical concept – the hypocrisy of Christianity in England – is stronger than on most other '70s conceptual efforts, but it's ultimately the music that makes it worthy of praise.

Ian Anderson revolutionized the progressive rock genre with his flute playing With "Thick As A Brick - Live In Iceland" the multi-instrumentalist creates a concert experience of a special kind: Jethro Tull's worldwide acclaimed concept album "Thick As A Brick" (1972) and its sequel "Thick As A Brick 2" (2012) form the basis of this live album. The concert, filmed in Iceland, brings the story of the main character Gerald Bostock to life, creating the ultimate and emotional presentation of both albums. "Thick As A Brick - Live In Iceland" is a must-have for every Jethro Tull fan and leaves nothing to be desired.

Benefit was the album on which the Jethro Tull sound solidified around folk music, abandoning blues entirely. Beginning with the opening number, "With You There to Help Me," Anderson adopts his now-familiar, slightly mournful folksinger/sage persona, with a rather sardonic outlook on life and the world; his acoustic guitar carries the melody, joined by Martin Barre's electric instrument for the crescendos. This would be the model for much of the material on Aqualung and especially Thick as a Brick, although the acoustic/electric pairing would be executed more effectively on those albums…

Perhaps the most interesting and insightful of the individual films to come out of Murray Lerner's footage shot at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival, Nothing Is Easy is also the most ambitious. Jumping between the 1970 events and a rather droll-humored Ian Anderson recalling the events from 2004, the film gives a lot more than an excellent account of the band's music and stage presentation of that era…