Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
'The best stuff is really when Mick Pointer was a baby, banging on pots and pans. That was their most "out there" stuff.' - JKL2000
Saw his band last June. They rock my boat more than the Tull of these days (as much as I love Ian).
Agree. I've seen Martin's band several times and they put on a great show.Originally Posted by Bytor
The rearrangment for 2 guitars is well made. You're not even missing the flute or keys that much. Good singer and solid rythm section. Martin can wail with a peace of mind.
I share Martin's disappointment about the way it all came to an end. At the time there might possibly have been some substance to Ian's stated desire to move away from a Tull that he saw as stuck in a rut. He did then record and tour as a solo artist but, as mentioned in the interview, the transition to IA plays Jethro Tull and then to plain Tull (with set lists still featuring many of the standards) would have to seriously undermine that argument. History would seem to show that IA was being, to put it nicely, disingenuous. I like the last two JT releases - it seems to me that recording under that name has lifted IA's game - TAAB2 and HE were sub-par and get very little playtime from me. But it feels like the recent JT albums were written, recorded and performed in the same way as those post-Tull solo albums - with IA exercising full control and little if any collaboration with the musicians involved. There is nothing about the full band songs on Zealot Gene and RökFlöte that wouldn't be better with MB's guitar
"One should never magnify the harsh light of reality with the mirror of prose onto the delicate wings of fantasy's butterfly"
Thumpermonkey - How I Wrote The French Lieutenant's Woman
"I'm content to listen to what I like and keep my useless negative opinions about what I don't like to myself -- because no one is interested in hearing those anyway, and it contributes absolutely nothing to the conversation."
aith01
The only Tull albums that really matter in my book are the 70s ones- and he's on all of them. So yes- he is right.
I’ve seen both in recent years and won’t see Ian’s show again. Will definitely see Martin’s band whenever they are around.
Totally agree.
I agree. The last two Tull albums have been a pleasant surprise and better than Ian's solo stuff that came before it, even though it uses most of the same musicians. Not sure why that is, but it is different.
Martin's band kicks ass. I would never go see Ian live again, though I did like the last album.
The only critique I would make for Martin's band is that the singer tries too hard to sound like Ian. He gets a little too nasally voiced. I think if he just toned it down a little it would be better. Minor complaint (as it were). Super high energy shows.
JG
"MARKLAR!"
What an articulate gentleman Martin is... He is upfront about the hurt that he felt as a result of the breakup. But he doesn't feel any need to go after Ian, which he clearly could, and he would be justified to do.
Martin also shows remarkable patience with the interviewer, who seems to want some dirt. Martin is clearly signalling to the guy that he's not going there, but the guy keeps asking...
Yes I got the impression this was not an amicable split, and obviously he's still hurt by it.
One morning your boss of over 40 years rings you up and says "You're fired", nothing amiable about that.
Was it Poe that wrote Lionizing?
Sleeping at home is killing the hotel business!
Interesting. I never felt that he was trying too hard to imitate IA. To my ears, he is more of the Roger Chapman school of voice with a small vibrato. In retrospect, maybe Ian also had a small Chapman feel to his voice too.
I actually liked the fact the interviewer kept at it a bit. So many interviews of musicians seem to be done by people who are just happy to be talking to someone of note and don’t do any actual interviewing. I didn’t think he was rude, and it was nice to get something other than just PR out of a person who was part of something that ended a bit messy. I thought that was well done.
I agree. These are supposed to be conversations, and sometimes these guys need a little push in order to get something more substantial out of them. Otherwise you end up with the cautious, middle-of-the-road Q&A interviews where the viewer/reader doesn't learn anything. And those are a dime a dozen these days. As long as the interviewer is not obnoxious or disrespectful, of course, which some can be.
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
'The best stuff is really when Mick Pointer was a baby, banging on pots and pans. That was their most "out there" stuff.' - JKL2000
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