The Broadsword and The Beast is the 14th studio album by Jethro Tull, released on April 10, 1982 and according to Ian Anderson in the liner notes of the remastered CD, contains some of Jethro Tull's best music. It mixes electronic sound with acoustic instruments and is a cross between the synthesizer sound of the 1980s and the folk-influenced style that Tull had in the previous decade.
The tour for Broadsword was the last one for Tull to be exceedingly theatrical. It included the entire stage being decorated to look like a pirate ship, which Ian Anderson, as he said in the liner notes for the remastered CD, thought was very silly. Extensive notes on the production of the album and subsequent tour can be found at the official Jethro Tull website.
The cover art is by renowned artist Iain McCaig.
The runic symbols around the edge of the cover are from the Anglo Saxon rune system. The words are, however, English: the opening lyrics to Broadsword:
I see a dark sail on the horizon, set under a black cloud that hides the sun. Bring me my broadsword and clear understanding. Bring me my cross of gold as a talisman.
Cheerio, the final track of the original release, was for some years played as the final encore at Jethro Tull concerts.
The 2005 CD reissue of the album was heavily expanded to include eight bonus tracks recorded during the Broadsword sessions, but not included in the original 1982 album.The Broadsword and The Beast is the 14th studio album by Jethro Tull, released on April 10, 1982 and according to Ian Anderson in the liner notes of the remastered CD, contains some of Jethro Tull's best music. It mixes electronic sound with acoustic instruments and is a cross between the synthesizer sound of the 1980s and the folk-influenced style that Tull had in the previous decade.
The tour for Broadsword was the last one for Tull to be exceedingly theatrical. It included the entire stage being decorated to look like a pirate ship, which Ian Anderson, as he said in the liner notes for the remastered CD, thought was very silly. Extensive notes on the production of the album and subsequent tour can be found at the official Jethro Tull website.
The cover art is by renowned artist Iain McCaig.
The runic symbols around the edge of the cover are from the Anglo Saxon rune system. The words are, however, English: the opening lyrics to Broadsword:
I see a dark sail on the horizon, set under a black cloud that hides the sun. Bring me my broadsword and clear understanding. Bring me my cross of gold as a talisman.
Cheerio, the final track of the original release, was for some years played as the final encore at Jethro Tull concerts.
The 2005 CD reissue of the album was heavily expanded to include eight bonus tracks recorded during the Broadsword sessions, but not included in the original 1982 album.false2022-11-16 13:37:02The Broadsword and the Beast5.319821982-04-191982-04-1939AorFolk RockProgressive RockRock11134621111777467453e-8ee4-38a1-9310-4bbbc6188ba9ece57992-dc2e-4f67-a269-fa43626c1a3d8c3dc668-6786-3bb7-8408-48a0d0b7302b/media/data/media5/Music/Jethro Tull/The Broadsword and the Beast (1982)/folder.jpgJethro TullAlbumArtistJethro TullArtistJethro TullJethro TullJethro Tull are a British rock band formed in Blackpool, Lancashire, in 1967. Initially playing blues rock and jazz fusion, the band soon incorporated elements of English folk music, hard rock and classical music, forging a signature progressive rock sound. The group's lead vocalist, bandleader, founder, principal composer and only constant member is Ian Anderson, who also plays flute and acoustic guitar. The group has featured a succession of musicians throughout the decades, including significant contributors such as guitarists Mick Abrahams and Martin Barre (with Barre being the longest-serving member besides Anderson); bassists Glenn Cornick, Jeffrey Hammond, John Glascock, Dave Pegg, Jonathan Noyce and David Goodier; drummers Clive Bunker, Barrie "Barriemore" Barlow and Doane Perry; and keyboardists John Evan, Dee Palmer, Peter-John Vettese, Andrew Giddings and John O'Hara.
The band achieved moderate recognition in the London club scene and released their debut album, This Was, in 1968. After a line-up change which saw original guitarist Mick Abrahams replaced by Martin Barre, the band released a folk-tinged second album, Stand Up, in 1969. Stand Up, which reached No. 1 in the UK, gave the band their first commercial success, and regular tours of the UK and the US followed. Their musical style shifted in the direction of progressive rock with albums such as Aqualung (1971), Thick as a Brick (1972), and A Passion Play (1973), and shifted again to contemporary folk rock with Songs from the Wood (1977), Heavy Horses (1978), and Stormwatch (1979). In the early 1980s, the band underwent a major line-up change and moved into electronic rock with the albums A (1980), The Broadsword and the Beast (1982), and Under Wraps (1984). The band won their sole Grammy Award for the 1987 album Crest of a Knave, which saw them returning to a hard rock style. Jethro Tull have sold an estimated 60 million albums worldwide, with 11 gold and 5 platinum albums. They have been described by Rolling Stone as "one of the most commercially successful and eccentric progressive rock bands".
The band ceased studio recording activity in the 2000s, but continued to tour until splitting in 2011. Following the band's split, Anderson and Barre continued to record and tour as solo artists, with Anderson's band billed variously as both "Jethro Tull" and "Ian Anderson" solo. Anderson said in 2014 that Jethro Tull had come "more or less to an end". In 2017, however, Anderson revived the Jethro Tull name and released new studio albums in the 2020s. The current group includes musicians who were part of Jethro Tull during the last years of its initial run, as well as newer musicians associated with Anderson's solo band, without Barre's involvement.