Track Listing

1. Steel Monkey
2. Farm On The Freeway
3. Jump Start
4. She Said She Was A Dancer
5. Dogs In The Midwinter
6. Budapest
7. Mountain Men
8. The Waking Edge
9. Raising Steam
10. Part Of The Machine

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14059 in Music
• Released on: 2005-04-11
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

CD Description
After steering Jethro Tull toward a sound that emphasised synthesizers over acoustic guitars and even his trademark flute, Ian Anderson and a stripped-down Tull pumped up the volume on 1987's CREST OF A KNAVE. The howling guitar of longtime axe-man Martin Barre is much more in evidence here than onprevious releases from the decade. The band sounds energised, the performances heartfelt.
While the record is an undeniable high point of the band's 1980s work, many people were surprised that CREST won a Grammy in 1987 for Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Performance. Despite its metal touches, the music is far too cerebral and its themes far too esoteric to qualify as either hard rock or heavy metal. On "Jump Start",Anderson hearkens back to his glory days with an intricate arrangement centred around furious flute and guitar explosions. "Said She Was a Dancer", built around a refreshingly simple chord sequence, showcases Anderson's expressive singing and Barre's eerie mimicry of Mark Knopfler's guitar sound.

Customer Reviews

The 'Heavy Metal' Album, allegedly.
Tull won a Grammy for this record, at the expense of Metallica. It's not really a heavy metal album, although 'Steel Monkey' opens the record at breakneck pace. Thereafter it's altogether quiter, as Andersons throat problems post-'Under Wraps' had caused him to reign in his vocals somewhat. It does however contain some fine Tull songs - most notably 'Farm on the Freeway' - and is well worth investigating if you are a fan of the band. Otherwise it might sound a bit bland for those expecting the 'heavy metal' experience.

Resurgence
Perhaps my favourite Tull album after Thick as a Brick, this marked a great return to form. The 'rural' albums were the last to really grab the attention, the poor "A" and patchy Stormwatch had meant that new albums by Tull were much less the automatic purchases they once were.

Much of the quality resides in Martin Barre’s guitar work, and its interplay with the flute. The production is superb (recorded ‘at home’!), and allows the instruments to shine through. There is just a nod to the mid-80’s electronic past on Steel Monkey, shot through with shafts of glacial guitar, before Farm on the Freeway demonstrates the resurgence of Anderson’s gift for the haunting melody. The extended track – Budapest – and Said She was a Dancer invite surprising but unavoidable comparisons with Dire Straits. Mountain Men, after a somewhat tacked-on intro, settles into a fine piece with some lovely guitar and flute interjections.

The extra track – Part of the Machine – was originally released on the 20th anniversary box set, but finds a home here with this set of contemporaneous songs, and closes things out nicely.

Dire Straits Similarities Ahoy!
David Rees in his 1998 biography of Jethro Tull hailed this album as a masterpiece. Quite frankly I couldn't disagree more. Yes it's brilliantly played music and yes there are some good tunes that I still sometimes find myself grudgingly singing to myself some 19 years after the albums release.

However, the album is in my opinion fatally flawed by the similarities in Ian Anderson's vocal style to that of Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits. Also, as if that isn't enough to set the cat amongst the pigeons there is also the Knopfleresque guitar stylings provided by Martin Barre. What were they thinking of?

Well, it is fairly common knowledge amongst Jethro Tull fans that at the time Ian Anderson had to sing a tone lower so as to compensate for his throat problems that started during the Under Wraps tour of 1984. Problems that sadly have pretty much plagued him ever since. In view of this it is understandable amongst hardcore fans just why the album sounds like it does. For me though it ruins the whole feel of the record. In fact it almost seems as though Ian Anderson was at the time trying to gain some sort of commercial edge by sounding like Dire Straits, who were, as we all know enjoying massive commercial success at the time. This may or may not be true but it certainly puts the dampers on what could have been a far more Jethro Tull sounding album.

One of the worst songs on the album which really sums it all up is Said She Was A Dancer. Ian Anderson's voice sounds awful and the lyrics are just dreadful. It's definitely one to omit when programming in your favourite tracks. Mind you though I did hear a Busker singing it in Worthing the other day and his version did seem to be more acceptable. Also, the fact that a Busker has decided to sing it must I suppose prove that it has some commercial clout.

Anyway, I've nothing against Dire Straits but feel that Jethro Tull really did themselves a wrong in trying to not sound like themselves. I suppose that had Dire Straits never have existed then Crest Of A Knave may well have become a classic Jethro Tull album. Sadly though the Dire Straits musical legacy does exist and as a result Crest Of A Knave has got problems for eternity.