Jethro Tull: Ian Anderson (vocals, acoustic guitar, concert & bamboo flutes); Martin Barre (electric guitar); Andrew Giddings (keyboards); Dave Pegg, Steve Bailey (bass); Doane Perry (drums).

Composer: Ian Anderson .

Personnel: Ian Anderson (vocals, acoustic guitar, flute, bamboo flute, wooden flute); Martin Barre (electric guitar); Andy Giddings (keyboards); Dave Pegg, Steve Bailey (bass guitar); Doane Perry (drums).

Audio Remasterer: Peter Mew.

Liner Note Author: Ian Anderson .

Photographer: Martyn Goddard.

This mid-'90s Tull studio album has its good moments, mostly shadows of earlier work. All of the songs here have more of a mood of urgency than some of Tull's then-recent albums, and a few even have memorable melodies -- the title tune, "At Last, Forever" (which sounds like a Thick as a Brick outtake), "Rare and Precious Chain," "Dangerous Veils," and "Valley," which recall the best moments of Ian Anderson's mid-'70s work. There are also attempts to revive the band's one-time fixation on jazz influences (the opening of "Wounded, Old and Treacherous"), although this sort of thing came off better on This Was. Anderson's flute occasionally takes flight, Martin Barre's guitar still wails on the breaks, and Doane Perry (drums), Dave Pegg (bass), and Steve Bailey (bass) make up a decent rhythm section. Not nearly as strong as Catfish Rising, but better than anything else since Heavy Horses. ~ Bruce Eder

Whereas in the 1980s Jethro Tull had dabbled in heavy metal and modern rock, ROOTS TO BRANCHES hearkens back to the classic Tull sound. For one thing, there is a lot more flute on this record, making it one of the band's more vintage-sounding offerings during their later era.

There's much spirited interplay between Martin Barre's power chords and lightning solos and Anderson's muscular flute. The inclusion of a slightly Middle Eastern-sounding synthesizer line on "Rare and Precious Chain," and the brisk rocker "Out of the Noise," a brisk rocker, adds color and atmosphere. With orchestral-sounding backing and impassioned singing by Anderson, the slightly menacing "This Free Will" is reminiscent of the early Tull's rock epics. The intro to "Valley" recalls the stop-start opening of the Tull chestnut "Nothing is Easy" before it unfolds into a mini-epic alternating between gently pastoral and fiercely electric sections. "Wounded Old and Treacherous" finds Anderson speak-singing over a jaunty piano, addressing issues of mortality. "At Last Forever" is a rarity for Tull: a fairly straightforward love song, albeit with some characteristic flourishes, while "Another Harry's Bar" is oddly reminiscent of late-period Dire Straits.

Q (10/95, p.115) - 3 Stars - Average - "...ROOTS TO BRANCHES is the work of a group who know their strengths to be classy, muscular and melodic rock...but compare this to Floyd's recent work and the Tull come over like the MC5..."