Jethro Tull: Ian Anderson (vocals, acoustic guitar, mandolin, flute, whistles); Martin Barre (electric guitar, lute); John Evans, David Palmer (keyboards); Barriemore Barlow (marimba, glockenspiel, drums, bells, nakers, tabor); John Glascock (bass, background vocals).

Personnel: Ian Anderson (vocals, whistling, acoustic guitar, mandolin, flute); John Glascock (vocals, bass guitar); Martin Barre (electric guitar, lute); John Evan (piano, organ, synthesizer); David Palmer (piano, portative organ, synthesizer); Barriemore Barlow (marimba, glockenspiel, drums, nakers, tabor, bells).

Liner Note Author: Ian Anderson .

Recording information: La Maison Rouge Mobile Studio; Morgan Studios.

Author: Ian Anderson .

Unknown Contributor Role: Keith Howard.

Arranger: Jethro Tull.

Far and away the prettiest record Jethro Tull released at least since Thick as a Brick and a special treat for anyone with a fondness for the group's more folk-oriented material. Ian Anderson had moved to the countryside sometime earlier, and it showed in his choice of source material. The band's aggressive rock interplay and Anderson's fascination with early British folk melodies produce a particularly appealing collection of songs -- the seriousness with which the group took this effort can be discerned by the album's unofficial "full" title on the original LP: "Jethro Tull With Kitchen Prose, Gutter Rhymes, and Divers Songs from the Wood." The group's sound was never more carefully balanced between acoustic folk and hard rock -- the result is an album that sounds a great deal like the work of Tull's Chrysalis Records labelmates Steeleye Span (though Nigel Pegrum never attacked his cymbals -- or his entire drum kit -- with Barriemore Barlow's ferocity). The harmonizing on "Songs From the Wood" fulfills the promise shown in some of the singing on Thick as a Brick, and the delicacy of much of the rest, including "Ring Out, Solstice Bells" (where the group plays full out, but with wonderful elegance), "Hunting Girl," and "Velvet Green," set a new standard for the group's sound. "Pibroch (Cap in Hand)," which is dominated by Martin Barre's electric guitar -- in a stunning array of overlapping flourishes at full volume -- is the only concession to the group's usual hard rock rave-ups, and even it has some lovely singing to counterbalance the bulk of the song. ~ Bruce Eder

In terms of rustic, tights-wearing, elf-loving, flute-heavy, British/Celtic folk-tinged '70s prog-rock, SONGS FROM THE WOOD is the most Tull of all Jethro Tull albums. By 1977 the band had ventured far enough from its heavy blues-rock beginnings to create a completely unique, idiosyncratic sound, filled with European folk mythology, rural imagery and an endearing combination of art-rock and British folk-rock. Elaborate synthesizer fanfares mix with delicate acoustic guitar tapestries, complex arrangements and odd time signatures. SONGS FROM THE WOOD strikes the perfect balance between the proggie ambition of THICK AS A BRICK, the storytelling style of AQUALUNG and the courtly, medieval air of MINSTREL IN THE GALLERY.

This album, which seemed so soft and lyrical in its original CD incarnation, comes to us with some surprisingly sharp edges in its remastered form -- the 24-bit audio allows us to practically hear the action on Ian Anderson's acoustic guitar and puts Barriemore Barlow's drums in the room with us, suddenly giving the whole album the texture of a live recording. Oddly enough, in the case of this album, the result is a roughening of many of the textures to go with closer presence of all of the instruments -- thus, Songs From the Wood ends up sounding a bit more like the Tull albums around it than it previously did. Of the two bonus tracks, "Beltane" is a harder-rocking song than anything on the original LP, while "Velvet Green" keeps to the pastoral mood of the existing album, with a very pleasant melody. ~ Bruce Eder

Uncut (6/03, p.138) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...There's no doubting the band's ability to combine awesomely complex time signatures and effete fife-tabor-mandolin-and-bells effects while rocking out..."