Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll, Still Too Young to Die...

 

When we think British iconic bands, we tend to go for Beatles — or Stones (we will not take sides on this one). When we think outrageous British iconic bands, we tend to go for Queen‘s operatic bravado — or David Bowie’s youthful antics. Yet, there is a classic British Rock band that very much forged the way music history is being told to this day, and largely contributed to it being as thrilling as it was in the past century, and that would be Ian Anderson’s Jethro Tull. The name alone is great: taken after the 18th century — and very real — agricultural pioneer who was instrumental in the country venturing into an economic revolution, it tells you everything there is to know about this band. Unpredictable, eccentric and always entertaining…

Aside from the name, Jethro Tull’s music was also always on the interesting side of every sort of musical genre of its time. It revelled in mixing up styles, instruments and artistic formats. Not surprisingly, Ian Anderson, the band’s lead singer, lead composer and lead flautist — in that order — jumped on the concept album bandwagon, as it was clearly was one of the most experimental, quirky and occasionally spectacular ways to make music in the 1970’s. The Who and The Kinks started it (in the 1960’s), David Bowie did it, Pink Floyd famously bookended it with the immense The Wall... and Jethro Tull very much contributed to the trend in-between.

Starting with 1971’s Aqualung, which the band for some reason or other disliked actually being considered a concept album. So they released Thick as a Brick in response the following year, a concept album parody. And finally, a little while later, the beautifully melancholic and aforementioned masterpiece that is 1976’s Too Old to Rock ‘n’ Roll: Too Young to Die… Apparently stemming from the fear a bad flight over the United States left Anderson with, it inspired the tale of an ageing Rock star going through the (musical) ages. Interesting to note that the album was released when the artist was only 28: a pretty young age to call oneself old, although members of the infamous 27 Club would disagree…

In any event, Too Old to Rock ‘n’ Roll: Too Young to Die is a beautiful piece of sophisticated progressive Rock which aptly displays the band’s remarkable versatility. The title song alone, a triumphant piece of conceptual Rock n’ roll if there ever was, echoes the best work of the era — see: Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” or Led Zeppelin‘s “Stairway to Heaven. And, if you listen very closely, it even ever so slightly references melodic phrasings featured towards the end of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No.3 in G Major — only reversed. While that compliment may not be necessary, or any compliment really, all that matters is that you listen to this true Rock masterpiece if you haven’t already. Or if you have: you’re never too old to listen to Rock ‘n’ Roll…