This was another record that stands out in my memory from when I was 17. I’d seen the tour and loved it, so bought the album and it quickly became my favourite Tull album. It also stands out because I grappled in a passionate embrace on the living room floor with a lovely lass with this playing. It’s funny how you remember these things. It must have been the best part of 50 years ago and I was just becoming aware of the things that make the world go round.
The album reached number 13 in the UK and number 8 in the United States. A single from the album, "The Whistler", was also the band's last US Hot 100 chart entry, peaking at number 59. "Ring Out, Solstice Bells", was released ahead of the album on an EP of the same title for the 1976 Christmas season, peaking at number 28 in the UK. God, how I loved that record.
What I loved about it then and now is the blend of overdriven guitar with acoustics and folklore, mythological lyrics about the natural world. It played into my nascent hippy wonder at the natural world and the sense that something greater than all of us is at play if we dyd but pause in order to see it. That and an understanding of times gone and to come
Pibroch was an 8-minute highlight for me; a Martin Barre tour-de-force. This is what Tull did so well, mixing hard rock with this lyrical clarity and imagination. You feel nourished by this album. It isn't just meaningless drivel or conventional love songs. It’s intelligent and earthy and stll resonates with meaning today
