Two years after Thick as a Brick 2, an explicit 2012 sequel to the 1972 prog classic, Ian Anderson embarked on another ambitious journey, this time assembling a concept record called Homo Erraticus. A loose -- very loose -- album based on a "dusty, unpublished manuscript, written by local amateur historian Ernest T. Parritt (1873-1928)," Homo Erraticus is an old-fashioned prog record: it has narrative heft and ideas tied to the '70s, where jazz, classical, folk, orchestral pop, and rock all commingled in a thick, murky soup. Divorced from Tull, Anderson favors fruitiness -- he likes ripe melodies and baroque arrangements that showcase either his flute or the dexterity of his band -- and if the music by and large isn't as forceful as Aqualung, partially due to the absence of muscular musicians, it nevertheless demonstrates a clear-eyed conception that is in the same lineage. Yes, the production on Homo Erraticus is too precise -- there's too much air, there's too much room to roam, decisions that diminish the impact of the music -- but the contours of the compositions deliberately and delicately recall classic Tull, so Homo Erraticus winds up satisfying: it's as close to '70s prog as is possible in 2014
Condition:NEW. Brand New Factory Sealed
TRACK LISTINGS
Disc 1
1 Doggerland (4:20)
2 Heavy Metals (1:32)
3 Enter the Uninvited (4:12)
4 Puer Ferox Adventus (7:13)
5 Meliora Sequamur (3:34)
6 The Turnpike Inn (3:07)
7 The Engineer (3:11)
8 The Pax Britannica (3:05)
9 Tripudium Ad Bellum (2:50)
10 After These Wars (4:29)
11 New Blood, Old Veins (2:31)
12 In For a Pound (0:36)
13 The Browning of the Green (4:05)
14 Per Errationes Ad Astra (1:34)
15 Cold Dead Reckoning (5:31)
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