(Rock, Progressive Rock) [CD] Jethro Tull - Songs From The Wood (1977) & Heavy Horses (1978) (2CD Set) - 2011 (EMI EU), FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

#777#77701. Songs From The Wood
02. Jack-In-The-Green
03. Cup Of Wonder
04. Hunting Girl
05. Ring Out Solstice Bells
06. Velvet Green
07. The Whistler
08. Pibroch (Cap In Hand)
09. Fire At Midnight
Bonus Tracks:
10. Beltane
11. Velvet Green (Live)
All tracks written by Ian Anderson with additional material by Martin Barre and David Palmer.

#777#77701. And The Mouse Police Never Sleeps
02. Acres Wild
03. No Lullaby
04. Moths
05. Journeyman
06. Rover
07. One Brown Mouse
08. Heavy Horses
09. Weathercock
Bonus Tracks:
10. Living In These Hard Times
11. Broadford Bazaar
All tracks written by Ian Anderson with additional material by Martin Barre and David Palmer.

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.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/songs-from-the-wood-mw0000194328
Jethro Tull's 11th studio album, Heavy Horses, is one of their prettier records, a veritable celebration of English folk music chock-full of gorgeous melodies, briskly played acoustic guitars and mandolins, and Ian Anderson's flute lilting in the background, backed by the group in top form. This record is a fairly close cousin to 1977's Songs From the Wood, except that its songs are decidedly more passionate, sung with a rough, robust energy that much of Tull's work since Thick as a Brick had been missing, and surpassing even Aqualung in its lustiness. "No Lullaby" is the signature heavy riff song, a concert version of which opened Bursting Out: Jethro Tull Live. Anderson sings it -- and everything else here -- as though they might be the last lines he ever gets to voice, with tremendous intensity. The band plays hard behind him throughout, with lead guitarist Martin Barre (most notably on "Weathercock") and bassist John Glascock showing up very well throughout. Anderson's production and Robin Black's engineering catch their every nuance without sacrificing the delicacy of his acoustic guitar and mandolin playing. "Acres Wild," "Rover," "One Brown Mouse," "Weathercock," and "Moths," the latter featuring some of David Palmer's most tasteful orchestral arrangements, are among the loveliest songs in the group's entire repertory. Curved Air's Darryl Way plays violin solo on the title track -- a tribute to England's vanishing shire horses, which doesn't really take off until Way's instrument comes in on the break, with a marked tempo change -- and on "Acres Wild."
https://www.allmusic.com/album/heavy-horses-mw0000199170
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jethro_Tull_(band)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songs_from_the_Wood
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_Horses
http://www.collecting-tull.com
http://jethrotull.com