review by thomas

Released in-between the masterpiece ”A Passion Play” and the classic “Minstrel In the Gallery”, “War Child” got dwarfed by those albums. From a strictly progressive point of view that’s no wonder at first; “War Child” has 10 songs, no song over 6-minute and mostly all the songs follows the ABACAB (verse, chorus, verse, bridge etc.) formula. The album sounds rather disappointing after the first few times of listening. But this album requires plenty of listening before the tea comes down with full flavour.
Tull have never again used the saxophones so heavily as on this record, neither has they used so many different instruments…to my knowledge that is. The orchestra shows up on almost all the songs.

So after a time the simple-sounding songs reveal their true nature; but, alas, not all of them. “Bungle In the Jungle” makes a reversed turn: from being good, with a catchy riff, the first times to becoming dull and boring thereafter. And the last minute of “The Third Hoorah” are quite annoying but otherwise this is a good album that really grows on you if you give it the chance to do so. Maybe not everyones cup of tea (if you really hate the ABACAB formula no matter what, you will have no pleasure out of this album) but fans of Tull will maybe like it, again with reservation since “War Child” sounds like no other Tull album made during the sixties or seventies, its closest kin would be "A Passion Play". NOT the place to start for those who are strangers to Tull. Recommended starting albums are “Minstrel In the Gallery” or “Aqualung” or even “Thick as a Brick”.