01	Warchild						04:36
	02	Queen And Country						03:00
	03	Ladies						03:18
	04	Back-Door Angels						05:26
	05	Sealion						03:40
	06	Skating Away On The Thin Ice Of The New Day						04:12
	07	Bungle In The Jungle						03:37
	08	Only Solitaire						01:39
	09	The Third Hoorah						04:51
	10	Two Fingers						05:19
	11	Warchild Waltz						04:21
	12	Quartet						02:44
	13	Paradise Steakhouse						04:03
	14	Sealion 2						03:20
	15	Rainbow Blues						03:40
	16	Glory Row						03:35
	17	Saturation						04:21

Date of US Release November 5, 2002

As a return to standard-length songs following two epic-length pieces (Thick As a Brick and A Passion Play), it was inevitable that the material on War Child would lack power. The music was no longer quite able to cover for the obscurity of Tull's lyrics: The title track is reasonably successful, but "Queen and Country" seems repetitive and pointless. "Ladies," by contrast, is one of Tull's folk-based pieces, and one of the prettiest songs on the record, beautifully sung and benefiting from some of Anderson's best flute playing to date. The band is very tight but doesn't get to really show its stuff until "Back-Door Angels," after which the album picks up: "Sealion" is one of Anderson's pseudo-philosophical musings on life, mixing full-out electric playing and restrained orchestral backing, while "Skating Away on the Thin Ice of a New Day" is a beautiful, largely acoustic number that was popular in concert. "Bungle in the Jungle," with a title that went over well, got most of the radio play.





Surprise - The Abandoned "War Child" Movie Outline


Whilst rummaging around the home attic for various Tull historical items (at the ever polite push of the webmaster Dave), Ian happened upon the original conceptual outline for the "War Child: A Musical Fantasy." Believed to be the only existing copy, it has now been "remastered" in pure QWERTY digital bit imagery for those hardy souls interested in such time capsuled musings.

What follows is just a taste for now. Never fear, the whole sixty-something page document will be posted overtime. Here are Ian's comments scribbled on the front cover , the executive summary of the outline, and a cast of characters.

This is the surviving copy of [the] synopsis written in '73/'74 around which the songs for the album "War Child" were written. The synopsis itself derived from the lyrical material on the "Passion Play" album.

It seems, of course, rather naive on re-reading it now, and the black comedy elements seem to be missing the point and lurking only in memory. Still....

--- Ian Anderson


War Child - A Musical Fantasy - Conceptual Outline

Said Arthur Clark in 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, "Behind every man now alive stand thirty ghosts, for that is the rate by which the dead outnumber the living." Since it is out of the question to attempt a numerically faithful pictorial representation of beings possibly existing in an after life, this will be a picture of the Heaven/Hell inhabitants in qualitative rather than quantitative terms. God and Satan are personified in stylised roles. Heaven and Hell, in the sense of being societies, are represented as geographically (to say the least) opposed sides of a small English town: While containing elements of black comedy, the musical, and heavily stylised drama, the story has been contrived to be in essence a morality play. But then again, it might be simply a whimsical fantasy.

Most of the music has already been written and both the song lyrics and dances are to take place of dialogue in a very real sense. All of the points where these scenes occur have not necessarily been included in the story synopsis. All the songs are sung by the character Peter du Jour with the exception of one or two each by Satan and God. The dances and mimes are the expressions of the girl (Evelyn), whose part is mostly mute, but there will be a corps de ballet with soloist for one scene, and the main characters will "dance" in other scenes.

STORY OUTLINE IN BRIEF

Our story deals with the short stay of a girl in the after life. On arrival she is met by a guide named Peter du Jour who owes allegiance to neither Heaven nor Hell, preferring to remain comfortably in the middle. The girl is judged most fitting for and sent to Heaven. Straying from his middle path, Du Jour has begun to work secretly for Satan and tricks the girl into helping him. Her involvement is discovered and she is dismissed from Heaven and sent to Hell. Du Jour feels guilt at having corrupted her, and making a deal with God, begins to work for the forces of Good in an effort to obtain her freedom. However, having "risen" to a position of responsibility working for Satan himself, the girl prefers to remain in Hell and in turn uses Du Jour to help Satan in his machinations. Realising he has been duped, Du Jour returns to his disillusionment with the absolutes of Good and Evil. He regains the wilful allegiance of the girl and engineers a violent conflict between the armies of Heaven and Hell. Wishing to avoid all out aggression, both God and Satan agree that there is no place in the after life for this foolish pair who seem unable to make up their minds as to which side they are on. They are banished to lives of reincarnation on Earth (which perhaps, after all, is the real Hell). At the end of the story it is suggested that finally we all must choose which path to follow, since to attempt to stray down the middle is ultimately the least forgiveable sin.

MAIN CHARACTERS AND BACKGROUNDS

THE GIRL (EVELYN)

She is about 17 years old and unmarried. At the beginning of the story she is pregnant. The father of her baby has no part in the story until the final scenes. Information given in the film suggests that he is a successful professional businessman in his late twenties and is politically ambitious. In Earth life, the girl is possibly a student of ballet, her studies discontinued for a few months while she bears the child. She has obviously made a difficult decision as to whether or not to have the baby and in the final stages of pregnancy is having doubts about having done the right thing. She is in a fairly emotional state at the point where our story begins.

PETER DU JOUR

A cocky, self assured young man of about 27. His 'employment' in the Heaven/Hell situation is to meet recently departed souls from Earth life and bring them emotionally secure to the registration office of the after life. In fact, his flippant and irreverent attitude, and cryptic commentary do more to confuse than enlighten the new arrivals. His other duties include short guided tours of Heaven/Hell.
He is aligned to neither the left hand (Evil) nor the righthand (Good) paths, but is one of the few neutrals (newts) who live in 'City Centre'. Very much his "own man", he makes what he can on the side by currying favours from the economic and political hierarchy of both Left and Right, though as the story progresses, he begins to secretly assist Satan in the cold war balance of power which exists in the after life.

GOD

Personified in the story by G. Oddie of G. Oddie & Son Ltd. This is the business corporation monopoly that economically and socially rules City Right (Heaven). G. Oddie & Son deal mainly in the supply of those products which are the necessities of "Life", i.e. food, clothing, spiritual and cultural "entertainments". G. Oddie himself is a man of many moods sometimes the benign avuncular figure who provides and cares for his "children": sometimes, more like the jealous God Jehovah, he is given to militaristic reprisals and vengeful outbursts against those "employees" who are letting the firm down. His power and wealth are very much inherited he is of "higher breeding". However, he occasionally appears somewhat emasculated by his inability to control and has moments of doubt and inaction.

LUCIFER THE FALLEN ANGEL SATAN

Personified by Samuel Lucius Browne, known to all as Lucy, of Samuel L. Browne & Co. This is the controlling business corporation of City Left (Hell). It deals in luxury commodities of a trivial nature, but more importantly, in the supply of domestic and industrial power, e.g. gas, coal, oil and electricity. Perhaps also property investment, the building trade and certainly the provision of lower quality entertainment strip clubs, cinemas, bars, brothels, etc.

Lucy's background is that he once worked for G. Oddie & Son Ltd. rose to the position of a director, but was sacked for attempting to control the shareholding. He then formed his own company and in direct competition with G. Oddie, has now become equally powerful. There exists a stalemate between the two companies but there is always a sense of impending and complete domination of one company over the other. For the moment, however, both G. Oddie and Lucy are content to bide their time in relatively gentlemanly competition rather than risk the open offensive action which seems inevitable.

Lucy is, then, the epitome of a successful middle class businessman of Northern English background. He is very much the self made man (and aware of it). He is secretly of transvestite inclinations. All his employees are aware of his dual sexualty and encourage him in subtle fashion, although he is never sure whether or not they are teasing him.

OTHER CHARACTERS

Some of the other character roles in the story should be cast so that some actors play two or more parts which might gain from that strengthened relationship.

THE CITY

It is divided broadly into two geographical areas City Left/Hell domain of Samuel L. Browne & Co. and City Right/Heaven under the control of G. Oddie & Son Ltd. A much smaller area known as City Centre (which is in fact the town square of this small English town) is the neutral territory it consists of a few buildings including:

The registration office, where new arrivals, or trainees sign in.
The cinema, where the cinematic synopses of their lives are shown for judgement to be passed on the mode of employment most befitting them.
Some private houses, one of which is the domicile of Peter du Jour.
The hostel for the temporary accommodation of newly arrived trainees.
The office of the Overtaker, who arranges for the transfer of individual souls to a mysteriously hinted at "further existence" above and beyond the City (which turns out at the end of the story to be a reincarnated life on Earth).
The barracks of The Pipe Band, 4th Det., City Centre.
On the right of the City Centre square is a large building which houses the offices and private apartment of Lucy on the left are the offices and home of G. Oddie. Both buildings have a commanding view over City Centre where much of the action takes place.

NOTE: As in the Liturgical plays of the early mediaeval theatre in Europe which were performed in the churches of that time, the Left and Right are as seen by the priest standing at the altar and facing the congregation Heaven being on the Right and Hell on the Left.

The actual size of the City might be hinted at by the use of panoramic very long shots of suburban dwellings stretching seemingly endlessly to the horizon. The City Centre however, should remain as a small town setting rather than a great metropolitan centre. A small English garden city "new" town would be ideal with simply planned modern, rather than old, buildings. How much of the City Centre's layout should be actually shown and how much should be suggested by other means is obviously a financial as well as an artistic consideration





Jethro Tull
Warchild
Capitol (41571)
UK 1974

Ian Anderson, vocals, flute, acoustic guitar, alto sax, soprano sax, sopranino sax;
Martin Barre, electric guitar, Spanish guitar;
John Evan, organ, piano, synthesizers, accordion;
Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond, Bass guitar, string bass;
Barriemore Barlow, drums, glockenspiel, percussion

Tracklist:
1. Warchild - 4:35
2. Queen and Country - 3:00
3. Ladies - 3:17
4. Back Door Angels - 5:30
5. Sealion - 3:37
6. Skating Away On the Thin Ice of a New Day - 4:09
7. Bungle in the Jungle - 3:35
8. Only Solitaire - 1:28
9. The Third Hoorah - 4:49
10. Two Fingers - 5:11
11. Warchild Waltz - 4:20
12. Quartet - 2:42
13. Paradise Steakhouse - 4:02
14. Sealion 2 - 3:18
15. Rainbow Blues - 3:38
16. Glory Row - 3:33
17. Saturation - 4:21

total time 65:51


matt

Like A Passion Play, Warchild is the result of a compromise reached after a false start. Perhaps thinking that the hurried nature of A Passion Play didn't allow him to adequately explore the afterlife theme, Ian Anderson's original plan for Warchild was a concept album and corresponding film about a girl and her afterlife experiences. When the film project fell through, the plan for a concept album went with it. Jethro Tull's seventh studio record, then, is a hodgepodge of songs written for the story plus older material dating back to the aborted pre-Passion Play sessions in France.
If Jethro Tull needed an album to tread water and catch their breath, they probably had earned it. They had been on an annual schedule of recording and touring since 1968 and although most of the personnel who recorded Warchild had only been in the band for two or three albums, Martin Barre and leader Ian Anderson had to be exhausted. Warchild doesn't sound tired (quite the contrary; I think these well-produced performances are bright, enthusiastic and full of energy) but I do think Anderson short on top-flight material and the album therefore sounds inconsistent to me. There is enough of the good stuff, though, to keep Warchild just on the positive side of mediocre.

The music on Warchild is an elaboration of the style presented on A Passion Play and is stuffed to the gills with new sounds and instruments. An accordion supplements many of the tracks, as do strings. The album is dotted with non-musical sound effects: sirens, voices, shots, glasses clinking, etc. Though a number of songs are remnants of the afterlife story, the tone is never dark or somber. The music is more rock-oriented than either Thick as a Brick or A Passion Play, and Martin Barre is back in a big way on several of these songs, with some very heavy lead guitar. The production is crystalline, and the 2002 remaster is a treat to play on a good stereo. All in all, it sounds like the band had a grand old time making this album, and the strongest tracks shine robustly. "Back Door Angels," the album's longest song, impressively melds the progressive rock of the previous two albums with the metallic crunch of Aqualung. "Sea Lion" - a holdover from the pre-Passion Play sessions in France - doesn't have a particularly strong melody but the driving, insistent music wins me over. The light "Skating Away," (which also pre-dates A Passion Play) is, in my opinion, one of the great Jethro Tull songs. "The Third Hurrah," while probably too over-the-top to safely qualify as tasteful, nevertheless provides an energetic reprisal of the "Warchild" theme and I always get caught up in it.

But questions of taste are an issue on this record. The band had been moving toward an "Olde England" image over their last couple of albums and tours and they may have stepped over the line on this one. The costumes and sets for this tour were downright garish; the music sometimes reflected this excess and didn't always have the goods to justify it. The title track and "Ladies" - each overdone, "Ladies" more so - both inexplicably break into a stilted rock and roll boogie toward their respective conclusions and provide ample evidence that, whatever vast array of influences this band has been able to credibly assimilate over the years, 1950s rock and roll wasn't one of them. The dreadful "Bungle in the Jungle," the album's hit single, is an exhibition of the band's worst tendencies on Warchild: awkward animal allegories, a weak melody and needlessly frilly arrangements. David Palmer's strings worked more often than not on this album, but I find them to be positively cringe-inducing on this particular track. "Two Fingers," a bloated remake of the Aqualung-sessions refugee "Lick Your Fingers Clean" finishes the album and causes the listener (if that listener is me, anyway) to feel like he may have gone one plate too many down at the all-you-can eat buffet.

Bonus tracks are rarely worth mentioning, but Jethro Tull had a history writing album-worthy tunes that had to be left off for various reasons. Six of the seven bonus tracks on the 2002 Warchild remaster have been released on CD elsewhere, but the inclusion of the very good "Rainbow Blues" and "Glory Row" obviates the need for all but the most obsessively completist Tull fans to consider purchasing either of the Best of Jethro Tull compilations. There's nothing about the other bonus tracks that I find to be special, but I do kind of like "Saturation," and "Quartet" - an example of Jethro Tull apparently trying to sound like Gentle Giant - is definitely something worth hearing at least once.

review by Matt P. - 5-16-05

(c) ground and sky