If you pick up Jethro Tull's bible, open at page one, it shall be written: "Locomotive Breath"!
In perfect synchronicity with the announcement of their reactivation in 2024, Austin, TX stoner doom stalwarts, The Sword, have respectfully taken up the burden of tackling the shuffling madness of arguably the British rock legends' most iconic song on the forthcoming MER Redux Series release, Aqualung Redux, carefully adding a pinch of Texas boogie to the beloved cut. Aqualung Redux has been scheduled for release on December 6.
The Sword's tribute take on Jethro Tull's "Locomotive Breath" is now available for streaming below.
Parallel to Aqualung Redux, Magnetic Eye Records will release the customary companion album entitled Best Of Jethro Tull Redux. The record contains eight cover renditions of deep cuts and all-time classics from across Jethro Tull's extensive catalogue recorded by some of the heavy underground's most exciting artists.
The Sword comment: "The Sword is definitely no stranger to tackling cover songs", bassist Bryan Richie writes. "It's a challenge we've always enjoyed over the course of our time as a band. For Magnetic Eye's 'Aqualung Redux' project, we thought 'Locomotive Breath' was the perfect track to take a stab at. Live versions of the song certainly prove it was a killer in the band's arsenal. For the piano intro, we enlisted our dear friend Steve Moore (Zombi) and on flute Jason Frey (Hard Proof, Doom Side of the Moon) for their proven expertise. Never before had we ever thought to include a flute in a Sword track, but when the opportunity arose with this compilation, we had to give it a shot! We had a ton of fun with this one!"
The Sword from Austin, Texas started off in 2003 as a doom metal band with Black Sabbath as a major influence. With their debut album Age of Winters (2006) the Americans firmly established themselves in heavy rock and metal circles around the globe. Throughout their career, The Sword firmly remained close to their stylistic roots although occasionally expanding their sound range by adding elements from stoner rock and other related genres. Their sound has always offered a hint of Texan dialect, shining through their musical language with faint echoes of ZZ Top's bluesy twang. In the wake of their seventh studio full-length, The Sword announced their split after 19 years, but 2024 sees the band reactivated with festival appearances scheduled and this, their first new studio recording to come to light.
Aqualung Redux is available as a gatefold oxblood red vinyl LP, a gatefold marbled clear, black & silver vinyl LP, and a gatefold black vinyl LP, and as a Digisleeve CD.
Pre-order here.
Aqualung Redux tracklisting:
Chris Goss & Alain Johannes - "Aqualung"
The Well - "Cross-Eyed Mary"
Osi And The Jupiter - "Cheap Day Return"
Huntsmen - "Mother Goose"
The Otolith - "Wond'ring Aloud"
Motorpsycho - "Up To Me"
Big Scenic Nowhere - "My God"
Saturna - "Hymn 43"
Mammoth Volume - "Slipstream"
The Sword - "Locomotive Breath"
Domkraft & Arvid Hällagård - "Wind-Up"
Jethro Tull are musical giants with a unique sound – or rather sounds that have remained singular in the canon of rock music. Founded in Blackpool, Lancashire, in 1967 by the Scotsman Ian Anderson, the band has undergone several stylistic shifts and changes of image during their still ongoing career of many decades. Yet largely due to the characteristic voice of their frontman and the inclusion of a flute as an essential instrument, Jethro Tull have always had an inimitable and easily recognisable trademark sonic fingerprint.
Jethro Tull have pushed the limits of what defines rock music from the start. Elements of classical music, jazz, and traditional music such as compound time signatures have led to the band being classified as art rock and later progressive rock – among a host of other terms. The British legend has managed to balance the tightrope between art, wide appeal and commercial success with seeming ease. This was helped by the outstanding showmanship of Ian Anderson, whose stagecraft and performances even rivalled his contemporary, the legendary British singer Arthur Brown.
With their best-selling album Aqualung (1971) that has by now sold more than 7 million copies worldwide, Jethro Tull achieved their major breakthrough and became a global household name as a rock band on radio shows and on tours. Aqualung primarily revolves around religion and faith but also tackles other subjects such as homelessness, but according to Ian Anderson it was not intended as a concept album. While the band continued to use elements of blues, hard rock, and psychedelia, it also added more folk style acoustic moments. The single track "Locomotive Breath", taken from Aqualung, is probably the best known and most covered tune of Jethro Tull.
Magnetic Eye's Redux Series was created to pay homage to classic albums from across music history. The label has charged themselves as chroniclers and archivists to contribute to keeping the memory of outstanding artists and records alive and transfer their music to the sound of new generations. Heavy music has always experienced evolution in many directions, but the idea that a band led by an eccentric, mercurial Scotsman who integrated art pieces, social critiques, off-kilter humour and yes, even a flute, proved to be delightfully appealing and finally irresistible.
That eccentric geniuses such as Jethro Tull could become one of the most memorable and recognisable acts of the 1970s that continued to amaze throughout the next decades very much shows what a fun and crazy time those early days of rock's exploration were.
With Aqualung Redux and Best of Jethro Tull Redux, Magnetic Eye pay heavy tribute to the original art rock masters through an array of renditions by bands both iconic and new. Jethro Tull were singular and a similar band might never come into existence today, but it is cool as hell that their legacy continues to live on more than five decades later. Magnetic Eye proudly uphold and endorse their lasting greatness with this respectful homage.
