Even before
Jethro Tull's 1987 LP
Crest of a Knave controversially won the newly created Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance (beating out
AC/DC,
Jane's Addiction,
Iggy Pop, and -- to the astonishment of many who ignored the "hard rock" tag and focused on "metal" -- Metallica), it represented a commercial comeback for the venerable British band led by
Ian Anderson, becoming the group's first U.S. gold album in eight years. Thus, it might be said that there was something riding on the follow-up, not only in career terms, but also in the sense of musical credibility. But that doesn't seem to have mattered to
Anderson, who, ensconced on the Isle of Skye in the Scottish Hebrides, just came up with another batch of his idiosyncratic songs, referring to his home in the title.
Rock Island went on to disappoint somewhat in record stores compared with its predecessor, despite radio and video play for its lead-off track, "Kissing Willie." [Seventeen years later, on this reissue,
Anderson provides liner notes that illuminate his sometimes opaque lyrics. "Heavy Water," for example, "reflects on the environmental damage from Chernobyl" -- who knew? -- while "Big Riff and Mando" is a fanciful retelling of an incident on tour when bandmember
Martin Barre's mandolin was stolen and, amazingly, returned. Whatever the songs' meanings, the LP remains a representative but hardly special
Jethro Tull album. For the bonus tracks, the group has gathered in a dressing room backstage in Zurich, Switzerland, on October 13, 1989, performing stripped-down versions of "A Christmas Song," "Cheap Day Return/Mother Goose," and "Locomotive Breath," with
Anderson graciously introducing the performances as if hosting a special radio program, which, perhaps, he was.] ~ William Ruhlmann