Ian Anderson on the “key man” regarding the invention of metal
Jethro Tull’s leader and only constant member, Ian Anderson, has seen many musical zeitgeists come and go. While his outfit has toyed with various genres to bring its multifarious sound to the fore, including jazz, folk, hard rock and classical, it has always existed in its own realm despite the ostensible connections to prog.
Although the flute-piping frontman is an artist with a definitive creative vision, when treading his path over the decades, Anderson has still kept a keen eye on other musical advancements. This is only natural, as the 1960s was brimming with innovation across the board, with almost every notable band doing something unique. That’s exactly what their generation looked for as musicians and consumers: a fresh context dictated by their own worldview and rejection of tradition.
Although it emerged later in their career, one genre Anderson and Tull experimented with was metal. They always had an atmospheric edge, and given hard rock’s importance to their sound, as metal arose from the genre and became the zeitgeist in the 1980s, it was a rational progression to make their work that bit more bombastic à la the tastes of the time and to stay relevant.
While it is a slightly divisive moment in their back catalogue and is a far cry from their sound on classics such as Aqualung and Thick as a Brick, Tull’s 1987 album Crest of a Knave beat Metallica’s masterpiece …And Justice For All in a notorious Grammy upset, to win 1989’s ‘Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental’ award.
Ironically, this triumph at the Grammys would even see Anderson and Tull beat a band he knows well, dubbed the progenitors of the form, to win at the revered awards ceremony: Black Sabbath. They would not take home an award until 2000 when they won ‘Best Metal Performance’ for ‘Iron Man’ from the Reunion live album.
Notably, Anderson has a long connection to the metal quartet. Their in-house guitar hero, Tony Iommi, had a brief stint with Tull in the late 1960s after impressing performing in Sabbath’s early iteration of Earth when opening for them in Birmingham.
Even though he auditioned for guitarist and stood in with Tull on The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus in December 1968, miming to a backing track, Iommi missed his old band and knew Anderson’s direction wasn’t for him. The Tull leader also knew the Brummie wasn’t the right man for the job required. After a fleeting time together, they went their separate ways.
Since that significant moment of Iommi deciding Tull wasn’t for him, Anderson has reflected on his old friend’s work and posited that if he hadn’t left, he wouldn’t have gone on to hold his position as the foremost metal guitarist. He deems him vital to the whole genre.
Speaking to Goldmine in 2010, Anderson discussed Iommi’s importance to metal and said much “musical substance” emanated from him. He noted that Sabbath differed from other groups in that they “didn’t really owe much to the blues,” a disputable point. However, in light of their generation’s commitment to crafting new musical contexts, he explained: “It was more of a kind of statement out there in the gothic land of metal before anybody really knew what the term meant. Not that I’m sure what they mean now.”
Heaping praise upon his one-time guitarist, Anderson added: “I think Tony was very much a key man.”
Whether it be Metallica, Sleep, Type O Negative or even hardcore heroes Black Flag, all of metal and heavy music as we know it is traced back to Iommi’s thunderous riffs. Emerging from the bleak industrial backdrop of his native city, they were the perfect conduit for rock music to become much heavier, harder and darker amid a society grinding to a halt.
The spirit of Black Sabbath, Paranoid and Master of Reality is still heard alive in riffs across the musical landscape today, finding increased resonance in a world that finds itself on the brink once more.
