The secret of Jethro Tull's longevity is that the band always plays its cards sparingly. For example, "No Lullaby," one of Heavy Horses' two epics, deploys an extensive catalog of aurally exciting effects: flanged drums, echo on the vocal, a mightily distorted guitar cadenza. But each item appears only momentarily, to nudge the slow dirge into grandeur. Another case in point is "Acres Wild," a simple love song that's wrought entirely from the differences in timbre between Ian Anderson's mandolin and guest Darryl Way's electric fiddle. Similarly, Tull restrains its tonality to basic chord changes and folk-song melodies. But the rhythms are lavish — particularly the instrumental arrangements, where no two players are allowed the same part.

Heavy Horses is merely the followup to last year's Songs from the Wood, which may well have been the group's best record ever. Anderson warns that this is the end of the folk-tinged Tull, that the band will return to boogie forthwith. That's a pity because this genre has suited Jethro Tull wonderfully.

“1999”

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.