20/09/2026
“DOT COM Another Cast Of The Net” - A Review & more
I loved “Dot Com” when it first came out. I even enjoyed “Hot Mango Flush” (and its hilarious “…Return”) – a great track and a more welcome taste of humor than, say, “Kissing Willie” (see my previous ‘review’ post).
Every song is a cracker: ‘Spiral” opens the album powerfully, “Dot Com” rightfully names the album: a stellar wedding of prog agency, a killer chorus and elegant lyric work. Lyrics are never a problem for Anderson: I always welcome his albums (Jethro or solo) not only for the music but for the elevated “conversation”.
‘Wicked Windows”, “Hunt By Numbers”, both standouts, early faves back in late 1999/early 2000s. Same for “Bends Like A Willow” and even “El Nin(i)o” with its beautiful oriental melody and that “nu metal” guitar approach on the chorus that aged well – back then I found it a bit funny. Martin Barre is as good in this album as in every other, (composer of “Hot Mango Flush” too).
All in all: the material is solid and in 2026’s “Another Cast Of The Net” release there’s almost a “new” full album's worth of Jethro Tull unheard material from 1999 - excellent bonus tracks like “Aborted Soliloquy” and “It All Trickles Down”, strong pieces that could make it in the original album. The Disc 2 is the big reason to buy “Another Cast Of The Net”: "New", unheard vintage Jethro Tull.
So, Jethro Tull’s “Millenium” album, produced by Anderson himself, is a strong release. I just wish it had more ambience, production-wise. Let me explain:
Funnily, I will pick “Hot Mango Flush”, (it’s a very good track anyhow), to express some thoughts. Bear with me.
So, remember “The Story of The Hare Who Lost His Spectacles” from ‘A Passion Play”? I never skipped “The Story of The Hare…”. It’s a nice funny fairytale with just beautiful Orchestral-Jethro-Tull music all over it.
Let me just say it: Pomposity was a Jethro Tull layer that got stripped away step by step during the 90s and even more in the new century.
Jethro Tull albums started sounding more “bare”, some would call it the “back to basics” way.
This is a way that can work with some bands or with some material. But it can sound “underproduced” – songs can sound like glorified demos. This means:
No more grandiose sounds like in “The Minstrel in The Gallery”, “Songs From The Wood”, “Heavy Horses”. Hell, I would love the “Dot Com” album with the “Broadsword” sound-production qualities. Honestly, strip all effects off the “Broadsword” album and it would sound equally poor to “Dot Com”.
This, the “bare”, “underproduced” studio production sound was almost “required” back in 1999-2000. It was an ugly trend in the studio recording circles. It’s one of the bad things that came with digital studio technology.
So, imagine the funny caricatures of “Hot Mango Flush” with “The Hare…” ‘s treatment, orchestra and all.
At least, give your reverb buttons a chance! It will sound better, richer! All our favorite albums sound gloriously Big. “Crest Of A Knave” and “Rock Island” are the last Jethro albums with “big sound”. And even their other two 90s studio albums ("Catfish Rising”, “Roots To Branches”) retain some ambience.
The songs of ‘Dot Com” album can sound bigger, epic, just with a more inspired studio production approach. The only track on the album that has some ‘room’, some ambience, is “Bends Like A Willow” and we have to thank Martin Barre for his beautiful delay-guitar effect on that song – it creates the extra ‘magic’ and it sort of …forced Ian to add a little reverb on the flute! Literally, this song stands out of the bunch on the ambience merit alone.
Bruce Soord added a little punch on the drum sound; it’s a welcome touch. But overall, the new, even …cleaner clarity of sound that came with the new remixes, it’s both a High Quality proof and still a flat, underpoduced-sounding album. I have listened to Pineapple Thief tunes with long reverbs and delays in their production sound canvas. But I guess Soord just did what he was told here.
This whole “underpoduced-sound” is a problem I have with most of the recent Tull/Anderson material, reissues included. As with several other bands/albums: I have several albums in mind with good or even excellent use of the Digital possibilities. And many others that just sound bare – clean but bare. It’s a lazy, uninspired approach.
A good thing is that in the “Dot Com” album we have a still-capable singing Anderson. 27 years ago, he still sounded fine in the studio, expressive, theatrical, colorful, (even on stage he could still manage good-enough to good performances, hit or miss. I don’t blame Ian; ageing is what it is).
Importantly: This was still a Jethro Tull line-up with, well, legit personnel, with Martin Barre and Doane Perry in place - even Jonathan Noyce and Andrew Giddings have their JT merits. And if I’m not mistaken: it was the last full album with the Jethro Tull tag until “The Zealot…” 2022 reinvention. It matters.
Thus: ‘DOT COM’ is the final chapter in the original Jethro Tull line, (with “The Christmas Album” (2003) serving as an epilogue to the continuity. 23 (or 19) years)!
Since then, Anderson has made fine solo albums, training his band for a Jethro Tull future.
Let me explain: I like everything Ian Anderson composes and writes, (very few exceptions). The comeback “Zealot Gene” for example is a very strong album for me, (and I mostly like the other two recent ones. I could start talking about the cover artwork, but I’ll leave that for my next mini-essay, probably).
I don’t dislike the “new” personnel of Jethro Tull. Everything is just fine.
Here: maybe the underproduced, demo-like sound of the recent albums doesn’t do them any favors!
My 60s, 70s & 80s fave band members are in no danger!
Finally: I hold my argument for Pomposity. Reverbs! Delays! Gated microphones and all! Tastefully used, not overdone! "Studio magic" is what we used to call it. Pomposity came to be a dirty word in the digital world of studio stupidity of unqualified producers of all kinds.
My jury was and still is that the “DOT COM” material would sound much better with a rich(-er) production.
The “Less is more” approach is more often the exception than the rule. It’s good when it fits the material.
By definition:
Less is less.
More is more.
The ‘DOT COM’ material begs for more, not less.
