Following the success of A Trick Of The Tail and its supporting tour, the band quickly returned to the studio and came out with Wind & Wuthering in December 1976. It would be their last album with guitarist Steve Hackett before he left the band in 1977. On the other hand, the album spawned a medium-sized rock airplay hit with the nearly-eight-minute-long opening track, “Eleventh Earl Of Mar.” It also gave the band their first Hot 100 entry in the form of “Your Own Special Way.” It only peaked at #62, but that’s also how high “I Know What Boys Like” by The Waitresses peaked, so that’s something.
Is the album any good, though?
Yes.
Like A Trick Of The Tail before it, Wind & Wuthering remains one of the band’s most celebrated releases. You may remember I didn’t actually share my own thoughts about A Trick Of The Tail. I’m not going to tell you either album is overhyped, but I’m typically not able to fully immerse myself in a prog rock album. Here, I can’t blame my preference for shorter albums because A Trick Of The Tail and Wind & Wuthering are each 51 minutes long. That honestly isn’t too bad; my favorite Bob Dylan album, Highway 61 Revisited, is 51 minutes long. Rather, the thing is that when I listen to genres like prog rock and jazz, it’s like going to an art museum. I could look at a painting and admire it on an aesthetic level, and for the time and effort the artist put into it. However, if someone were to ask me what I think it’s about, I wouldn’t have an answer. I don’t have that kind of imagination.
All this to say, I do think Wind & Wuthering is a good album, but I am probably not in its target audience.
Leave a Reply