Rock Island (album)

Rock Island (album)

Rock Island is the 17th studio album by the British rock group Jethro Tull, released in 1989.

The album continued the hard rock direction the band took on the previous effort, Crest of a Knave. The line-up now included Ian Anderson, Martin Barre, Dave Pegg and new drummer Doane Perry.

The staging on the 1989 tour supporting Rock Island featured projected silhouettes of lithe dancers during the song "Kissing Willie", ending with an image that bordered on pornographic. The song "Big Riff and Mando" reflects life on the road for the relentlessly touring musicians, giving a wry account of the theft of Barre's prized mandolin by a stage-struck fan.