Crest of a Knave

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Professional reviews
Crest of a Knave

Studio album by Jethro Tull
Released	September 11, 1987
Recorded	Early 1987
Genre	Progressive Rock
Length	48:50
Label	Chrysalis
Producer(s)	Jethro Tull
All Music Guide link Progressive World link
Jethro Tull chronology
Original Masters (1985)	Crest of a Knave (1987)	20 Years of Jethro Tull (1988)

Crest of a Knave is an album by the British progressive rock group Jethro Tull, released in 1987. Peter-John Vettese was now absent (Anderson contributed the synth programming) and the album relied more heavily on Barre's electric guitar than the band had since the early 1970s; the album was a critical and commercial success. They went on to win a 1989 Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance, beating odds-on favorites Metallica. The award was particularly controversial as many did not consider Jethro Tull hard rock, much less heavy metal. The fact that it was the first time a Grammy geared towards metal was presented it was seen as a particularly hard blow and insult for heavy metal fans (after this, and perhaps because of this, separate Grammys were awarded for hard rock and heavy metal in the following years). Under advisement from their manager, no one from the band turned up to the award ceremony. They were told that they had no chance of winning, lucky for them, as soon as they were announced the winners metal fans in the audience boo'ed. In response to the criticism they received over the award, the band then reportedly took out an advert in a British music periodical with the line, "The flute is a heavy, metal instrument!".

The style of Crest has been compared to that of Dire Straits, in part because Anderson seemed to no longer have the vocal range he once possessed. Tull's frank treatment of sexuality was unabated, however. The album contains the popular live song "Budapest", which depicts a backstage scene with a shy local female stagehand.