<\/p>\n
Ian Anderson was a crucial figure in the evolution of Progressive Rock, being one of the most important songwriters and musicians in the genre. Leading Jethro Tull over the past six decades, he has influenced countless people around the world and has been praised by many of his peers.<\/p>\n
During his career, he has given his opinion on many other British bands from their era and on various musicians, including Pink Floyd\u2019s bassist, singer and main lyricist Roger Waters<\/a>.<\/p>\n What is Ian Anderson\u2019s opinion on Pink Floyd\u2019s Roger Waters<\/p>\n Ian Anderson admires Pink Floyd<\/a> and has credited the band as an influence, recognizing Roger Waters\u2019 importance as a songwriter. However, he doesn\u2019t agree with many of his ideas and comments about politics and world events. \u201cRoger Waters is a wide-eyed innocent when it comes to politics and tends rather like the Tesla man to spout off, because he can. He has the willing ear of people.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut Roger Waters, I happen to know for a fact, one of the places that I did go to support and visited in person in Israel, allowed some of its land to be used by Roger Waters for a big concert performance some years ago. I said to them: \u2018Oh, that\u2019s great that he did that!\u2019 Being the \u2018Oasis of Peace\u201d (Neve Shalom), one of the major charities for co-education of Arabs and Jews.\u201d<\/p>\n He continued:<\/p>\n \u201cI was surprised to hear that he \u2018didn\u2019t pay the \u2018rent\u2019 and gave us nothing at all at a time that he was playing in Israel\u2019, pocketing the dosh and going home. My view is that if you want to boycott Israel, it will not reach the ears of Netanyahu and (others). They won\u2019t be hurt by such a thing because they don\u2019t give a damn.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo the boycott of Israel achieves nothing. On the other hand to go there and get paid, like Roger Waters\u2026 Go home with the money in your pocket, that\u2019s equally not acceptable. My view is that I don\u2019t want to profit from a war zone. So for many years I have donated the proceeds of our concerts, under of my control. Not via the promoters, I don\u2019t trust them. But I just feel that I can control the conduit for that money to reach the right charitable source at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n He continued:<\/p>\n \u201cI think that if you can do something that has an upside, even if it\u2019s a tiny little immeasurable effect, it\u2019s worth to do it. As opposed to doing something where it\u2019s all downside. To me, being able to offer a few thousand euros or dollars into a charity that does something for human rights, women\u2019s rights or supporting co-education facilities that depend entirely on the good will of others. Because they don\u2019t get it from the state, then I think that has an upside. If Roger Waters disapproved me having been to Israel, then I\u2019m afraid that my views would be even more unequivocal than his seemed to be,\u201d he said in an interview with Classic Album Review<\/a>\u00a0in 2025 (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage).<\/p>\n Two years earlier, in 2023, he had already criticized Waters\u2019 behavior and ideas. \u201cWhy someone who\u2019s been doing it as long as he has is seemingly unable to act on the understanding that it\u2019s up to you to convey your ideas in a way that isn\u2019t going to get you a drubbing. He\u2019s loose-tongued with his convictions, which seem to be a little confused and perhaps not based on reality. He goes out there ranting and raving, as many others do,\u201d he told Classic Rock<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ian Anderson praised Roger Waters\u2019 for having the courage to release a reimagined version of \u201cDark Side of The Moon\u201d<\/p>\n In 2023, when Waters released \u201cDark Side of the Moon Redux\u201d, Ian Anderson praised him for the idea and courage. \u201cWell, I\u2019m sure there\u2019s a bit of both, really. But I would certainly give Roger Waters the credit, artistically, to be doing it. Because he thought he was going to bring something new to what is already a well-attended and popular party that was in a part of the great history of rock music.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo I\u2019m sure that he wouldn\u2019t be doing it only because of somehow getting back at former band members and coining in all the dosh for himself this time,\u201d Ian Anderson said in an interview with Classic Rock Review<\/a>. In 2012, \u201cThick as a Brick 2,\u201d sequel of Tull<\/a>\u2018s 1972 album, was released under Ian Anderson\u2019s name. He decided not to use Tull\u2019s name because he was having a bit of a \u201cRoger Waters\u201d moment. His idea was to show people that he was the one who wrote the original.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is what it is, what it says. It\u2019s my album and that\u2019s indeed the original \u2018Thick As A Brick\u2019, something I wrote. Nobody else did, it was only me. So I guess I\u2019m just having a slightly Roger Waters selfish moment. (Because I am) making people realize I am the author of this. Not the members of the band that were there in 1972,\u201d he told American Songwriter<\/a> in 2013.<\/p>\n Almost a decade before, in 2005, Anderson was part of the Pink Floyd tribute album \u201cBack Against the Wall\u201d. It was focused on songs from \u201cThe Wall\u201d (1979) and he covered the track \u201cThe Thin Ice\u201d. Were also part Tony Levin (Bass), Gary Green (Guitar), Jay Schellen (Drums) and Billy Sheerwood (Backing vocals).<\/p>\n \u201cThe Piper at The Gates of Dawn\u201d was a huge influence for him<\/p>\n Pink Floyd\u2019s debut album \u201cThe Piper at the Gates of Dawn,\u201d released in 1967, was a seminal record for Anderson, who credited it, alongside The Beatles\u2019 \u201cSgt. Pepper\u2019s Lonely Hearts Club Band,\u201d with helping give birth to Progressive Rock.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were two seminal albums in 1967 that carved a path for people like me in the progressive pop context. One was The Beatles\u2019 \u2018Sgt. Pepper\u2019, of course. The other was an altogether more surreal and proggy affair, Pink Floyd\u2019s \u2018Piper at the Gates of Dawn\u2019. Both albums took elements from lots of different sources and used them in colorful, creative ways.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, the Pink Floyd album had more meaning. The Beatles were a pop group. So I thought their stuff was a bit contrived, a bit twee. I liked the singer-songwriter element to Floyd more.\u00a0Syd Barrett<\/a>\u2019s songs were strange and funny. They perfectly complemented the radical, druggy instrumental stuff the band did. You saw pictures and presented them with words and sound, rather than as paintings.,\u201d he told Classic Rock<\/a> in 2020<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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