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General => General Music Discussion => Topic started by: Pols Voice on September 30, 2011, 07:41:54 PM
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Any other Tull fans here? This classic band really needed a thread.
An Aqualung 40th Anniversary Collector's Edition is coming out soon, with stereo and 5.1 remixes by Steven Wilson. https://www.j-tull.com/discography/aqualungcollectors/index.html (https://www.j-tull.com/discography/aqualungcollectors/index.html)
I may get the smaller Special Edition. The "remastered" CD currently available sounds like garbage.
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Dude, Aqualung's one of my favorite albums ever!
I will definitely have to consider getting myself some version of this 40th edition.
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Wasn't sure about this....til I saw that STEVEN WILSON mixed it!!! Absolutely a must by now!!!
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I love Aqualung :heart
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Good band. Oddly, I never really went ape shit over them like I did over so many other bands (in the sense of going through a phase where they were all I seemingly listened to for like months), but I have always liked them.
Favorite tunes include Boureé (a killer instrumental), Heavy Horses, Mother Goose, Farm on the Freeway, Aqualung, Skating Away on the Thin Ice..., The Whistler and Cross-Eyed Mary.
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We could bungle in the jungle. lol
Always liked the band. Don't own a thing by them, oddly enough.
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I have their first 5 albums. What's the best of the rest?
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A Passion Play
Songs from the Wood
Heavy Horses
Roots to Branches is also pretty sweet. They sure have a lot of material: 21 studio albums. I have all but 5.
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Minstrel In The Gallery has some sweet guitar.
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I have 6 of the early catalog (pre-A), and I have to say that the parts I love, *I really love*....but it's a bit spotty.
Minstrel In the Gallery is my favorite, and Baker St Muse is easily my favorite song...even beating out Thick as a Brick.
The albums I have are:
This Was
Aqualung
Thick As A Brick
War Child
Minstrel in the Gallery
Songs From the Wood
After loving Minstrel so much, I had heard that WC was in a similar style, so I picked that up next. Other than two or three songs, I didn't really care for it. Songs From the Wood is FAR better....maybe I should get Heavy Horses next??
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I started listening to Jethro Tull this week, and I wasn't really blown away by the first three albums with the exception of few songs. But yesterday I listened to Aqualung for the first time - this is where gets interesting, I guess. In fact, I'm listening to it right now, it's really good.
I hope Thick as a brick will live up to my expectations. If it does, I'm definitely continuing with their later albums. :smiley:
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Thick as a Brick is one of the best albums ever so it should.
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I've had even hard core Tull fans tell me that it can be spotty. Even most of the die hard fans I've talked to aren't too hot about TOTRNRTYTD. I didn't care for WC much. Sounds like the trifecta of Songs from the Wood, Heavy Horses, and Stormwatch are pretty universally revered...and possibly as consistent as it ever got. Although I welcome more seasoned Tull fans to differ...because I'm sure I'm wrong. :biggrin: :lol
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They could be pretty spotty. War Child and Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll are noticeably weaker than their other 70s albums, although I think WC has some fans. The change from TOTRNRTYTD to Songs from the Wood is one of the biggest jumps in quality between albums I've ever heard.
Mladen, you didn't like Benefit? There are some pretty awesome songs on that one...To Cry You a Song has such a catchy riff.
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I liked a couple of songs from Benefit, like Nothing to say, Son and Sossity. Still, it's nowhere as enjoyable as Aqualung. :smiley:
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Big Tull fan. I've got most of their discog:
This Was
Stand Up
Benefit
Aqualung
Thick As a Brick
Living In the Past
A Passion Play
Warchild
Minstrel In the Gallery
Too Old to RnR Too Old to Die
Songs From the Wood
Heavy Horses
Stormwatch
A
Broadsword and The Beast
I enjoy them all on one level or another. It's amazing how many little phases they went through, from blues, to world music, hard rock, acoustic, celtic folk, quirky prog, classical, jazz, electronic, christmas music... and yet maintained an unmistakeable sound throughout. I think Ian Anderson had ADD.
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So, Ian is going out and playing the entire Thick as a Brick without Martin Barre or any other Tull dudes, and Martin is going out and playing Tull classics without Ian. Ehhh...
https://www.classicrockrevisited.com/interviewmartinbarre2011.htm (https://www.classicrockrevisited.com/interviewmartinbarre2011.htm)
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Yeah, I heard about that, but never heard anything about why.
I recently watched the Blu-ray Jethro Tull Live at Montreux and it was amazing. I was expecting it to be an aging band playing all their hits, some a bit more slowly than originally, and a few with some "variations" to them that have crept in over the years to keep things fresh for the band members themselves, because that's usually what you get with a recent concert vid from a band that's been around for 40 years.
But I very very pleasantly surprised. Ian and Martin were the only originals, but they're the core of the band, as far as I'm concerned. It would've been nice to have Hammond-Hammond-Hammond there, but the keyboard guy they had was great, and was hamming it up on stage with the rest of them. Performances were solid, nothing slowed down, nothing watered down, and the selection of tunes was great. A couple of sweet instrumentals, some great album cuts, and other than "Aqualung" (pretty much required) they almost seemed to be avoiding the hit parade, which is fine. I always preferred their proggy album stuff anyway.
I have everything from This Was up through J-Tull.com. Their sound has changed a lot over the years, which is fine, but I think I lost interest after J-Tull.com. But I stuck with them from the early blues-folk stuff through the prog years and into the later stuff, whatever you might want to call it. Every album has merit, at least a handful of great songs if not the entire album, I just moved on I guess.
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I was introduced to Tull by my Dad when I was about... 6 or 7, I think. Awesome band. :coolio
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I'm guessing Thick as a Brick is getting SW remastered too. I didn't know. Love Ian's remark at the end. :lol
https://www.progrocks.co.uk/progrocks/Exclusive-Video/
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Man, that guy does not like prog. ;D
And does that mean that Free hand is also getting a SW remaster? I didn't really get the point of the videos. :P
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If y'all haven't already heard, the Tull's set to release their first album in 9 years! (or 13; depends on if you count the Christmas one)
It's gonna be a sequel to Thick As A Brick. (https://www.j-tull.com/discography/taab2/iancomments.html)
Better mark 2.4.12 on your calendar.
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Wow, nice shout-out to Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree and Spock's Beard as well!
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Heard this a while ago, don't know why I didn't say anything. At first I thought "there's no way this could be good", but Steven's words have me interested.
It was a natural development after having mixed the original Thick as a Brick album into surround, as well as doing a new stereo mix. While we were working on that for EMI, Ian said to me “I’ve written Thick as a Brick 2.” I said “That’s interesting.” He told me about this very interesting concept of what would have happened to Gerald Bostock, the eight-year-old kid that supposedly wrote the lyrics, originally. He said it looks at what path his life would have taken. It sounded like a really interesting concept. But I’ll be perfectly honest, part of me also was very skeptical that he could pull it off. There’s always a danger in doing a sequel and it doesn’t just apply to music but to movies and books—it can never live up to the expectation if the original is an established classic, as Thick as a Brick is. I talked with Ian about it and said “If you’re going to do it, you have to do it with the original musical palette. You have to go back and use acoustic guitar, flutes, harpsichords, glockenspiels, and all the things that made the original special. You have to keep it a very organic record and almost go back to the spirit of 1972.” He seemed totally onboard with that and the record is good. I’m not going to say it’s as good as the original, but it’s a very strong piece of work and a credible attempt by one of the legends of ‘70s progressive music to recapture the zeitgeist and feeling of their greatest work.
We’re living in a time when a lot of bands are looking around and seeing that the climate has changed so much over the last 20 years. Many feel the right thing to do is perhaps go back and revisit what made their reputation. Yes famously did a return to that last year. For 20-30 years, classic progressive music was incredibly unpopular and unfashionable. I was talking to Steve Hackett about this. He feels for the first time that people actually appreciate the work he did in the ‘70s. He feels it’s only in the last three or four years that he’s begun to feel people value that work as his greatest achievement. For 30 years, he was told it was sh*t, that he was a dinosaur, and that the music was worthless and no-one was ever going to want to listen to that hippie stuff again. I cannot underestimate how these guys were brainwashed. Robert Fripp and Ian Anderson feel the same. They were brainwashed by the media into thinking everything they did in the ‘70s was worthless junk. It’s almost like abused child syndrome. It took a great amount of reassurance for them to begin to believe that people love that stuff and that it’s the work that their reputation will ultimately rest on.
I experienced that with Robert when we worked on the remix of King Crimson’s Lizard. He said “Why do you want to do this Steven? No-one likes the record. Everyone hates it, including me.” I said “I’m going to change people’s minds.” I’m so proud to say that happened. One of the greatest moments of my life is when that album was reissued and received astonishing reviews. David Fricke in Rolling Stone said “Lizard is revealed to be the greatest King Crimson album of all.” Mojo gave it five out of five stars. Robert was astonished. And I was vindicated because I really believed all those records that had been ignored and sidelined for years, mainly by the media, but also by fans, were really coming of age. In a sense, they were so far ahead of their time, and now is their time. They sound extraordinary. This is really key for me.
Going back to Thick as a Brick 2, now is the time for Ian to go back and do this project. He never would have considered this in a million years even five years ago, and that goes to show you how the mood and climate has changed towards this music. So, finally people like Ian, Robert and Steve feel “You know what? People do really love that work. They really appreciate it. That was my best work and my most creative period. I can still do that music and people still want to hear it.” There’s now an incredible sense of enthusiasm with regards to Thick as a Brick 2. People have told me they haven’t seen Ian this enthusiastic about a new record for a very, very long time.
Oh and here's Ian interviewing himself. :rollin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSuI-_Xj3Bg
Also, someone make a gif of the last two seconds. :lol
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7jZMCBEsZM
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Huh. The soundbites have me intrigued, though I'm afraid it'll just be more of the same.
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Huh. The soundbites have me intrigued, though I'm afraid it'll just be more of the same.
Yeah, I'd bet that TAAB2 strongly references the original... and sometimes I zone about a bit when listening to TAAB.
TAAB2
Whatever Happened To Gerald Bostock?
In 1972, I wrote and recorded the Jethro Tull Progressive Rock classic album Thick As A Brick. The lyrics were credited at the time to the fictitious child character, Gerald Bostock, whose parents supposedly lied about his age. The record instantly became a number one Billboard Chart album and enjoyed considerable success in many countries of the world.
We then, somewhat dutifully, took the quaintly theatrical show on the road in the UK, USA and a few other countries. Since 1972, the album has never been performed in its entirety although a few minutes of the material have been a regular repertoire staple in both Tull and Ian Anderson solo shows over the years.
Now, scheduled for performance again in 2012, I will take the original album and this follow-up recording, TAAB2, to a theatre near you.
So, forty years on, what would Gerald Bostock – aged fifty in 2012 – be doing today? What might have befallen him?
The theme of this anniversary “part two” album is to examine the possible different paths that the precocious young schoolboy, Gerald Bostock, might have taken later in life and to create alter-ego characters whose song-section identities illustrate the hugely varied potential twists and turns of fate and opportunity. Not just for Gerald but to echo how our own lives develop, change direction and ultimately conclude through chance encounters and interventions, however tiny and insignificant they might seem at the time.
In the development of the piece, the divergences of life’s infinitely forked roads finally give way to an almost gravitational pull which results in convergence to, perhaps, a pre-ordained, karma-like conclusion.
As we baby-boomers look back on our own lives, we must often feel an occasional “what-if” moment. Might we, like Gerald, have become instead preacher, soldier, down-and-out, shopkeeper or finance tycoon?
And those of more tender years - the social media and internet generation - may choose to ponder well the myriad of chance possibilities ahead of them at every turn.....
Odd chap, life.....
If someone had suggested that I might release a Prog concept album in the year 2012, I would have thought him seriously, dangerously even, off his trolley. But that is precisely what happened. A few years ago, Mike Andrews and Royston Eldridge, two ex-Chrysalis Records gents pressed me to consider a follow-up to Thick As A Brick. I gave it some dutiful deliberation - for a couple of minutes - and politely declined. Nice idea, nice chaps but, after reflection, no-oooooo.
Then, in 2010, a re-aquaintance with seventies Prog Rock vocalist-turned-record exec Derek Shulman - yes, he of Gentle Giant fame - restarted the old refrain. Yes, but.... no, but, and finally - OK, I'll give it some more dutiful deliberation (four and a half minutes, this time) eventually produced, in February of 2011, the synopsis of the idea. Derek's enthusiasm and gauntlet-challenge plus two weeks of dedicated, fast and furious music and lyric writing combined to produce a flurry of material. And - blow me down with a Dodo's tail-feather - the whole thing was completed ready for scoring and arranging by the beginning of March. There were a couple of pieces prepared earlier which were bent into new shape and fitted into the scheme of things, so they too were popped into the bubbling saucepan.
It was a little daunting to consider the impact – or perhaps lack of – which this release might have on old and new fans alike but I eventually decided that I would embark on this for my own benefit and enjoyment rather than trying to please anyone else at all. To find the balance of interesting musicality and more accessible content too was not the main issue. The conceptual and heavily lyrical nature of the beast, however, might be out of place in the attention span-deficit world which we seem to occupy these days. But, having toured in 2010 and 2011 in Italy, Latin America, Australia and other countries where passions run high, I decided that maybe the world – or our little corners of it – was, in fact, ready for a bit of more substantial and weightier fare.
The era of professional media Prog-bashing seems to have given way to a more appreciative appraisal of the genre and newer bands such as Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree and Spock's Beard have possibly prompted a new and younger audience to re-examine the seventies originators' seminal albums too.
So, it's not such a cold and lonely place after all. The elements of Folk, Classical and Jazz Music are still to be found in today's more Rock-oriented Progressive Rock. You will certainly find them subtly present in TAAB2 but along with a rather more acoustic feel than many of our peers, past and present. Not the only flute in town but......
Actually, I played much more acoustic guitar than usual on this record having written most of the music on that instrument. But there are still sections conceived on the flute and sometimes – quite often, in fact – the lyric writing preceded all the melodies and harmonic structures. Starting with lyrics and then thinking of the music is not normally the way I work but it was here. A title, a few words or a verse or two and then the acoustic guitar was immediately to hand to conjure up a full song section out of the growing lyrics. Having a plan was important. Stories to tell made it all easier. The imagination-filled process of thinking how things might have turned out for the young and older Gerald kept me fascinated. Maybe you will be too. And maybe not.
Ah, well – you can always go and watch The X Factor and the Eurovision Song Contest.
Ian Anderson January 2012
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Where the eff is Martin Barre?
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One of my top 5 Favourite bands and have been for about 20 years. The odd thing is I don't think any of their albums would make my all time favourite top ten albums. Having said that though Standup, Aqualung, TAAB, A Passion Play, SFTW are all outstanding albums. StormWatch is massively underrated and probably my favourite Tull album. Benefit, Minstrel in the Gallery, A and Heavy Horses are very fine albums. I really can't think of any other band that has been around for as long and has released so many albums without ever releasing an absolute stinker. There's no such thing as a "bad" JT album, They're all good - it's just that some are better than others.
Well Under Wraps is a bit of a disappointment, but it's still decent. ;)
For those looking to get into Tull, I would recommend starting at the second album (Stand Up) and working ahead to BatB. The first album is quite different to the other early Tull albums - essentially a blues album. Martin Barre hadn't joined yet and the guitarist is Mick Abrahams. It's a very fine album, but not what I would start my Tull journey, unless your a big blues fan.
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Where the eff is Martin Barre?
This.
Also, I only have Aqualung and TAAB, but I love both albums. Which Tull album should I get next?
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I didn't find any of their other albums as good as Aqualung or Thick as a brick. The three previous albums weren't really my cup of tea, and after A Passion play bored me to tears, I gave up on this band. I'll still check out Thick as a brick 2, though.
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I didn't find any of their other albums as good as Aqualung or Thick as a brick. The three previous albums weren't really my cup of tea, and after A Passion play bored me to tears, I gave up on this band. I'll still check out Thick as a brick 2, though.
No Songs From the Wood or Minstrel in the Gallery? Big mistake.
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I didn't find any of their other albums as good as Aqualung or Thick as a brick. The three previous albums weren't really my cup of tea, and after A Passion play bored me to tears, I gave up on this band. I'll still check out Thick as a brick 2, though.
No Songs From the Wood or Minstrel in the Gallery? Big mistake.
srsly
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I have trouble with A Passion Play also, and the weird thing is that Ian regards that one as the "serious" work. Thick as a Brick was supposedly his answer to Aqualung being called a concept album. It would have been considered a parody if not for the fact that you cannot have a parody of a concept album. The more ridiculous it is, the more prog it is. He tried to go completely overboard with it -- the entire album one long song, recurring musical and lyrical concepts, themes and variations, spoken word, orchestral interlude, sound effects -- and people ate it up. He had inadvertantly created what many consider to be the pinnacle of prog (at the time, at least, and some say for all time).
Anyway, he wrote A Passion Play as an actual Passion play, and a lot of Tull fans (and regular people) consider it the inferior work. Yeah, there are many who prefer it, but it's not nearly as popular.
Still, Jethro Tull had a number of albums after that which are very good. Did they ever again reach the apex of Aqualung and Thick as a Brick? Not IMO, but there's still lots of good Tull that came later in the 70's.
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I didn't find any of their other albums as good as Aqualung or Thick as a brick. The three previous albums weren't really my cup of tea, and after A Passion play bored me to tears, I gave up on this band. I'll still check out Thick as a brick 2, though.
No Songs From the Wood or Minstrel in the Gallery? Big mistake.
+1... essential Jethro Tull albums.
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A Passion Play is a great album, and in some ways better than TAAB. It's interesting that Ian started playing a lot of saxophone for a couple albums.
Also, I only have Aqualung and TAAB, but I love both albums. Which Tull album should I get next?
Songs from the Wood.
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Where the eff is Martin Barre?
This.
Also, I only have Aqualung and TAAB, but I love both albums. Which Tull album should I get next?
I would recommend either Stand Up, Songs From the Wood or Stormwatch. If you can afford it get all three.
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Just an FYI all you flute-loving motherfuckers...
The 40th Anniversary Edition of Thick As A Brick is up for preorder on Burning Shed here (https://www.burningshed.com/store/jethrotull/). Thankfully, this time we won't have to pay $100 for a 5.1 mix of the album like with Aqualung. :P
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A Passion Play is a great album, and in some ways better than TAAB. It's interesting that Ian started playing a lot of saxophone for a couple albums.
I hadn't heard A Passion Play for ages until recently on Spotify, and I'd come to believe that it was far lesser than TAAB, but that replay changed my mind. Other than, arguably, the utterly out of left field interlude about the hare and his spectacles, it's a pretty solid album, as good as TAAB in my opinion.
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I'm no expert on theological theater, but I remember reading about Passion plays a while back, and that there different types, and in at least one form, there is a "break" in the middle, an intermission of sorts, during which there is often a short comedic piece performed. Jethro Tull's album A Passion Play follows this traditional form, right down to the inclusion of the intermission. It's not simply out of left field; it's supposed to be there.
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A Passion Play is a great album, and in some ways better than TAAB. It's interesting that Ian started playing a lot of saxophone for a couple albums.
I hadn't heard A Passion Play for ages until recently on Spotify, and I'd come to believe that it was far lesser than TAAB, but that replay changed my mind. Other than, arguably, the utterly out of left field interlude about the hare and his spectacles, it's a pretty solid album, as good as TAAB in my opinion.
I've always like A Passion Play more than Thick As A Brick. But, that's just me and your mileage may vary.
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Hare gets a lot of flak, but I find it absolutely hilarious.
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I've always loved Hare. So random and funny IMO.
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You kan-ga-roo, you kan! I love the music the plays in unison with his words during that spoken line.
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The whole juxtaposition of the voice with the music is just brilliant.
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Hare gets a lot of flak, but I find it absolutely hilarious.
Man, that song bored me to tears. I might have to go back to that particular album, it didn't work for me at all when I first heard it about a year ago...
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When I bought Thick As A Brick 2 (great album, btw. Might make my list this year.), I bought a really cheap copy of the first one along with it, so I'll have to pass on this rerelease unless there are any substantial bonus tracks or anything.
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So has anybody seen Ian Anderson on this tour yet? He's coming up here shortly, and I'm not sure how interested I am in seeing it. I love TaaB, and I have great confidence he'll put on a great show, but without Tull it's just not the same. After seeing them a half dozen times or so, I'm just as interested in Barre and Perry as IA. Also, while I'm perfectly cool with bringing along a hired gun to sing the stuff he can't sing anymore (I can think of quite a few bands I wouldn't mind seeing do this), it seems this new guy is also a pretty flamboyant singer, and I'm wondering if it makes Anderson less of the frontman. That would be unfortunate. This has the potential to be just a Tull cover band with Anderson sitting in on flute, and that would be a disappointment.
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So has anybody seen Ian Anderson on this tour yet? He's coming up here shortly, and I'm not sure how interested I am in seeing it. I love TaaB, and I have great confidence he'll put on a great show, but without Tull it's just not the same. After seeing them a half dozen times or so, I'm just as interested in Barre and Perry as IA. Also, while I'm perfectly cool with bringing along a hired gun to sing the stuff he can't sing anymore (I can think of quite a few bands I wouldn't mind seeing do this), it seems this new guy is also a pretty flamboyant singer, and I'm wondering if it makes Anderson less of the frontman. That would be unfortunate. This has the potential to be just a Tull cover band with Anderson sitting in on flute, and that would be a disappointment.
Yep, I've seen him on this tour and I urge you to do so as well. Ian still sings a big deal of the vocals and he clearly is the frontman of the whole project; he doesn't lose any of his presence to (the amazing) Ryan O'Donnell. You can feel that Ian is very passionate about this show - it's not just a bunch of songs played, but a full-blown show with two concept albums performed in their entirety and some theatrical / humorous elements thrown in from time to time. Also the band is very tight and they seem to have lots of fun playing. Some very skilled musicians, for sure! Highly suggested.
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So has anybody seen Ian Anderson on this tour yet? He's coming up here shortly, and I'm not sure how interested I am in seeing it. I love TaaB, and I have great confidence he'll put on a great show, but without Tull it's just not the same. After seeing them a half dozen times or so, I'm just as interested in Barre and Perry as IA. Also, while I'm perfectly cool with bringing along a hired gun to sing the stuff he can't sing anymore (I can think of quite a few bands I wouldn't mind seeing do this), it seems this new guy is also a pretty flamboyant singer, and I'm wondering if it makes Anderson less of the frontman. That would be unfortunate. This has the potential to be just a Tull cover band with Anderson sitting in on flute, and that would be a disappointment.
Yep, I've seen him on this tour and I urge you to do so as well. Ian still sings a big deal of the vocals and he clearly is the frontman of the whole project; he doesn't lose any of his presence to (the amazing) Ryan O'Donnell. You can feel that Ian is very passionate about this show - it's not just a bunch of songs played, but a full-blown show with two concept albums performed in their entirety and some theatrical / humorous elements thrown in from time to time. Also the band is very tight and they seem to have lots of fun playing. Some very skilled musicians, for sure! Highly suggested.
Yep. Fantastic show. IA definitely doesn't lose any of his showman aspect. There were actually a couple of bits that I'd have preferred O'Donnell sang. Most of it was split well between them, but there are a couple of moments during TaaB where you really need powerful vocals belted out at you, which IA can't deliver. Still, it's great material (both halves) and it's presented very well. Definitely glad I went.
And on a pleasant note, we went there with no tickets, and within 5 minutes of leaving our car had bought front row seats for less than were were expecting to spend on crappy seats. Nice when things just work out like that.
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Filled a big gap, and started listening to them a few weeks ago. Better late than never...
In order of preference, so far I'm liking "Songs from the Wood", "Heavy Horses" and "Stormwatch". Also getting into "Aqualung" and "Stand Up".
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Stormwatch is SO underrated.
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Stormwatch is a little more difficult to get in to, for me at least. So far I only really (really really) like "Orion" and "Flying Dutchman".
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True, but the payoff is really awesome.
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Stormwatch is very good, especially Dark Ages (great riffs) and Flying Dutchman. Some of the album seems to tread similar territory as previous works, though, but it's no big deal.
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So has anybody seen Ian Anderson on this tour yet? He's coming up here shortly, and I'm not sure how interested I am in seeing it. I love TaaB, and I have great confidence he'll put on a great show, but without Tull it's just not the same. After seeing them a half dozen times or so, I'm just as interested in Barre and Perry as IA. Also, while I'm perfectly cool with bringing along a hired gun to sing the stuff he can't sing anymore (I can think of quite a few bands I wouldn't mind seeing do this), it seems this new guy is also a pretty flamboyant singer, and I'm wondering if it makes Anderson less of the frontman. That would be unfortunate. This has the potential to be just a Tull cover band with Anderson sitting in on flute, and that would be a disappointment.
Went to see and he played Budapest,Aqualung,My God and Locomotive Breath for encore. It ruled.
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It would appear that all of the cammers live in Houston. There's a single 4 minute snippet of the Dallas show, but multiple vids of the entire show from the next night in Houston. Here's TaaB in HD for anybody who wants to see what an IA solo gig is like. Very good quality. Only downside is not enough wide shots. Aside from singing very well, Sideshow Cecil was as animated as IA, and you miss a lot of the theatrics. Still, a damn fine way to spend 44 minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSibs6SYK98
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54trN9DOt-g
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I'll have to scope on those later. :tup
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I really wish I could have seen Ian on this tour. Hopefully I'll get to see him or Tull sometime before its too late. He just said in an interview that he's talking to Martin Barre about doing an acoustic tour sometime in the future. That won't be as good as TAAB but its better than nothing. Two of my favorite Tull albums are Heavy Horses and Songs From The Wood and I'd imagine that they'd play stuff from those albums in that kind of setting.
Here's the interview if anyone's interested.
https://www.theaquarian.com/2012/11/07/arguing-with-ian-anderson-of-jethro-tull/
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I'm stuck. I got though "Thick as a Brick", and I love it. But I started to listen to Benefit, and I can't get into it! It's mildly okay, but nothing more.
"War Child" also seems to be a problem.
And there I was, thinking I'm gonna love every single album in their discography.
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Jethro Tull have a certain style, but their sound is all over the map. Or maybe it's the other way around. There's a lot of variety to their music, even though it all has that neo-Celtic flavor to it, or whatever that it. Medieval?
I think most of their catalogue is great, but there are definitely albums which I prefer, and some which don't get much play at all simply because there are too many others that I like better. Still, I suggest that you give each one a few more spins.
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I love almost everything Tull has done. r0cken you might want to try Minstrel In the Gallery next. It's got quite a bit of acoustic stuff and closes with a mini-suite called Baker Street Muse.
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I love almost everything Tull has done. r0cken you might want to try Minstrel In the Gallery next. It's got quite a bit of acoustic stuff and closes with a mini-suite called Baker Street Muse.
THIS THIS THIS
Songs From The Wood and A Passion Play are stellar choices as well.
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I love almost everything Tull has done. r0cken you might want to try Minstrel In the Gallery next. It's got quite a bit of acoustic stuff and closes with a mini-suite called Baker Street Muse.
Absolutely my #1 JT album. And Baker St Muse is my favorite Tull song. It's the one JT song that I could *easily* see Dream Theater doing a cover of.
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Oh glob, I could die a happy goil if DT ever covered Baker Street Muse. That's one of my all-time favorite Tull tunes.
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Sure, why not. I'll finish up with War Child (it's starting to grow on me) and get on to Minstrel In the Gallery.
And yes, Songs From The Wood is amazing.
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I'm stuck. I got though "Thick as a Brick", and I love it. But I started to listen to Benefit, and I can't get into it! It's mildly okay, but nothing more.
"War Child" also seems to be a problem.
And there I was, thinking I'm gonna love every single album in their discography.
Try out Aqualung. Amazing album.
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Lolzeez, already did.
So far listened to and loved:
Stand Up
Aqualung
Thick as a Brick
Songs from the Wood
Heavy Horses
Stormwatch
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Lolzeez, already did.
So far listened to and loved:
Stand Up
Aqualung
Thick as a Brick
Songs from the Wood
Heavy Horses
Stormwatch
Hmmmm,Crest Of A Knave should be up next. Unless you listened to that as well. :-\
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Sure, why not. I'll finish up with War Child (it's starting to grow on me) and get on to Minstrel In the Gallery.
If I remember rightly, War Child was a major grower for me. Once it clicked for me, though, it stuck.
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Are there any soundboards of the TAAB tour?
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Anyone else who LOVES locomotive breath?
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Anyone else who LOVES locomotive breath?
I do :)
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Anyone else who LOVES locomotive breath?
Its excellent. I'll never get sick of it, as overplayed as it is.
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Anyone else who LOVES locomotive breath?
Right here. I adore the piano intro.
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can't post the link since work has blocked youtube but check out Styx's cover of locomotive breath
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Anyone else who LOVES locomotive breath?
Right here. :)
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We used to play Locomotive Breath. I play keyboards and winds, but it worked because there's piano in the intro, then it drops out when the verse starts. You have the flute solo, then piano comes back at the end to help jam out, so I never had to do both at once.
Then one time I heard a recording of us playing it, and realized how much I totally butchered the piano intro. The flute solo was okay, but damn, the piano solo was embarassing. So we don't do it anymore.
Great song. Wish I could do it justice. :(
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can't post the link since work has blocked youtube but check out Styx's cover of locomotive breath
I really like their version. I found the CD that it's from at Goodwill a couple of years ago and it's not bad for a covers album.
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I guess I'm the only one that just doesn't get into their studio work much. From the live standpoint they're one of my very favorite bands, and thankfully they have plenty of live material. Unfortunately, even the stuff I really love live doesn't do much for me in album form. Aqualung and TaaB are the only two albums I'll really listen to.
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I had Hymn 43 running through my head today....but for some reason, I kept singing the riff out loud as...
"DUNT DUNT DADDILA DUH DUH (bohica bohica bohica bohica) DUNT DUNT DADDILA DUH DUH (bohica bohica bohica bohica)"
;) :angel:
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I had Hymn 43 running through my head today....but for some reason, I kept singing the riff out loud as...
"DUNT DUNT DADDILA DUH DUH (bohica bohica bohica bohica) DUNT DUNT DADDILA DUH DUH (bohica bohica bohica bohica)"
;) :angel:
:lol
Very accurate!
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Is there a separate Ian Anderson topic? Couldn't find it.
Anyways, I recently bought the vinyl of Homo Eraticus for my dad and I was pleasantly surprised by it's quality. It is a really solid release, better than his other "solo" stuff I've heard. Alltough I did like TAAB2 (that album lacked a bit in structure for me though, and I thought it was a bit too repeating at times).
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New 50th Anniversary Steven Wilson remix of "This Was"....
The latest remix in the series of Jethro Tull deluxe editions is the band's brilliant debut album This Was, which will be re-released upon it's 50th anniversary as a 3CD/DVD set. Pre-order here: https://rh-ino.co/thiswas50
This Was: The 50th Anniversary Edition features my remix of the original 10 track album in stereo and surround sound, as well as the classic Love Story / Christmas Song single, and 4 previously unissued out-takes mixed from the session reels for the first time. CD2 includes BBC session recordings and other bonus tracks, whilst CD3 includes the original album mix in both stereo and mono. All of this is presented in the now standard case-bound DVD book filled with an extensive history of the album, track-by-track annotations by Ian Anderson, plus rare and unseen photographs.
As the album was originally recorded on 4 track, you can imagine that creating a surround mix was a challenge. However, I believe something quite immersive was achieved (how it was done is explained in detail in the book) and I think surround fans will be pleasantly surprised how effective the mix is. Despite this, I did limit the channel assignment to only 4.1, not making use of the centre channel on this occasion. The exception is the post-album single Love Story / Christmas Song which appears in 5.1, since it was recorded on 8 track and therefore presented greater possibilities.
The 4 disc deluxe 50th anniversary edition of This Was will be released on 9th November by Parlophone / RHINO. As always this is a one-off pressing (many of the previous deluxe Jethro Tull editions are now sold out).
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I didn’t want to hijack the “What are you listening to” thread, but as I stated there, I’ve got some time to rip my vinyl to FLAC for portability purposes, and some of that involves a handful of JT albums that I’ve heard very little or not at all.
Part of the latter would be “A”, which I’m hearing for the first time as we speak. I get why Ian wanted it to be a solo album, but honestly, making it a JT album seems like the right call in retrospect. In just taking the music at face value, it is definitely a change in direction, but it’s not as if JT hadn’t changed direction before. And for all the differences, there’s also A LOT of familiar things too. I think if Ian would have got his way, he would have never got past the constant comparisons. But then again, I guess there were comparisons anyway, so what do I know...
For as much as some fans have dumped on it, I’m finding it to be a breath of fresh air. It’s enough change to keep things interesting, but it still feels organic enough to give the album a sense of warmth.
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I always enjoyed it despite the easy crap it gets by popular opinion. I find it one of the tightest - as far as band playing is concerned - and best produced in the whole catalogue.
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Ok, now I’m hearing Under Wraps for the first time.
THIS should have been a solo album. And I’m not saying that it’s bad. In fact I’m getting a completely different enjoyment out of it. But I hear almost nothing of the JT flavor that I felt was still fairly prominent on “A”.
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This has always been a sort of undercurrent with Ian, though, isn't it? His current work fits nicely into the "Tull" universe, and yet it IS billed under his name. I think he got tired of carrying the water and yet being beholden to the artifice of the "Tull" name. Now, with time, we all sort of know that Tull = Ian Anderson, so it matters less.
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I love "A". I was an Eddie Jobson fan from his work with U.K., and King Crimson before that, so him on a Tull album sounded awesome to me. I have to admit that we didn't get a lot of violin/flute interaction, which I was looking forward to, but we get the violin on a few tracks and of course Eddie's awesome keyboards. Plus the tunes are tight and the sound/production is great. I've read that it's not exactly a fave among fans, but I've never really understood why.
I read an article recently where Ian Anderson went through every Tull album and gave his thoughts on each (briefly). I think it was in the preamble to that that he talked a little bit about why some albums are Jethro Tull and some are Ian Anderson. It's pretty much what you'd expect. Yes, he was the main force behind Jethro Tull, but he felt that Jethro Tull was still a band, with input and contributions from each member. But on a solo album, he unbashedly called all the shots. There was no compromise; it was his album.
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"A" is a solid Tull album with some real catchy tunes. And Jobson does add a nice 80's synth touch to the sound, which makes the album a bit of a jarring departure from the epic "folk" trilogy of albums that came before it. I guess it might be considered a transitional album that brought the band out of the 70s and into the 80s, and I think a lot of Tull fans stepped off at this point (including me), in a similar way that Metallica fans soured on Load. But I guess time heals old wounds, at least for me.
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Ian Anderson will be on The Big Interview with Dan Rather next week.
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I love the albums of JT I have heard (Thick as a Brick, Passion Play, Minstrel in the Gallery) and listen to them quite often actually, but I have never done a real dive into the entire diacography. I do also still listen to his solo efforts Thick as a Brick Part 2 and Homo Erraticus, also love those.
Just looked at Spotify and wasn't aware there were so many albums.
My dad is a huge fan, has been since he saw them on the Thick as a Brick tour in the 70's. So I probably heard a decent amount in the background as a kid.
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Interesting. I happen to have their entire discography, and I just checked; no one has done a discography thread on Jethro Tull (yet).
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I’ve got everything except jtull.com and the Christmas album. I still have a tough time digesting everything post-Under Wraps. The hard rock edge seemed to vanish after that, even though there’s some brilliant stuff mixed in amongst the overall blandness. His voice diminished to where it’s almost a whisper that makes him sound like Mark Knopfler and I think they consciously composed music that’s reminiscent of Dire Straits.
But it’s amazing how the band adapted through the ages. Sorta like Genesis had but to much less commercial success. It’s fascinating to see how the early pioneering prog bands have evolved over the decades ... Kansas, Yes, Tull, Genesis, King Crimson. Some failed to adapt.... ELP.
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Ian Anderson will be on The Big Interview with Dan Rather next week.
I haven't seen it, but would like to, but I guess he talked about having COPD which doesn't sound good.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2020/05/14/ian-anderson-jethro-tull-frontman-reveals-incurable-lung-disease/5189354002/
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I had a 2 disc Greatest Hits collection of theirs that I listened to a ton back in the day. And of course heard them all the time on my classic rock radio station. Never bothered to delve in to their material any further though. No good reason why.
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Interesting. I happen to have their entire discography, and I just checked; no one has done a discography thread on Jethro Tull (yet).
I would be so down for this.
I think I have everything in one form or another...but I am missing one that I’ve heard is a cult favorite. Broadsword and the Beast. Haven’t heard a note of it either.
I do own:
This Was (remastered)
Stand Up (old CD)
Benefit (vinyl)
Aqualung (2011 40th Anniversary...not the SW remix from 2016, but it is on my wish list)
Thick as a Brick (25th anniversary version)
Living in the Past (vinyl)
A Passion Play (SW 40th anniversary remix)
War Child (remastered)
Minstrel in the Gallery (SW 40th anniversary remix...my favorite album)
Too Old to Rock’n’Roll: Too Young to Die! (vinyl)
Songs from the Wood (vinyl)
Heavy Horses (vinyl)
Stormwatch (vinyl)
A (vinyl)
Under Wraps (vinyl)
Crest of a Knave (CD)
A Little Light Music (CD)
Roots to Branches (CD)
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I thought I had them all, but I'm missing Under Wraps (1984) and Roots to Branches (1995). They've both a ways down the list, so I may try to get ahold of them, or at least listen to them online one way or another.
As of last night, no one had responded to the feeler I tossed out there, so I'm still not sure, but it's been a while. Unlike most people these days, I have less time on my hands than pre-COVID times, and I want to do this right. But we're all making sacrifices, right?
I started doing some research last night, just in case. I happened to have a few episodes of The Big Interview, including Ian Anderson, so I watched his, and also started digging up some background on the band and its members. All Wiki so far, which seems to be pretty thorough, but I want to check out at least one or two more sources. There's no point in doing a discography if I'm just regurgitating Wiki.
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I'd be game for that. I went through a huge Tull phase in the mid-90's, saw them a couple times, and generally consider myself a fan. Some of it gets a little esoteric for me, but that mid-70's-ish period - from Minstrel through Broadsword - works for me. I love the acoustic stuff mostly. Dun Ringill and Jack-A-Lynn are simply beautiful songs.
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Interesting. I happen to have their entire discography, and I just checked; no one has done a discography thread on Jethro Tull (yet).
I would absolutely follow. Grown in a Tull loving household, have them all up to Catfish Rising.
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I would suggest everyone to grab 'Nightcap', just for the Chateau D'Isaster tracks on Disc One. Ian added flute to these, something that is really missed on the SW remixes.
(I had all the vinyl from 'This Was' through 'Stormwatch', even had the 'Aqualung' and 'A Passion Play' 8 tracks... :D)
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I would suggest everyone to grab 'Nightcap', just for the Chateau D'Isaster tracks on Disc One. Ian added flute to these, something that is really missed on the SW remixes.
(I had all the vinyl from 'This Was' through 'Stormwatch', even had the 'Aqualung' and 'A Passion Play' 8 tracks... :D)
I haven’t really had the chance to spin these much yet, but it’s all included in my 40th Anniversary SW remix of Minstrel in the Gallery
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I heard about Nightcap, but as with most bands, I don't have many compilations or other "Greatest Hits" type things. My preference is to just get all the albums. But Nightcap sounds cool because of the esoteric and/or unreleased stuff.
My first Tull album was Living in the Past, however, and at the time I didn't realize that it was a compilation of sorts. I just grabbed it because the packaging was so cool. Original vinyl of course, but the gatefold jacket is thick, meant to resemble an actual photo album, as it's a retrospective of the band up to that point.
(https://i.imgur.com/r6Rjqog.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/x9ck4FM.jpg)
Okay, I'm getting kinda psyched about this. I think I'll do it.
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Correction to my earlier post....it’s the Passion Play package, not MitG
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Night Cap is a compilation of sorts, but only kinda; the first disk is an entire recording session of sorts, and the second is a series of outtakes, largely from one period. It's less a compilation as in "Greatest Hit" and more like a collection ala the Director's Cut of FII.
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Orbert.....I had that Tull album. One of the few I sold for $2-10 at a garage sale when I cleared out around 500 LPs two years ago. The vast majority I sold three for a dollar, ..in other words 33 1/3 cents a piece :D)
I still have the three CD 20th anniversary release from '88. It has Scenerio/Audition/No Rehearsal with the years later flute overdubs. Nightcap Disc 1 has 13 tracks from the 'D'Isaster' sessions, minus 'Big Top' and 'Sailor', with the years later flute overdubs. The SW remixes on the 40th anniversary do not (kind of like hearing a Queen demo without Brian May's guitar...). Interesting that 'Skating Away' was from the APP sessions, and that perhaps it and 'Sailor' would have been placed before 'No Reheasal'. Interesting that 'No Rehearsal' was performed in concert many times.
http://www.ministry-of-information.co.uk/app/
Disc 2 of 'Nightcap' or bsides and unreleased tracks from '74-'91. Tastes and wants are subjective....Disc One is a 'must' for me, and some tracks made for a nice expanded 78 minute APP that I'll listen to multiple times a year, while Disc Two has too many run of the mill 80s tunes.
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Jethro Thull is one of those bands that I've always known about, but never bothered too much with exploring (and working from home might be a good occasion to do that). I remember ages ago doing a bit of exploration, I've looked back in archives and drives and, as I remember, I kept some songs from Aqualung, Minstrel in the Gallery and Songs from the Wood. For the way my tastes have developed, I guess I should give a(nother) try to the more theatrical and conceptual albums, or to the more folkish ones like Songs from the Wood.
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Well, I did it. I started The Jethro Tull Discography (https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=55247.0).
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Looks like we will be getting a new album from a reformed Jethro Tull. Sad that Martin Barre will not be a part of it.
Inside Out Music /Sony Music are extremely pleased to announce the signing of progressive rock legends Jethro Tull to the label. The band has already completed a new album titled ‘The Zealot Gene’, which can be expected in early 2022.
Ian Anderson had this to say about the new signing - “After 54 years in the world of music recording, it is with great pleasure that I now sign Jethro Tull to a record company which reminds me, in many ways, of the old Chrysalis label - both as an independent and in its later years in partnership with EMI. Here are real music guys with a passion for the best and most creative in rock music. We look forward to a long and fruitful relationship and more releases to come.”
InsideOutMusic Label Manager Thomas Waber states, "Adding Jethro Tull to the roster is an incredible honour for us. The band are true innovators of the genre and we are looking forward to working with them on their new album. We are sure their countless fans will be as excited about it as we are!"
With more than 30 albums to their credit and sales totaling more than 50 million, Jethro Tull are one of the most successful rock bands of all-time with a catalog that contains classics that still resonate today. Led by Ian Anderson, Tull still continue to tour throughout the world, entertaining audiences of all ages.
The band currently consists of:
Ian Anderson - Flute, acoustic guitar, harmonica, vocals
Joe Parrish-James – Guitar
Florian Opahle - Guitar (album only)
Scott Hammond – Drums
John O’Hara - Piano, keyboards and accordion
David Goodier - Bass guitar
I guess I’m a bit confused because I thought Ian had released TAAB2 as a solo project because Barre wasn’t involved. But now he’s choosing to release new material under the JT banner without him. Didn’t he always have sole control of the name?
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His two latest solo works have a second vocalist, kinda dissapointed that isn't the case here. Ian doesn't exactly have the voice of an angel at this point in time, to put it extremely mildly. Hopefully he sounds more like TAAB2 and less like Homo Eraticus here.
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Actually kind of surprised the label signed them. I own TaaB2 and Ian's voice is...not good. I'm not knocking him at all. Age catches up with all of us.
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As always, Ian Anderson talks a lot, and you can believe maybe half of what he says. The other half he might actually believe at the time, but things change.
It seems clear that Ian and Martin Barre had some kind of falling out that neither of them will talk about, probably by mutual agreement. Ian did say that he wanted to carry on under his own name, but Jethro Tull was always (starting from the second album anyway) whatever Ian Anderson said it was. Also, Ian does not seem to personally have the clout that one might assume. The album [A] was suppose to be a solo album, but he caved in to pressure from the label to make it a Jethro Tull album, effectively ending the classic Tull lineup in favor of the lineup he'd assembled for that album. My guess is that something similar has happened here. Either the label, or Anderson himself, realized that the Jethro Tull name will sell a few more copies than Ian Anderson will.
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Actually kind of surprised the label signed them. I own TaaB2 and Ian's voice is...not good. I'm not knocking him at all. Age catches up with all of us.
His voice is blown on TAAB2, but somehow I enjoy his vocals on that album. The melodies are good and I do like the dark tone of his voice and his enunciation. And he doesn't attempt more than he can do. I like Homo Eraticus, but his voice is even more blown there and does detract more.
Perhaps my biggest issue with his vocals (especially live post late 80's) is that the timing is increasingly off. Because he is struggling there is some kind of slight delay or something. Especially in parts with harmonies you can hear he is simply not in sync with the rest.
I think he had the start of a good formula with a second singer, but as his voice got worse, he used that guy less and now he has sole vocal duty again. It was kind of frustrating seeing the 50th anniversary liveshows, as literally every other aspect was excellent. And Ian has plenty to do besides "singing".
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The album [A] was suppose to be a solo album, but he caved in to pressure from the label to make it a Jethro Tull album, effectively ending the classic Tull lineup in favor of the lineup he'd assembled for that album. My guess is that something similar has happened here.
My first thought was that this was just him waiting an appropriate amount of time before reclaiming the name, but I think you're probably quite right here. Partly because I don't think IA gives a damn about what's appropriate, and partly because Inside Out is going to give more support to Jethro Tull than Ian Anderson. If nothing else, the name on the marquee will sell a few more tickets.
In any case, the last time I saw him was the last time I'll see him. He sounded like shit, and it's very clearly just a cash grab for him. Besides which, I think he's a pompous wanker. I have gone to see Barre's band, and will again if I get the opportunity. I like him, and I think he enjoys doing what he's doing, unlike Anderson.
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In any case, the last time I saw him was the last time I'll see him. He sounded like shit, and it's very clearly just a cash grab for him.
Pretty much my thoughts. Saw him on Homo Erraticus tour I think and he sounded terrible.
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I have to say that I picked up the new Steven Wilson remix of A when it first came out. I wasn’t that familiar with the album, but based on the fact that Steven Wilson can do no wrong, I really like most of Jethro Tull‘s material, and these box sets seem to go out of print fairly quickly I decided to strike while the iron was hot.
I have to say that it doesn’t sound like the big deviation from the JT sound that I thought it would be. there’s a few synthesizers here and there, but it still sounds very much like a standard Jethro Tull album.
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We are very pleased to announce our first studio album of new material in over 18 years! ‘The Zealot Gene’, will see a January 28th, 2022 release on Inside Out Music - pre-order now: https://jethrotullband.lnk.to/TheZealotGene
The first single from the album, “Shoshana Sleeping”, is also out today on all digital/streaming platforms and it's accompanied by a stunning visual created by Thomas Hicks: https://youtu.be/uPTeqsBd1Ik
A record that began to take shape as early as 2017, ‘The Zealot Gene’, in many ways, seeks to defy convention during a time when the business of being a touring and recording artist has never faced more uncertainties. Tull bandleader Ian Anderson holds no reservations about the role for which the mythos and themes of Biblical storytelling played in the lyrical content of the new album, saying:
"While I have a spot of genuine fondness for the pomp and fairytale story-telling of the Holy Book, I still feel the need to question and draw sometimes unholy parallels from the text. The good, the bad, and the downright ugly rear their heads throughout, but are punctuated with elements of love, respect, and tenderness.”
Looking back on the earth-shaking disruption of the Coronavirus pandemic, which ultimately ended Tull's touring plans and hopes of a 2020 release for ‘The Zealot Gene’, Anderson shares, "It was so sudden. Amidst the concerns and warnings of the scientific community and a few more enlightened politicians, we all retreated in disbelief to our homes to wait out the storm."
‘The Zealot Gene’ Tracklisting:
1. Mrs. Tibbets (5:54)
2. Jacob's Tales (2:13)
3. Mine Is The Mountain (5:40)
4. The Zealot Gene (3:54)
5. Shoshana Sleeping (3:41)
6. Sad City Sisters (3:40)
7. Barren Beth, Wild Desert John (3:37)
8. The Betrayal Of Joshua Kynde (4:06)
9. Where Did Saturday Go? (3:53)
10. Three Loves, Three (3:30)
11. In Brief Visitation (3:00)
12. The Fisherman Of Ephesus (3:41)
(https://scontent.fplu4-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/253549465_421461569347031_7269098395289616130_n.jpg?_nc_cat=1&ccb=1-5&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=TWuoPG7Jyj0AX9MNV7k&_nc_ht=scontent.fplu4-1.fna&oh=a61c5008cdec5d1a8281bb0f67186940&oe=618AA5D7)
Shoshana Sleeping: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPTeqsBd1Ik
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I like the sound and the song is pretty solid. Ian can't sing anymore and at least in the studio he seems well aware of his limitations. What he still does well is enunciation and I like the tone of his voice, he does spoken-wordish parts well.
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Agreed.
The linked track would have fit well in the mid to late 70s. But, I'll be honest, that is one unappealing album cover.
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Welp there goes my hope for a new Metallica album next year :lol
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Who is on it?
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It honestly sounds like something from Spinal Tap’s “Break Like the Wind” album.
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Who is on it?
The current Jethro Tull is the same lineup as TAAB2 & Homo Eraticus, with a different guitarist and without the extra vocalist. Ian Anderson is the only one to have appeared on any previous Jethro Tull album. :facepalm:
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To me, it's actually kinda sad how that worked out, although it's a messy, complicated situation and I don't exactly blame Ian Anderson for it.
I mean, the band name Jethro Tull is inextricably linked to Ian Anderson. Many people literally thought Ian Anderson was Jethro Tull, in the sense that the guy up there with the flute is named Jethro Tull. So he made a solo album, a statement of who and what he was outside of Jethro Tull, but it ended up being a Jethro Tull album anyway, simultaneously destroying the old band and further blurring the line between Ian Anderson and Jethro Tull, if it even existed anymore at that point. As a casual fan at the time, I basically figured Jethro Tull is whoever Ian Anderson says it is, just as Robert Fripp decides if the band is called King Crimson or not. There are other examples, where there is a band identity but specific individuals say who the band is.
Ian has conceded the point, probably did a while ago. Jethro Tull is whoever Ian says it is. So instead of being bummed that there's apparently no distinction to most people, he's embraced the concept that he has the final say. Unexpected upside?
Vaguely relevant non-sequitor: In 1975, Leonard Nimoy was so tired of being typecast as Mr. Spock that he wrote a book called I Am Not Spock. Pretty much says it all. In 1995, I Am Spock, also by Leonard Nimoy, was published. Okay now that says it all. He has embraced it and come to terms with it.
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I enjoy The Zealot Gene for what it is. It's a good collection of songs, with each of them addressing one particular emotion, with lyrical themes drawn from the bible. If you listen to it expecting to be as impacted as you were when you first listened to Aqualung or Thick as a Brick, you're in for a disappointment. But taken as its own piece of work, it's really good.
My favorite Tull album is Songs from the Wood. I love Aqualung, Thick as a Brick and Stormwatch as well. I recently revisited A, and it's not as bad as critics think. Under Wraps is where I draw the line, because they changed too much from their original sound.
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My favorite Tull album is Songs from the Wood. I love Aqualung, Thick as a Brick and Stormwatch as well. I recently revisited A, and it's not as bad as critics think. Under Wraps is where I draw the line, because they changed too much from their original sound.
A is a solid album, but Under Wraps is easily one of their worst. The albums that came after it are all second-rate imo. And Tull is probably a top-5 band for me.
I think Heavy Horses, which came in-between Songs From the Wood and Stormwatch, is every bit as good as those two, if not better.
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My favorite Tull album is Songs from the Wood. I love Aqualung, Thick as a Brick and Stormwatch as well. I recently revisited A, and it's not as bad as critics think. Under Wraps is where I draw the line, because they changed too much from their original sound.
A is a solid album, but Under Wraps is easily one of their worst. The albums that came after it are all second-rate imo. And Tull is probably a top-5 band for me.
I think Heavy Horses, which came in-between Songs From the Wood and Stormwatch, is every bit as good as those two, if not better.
My hot take of today: if Under Wraps had "Talking Heads"/on the cover, and not Jethro Tull, critics would say it's a work of art.
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Possibly. I liked Under Wraps for what it was, as opposed to disliking it for what it is not. It was too much of a departure from the Jethro Tull of old for fans of old Jethro Tull to accept, but if you can forget all that and just listen to it for what it is... well, you either like it or you don't. But I think there's a better chance to like it if you're not listening to it and spending your entire time thinking about who or what it doesn't sound like.
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My dad received the complete lyric book titled Silent Singing and it is a very beautiful book. If you are into that kind of thing, it is worth the money. It also is very visual with a lot of pictures and all. Same applies with Ballad of Jethro Tull, which was my previous gift to my dad.
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My dad received the complete lyric book titled Silent Singing and it is a very beautiful book. If you are into that kind of thing, it is worth the money. It also is very visual with a lot of pictures and all. Same applies with Ballad of Jethro Tull, which was my previous gift to my dad.
Your dad is lucky! Nice gifts :tup
Last year, thanks to Orbert for getting me 'obsessed' with the discography, my wife bought me the Ballad of Jethro Tull.
This year, she bought me the Silent Singing book as well. https://jethrotulllyricbook.com/ She bought the green version. And for that extra touch that she always manages, she paid extra to have my name listed. You'll see it on page 268 between Colleen Goodman and David Gordon. That and three bucks gets me a cup of coffee, but it's a damn pleasureable cup of coffee.
It is not as in depth as I might have preferred, but I am in the stages of going album by album every other week with lyrics in hand.
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I interviewed Ian yesterday. I think it was one of the rare occasions when he was in a good mood.
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To me, it's actually kinda sad how that worked out, although it's a messy, complicated situation and I don't exactly blame Ian Anderson for it.
I mean, the band name Jethro Tull is inextricably linked to Ian Anderson. Many people literally thought Ian Anderson was Jethro Tull, in the sense that the guy up there with the flute is named Jethro Tull. So he made a solo album, a statement of who and what he was outside of Jethro Tull, but it ended up being a Jethro Tull album anyway, simultaneously destroying the old band and further blurring the line between Ian Anderson and Jethro Tull, if it even existed anymore at that point. As a casual fan at the time, I basically figured Jethro Tull is whoever Ian Anderson says it is, just as Robert Fripp decides if the band is called King Crimson or not. There are other examples, where there is a band identity but specific individuals say who the band is.
I wouldn't really have a problem with any of that. As you said, Tull is Ian's thing. At the same time, he's kind of a dick about it, and, he's putting forth an inferior product. If he wants to run the Tull brand into the ground then so be it. He'll still sell 800 tickets a night to people who want to hear Aqualung. I just don't want any part of it. Years ago Tull was an "always see" band. I decided a couple of tours ago that I didn't want to support the guy's cash-grab gigs anymore after a particularly weak showing, and that's that. At the same time, Martin Barre is playing here in a few weeks and I'm looking forward to that. It'll be a far better show than what "Tull" can muster.
Also, Florian was the talented guy in the band. Without him I'm not sure what's left.
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That's a pretty cynical view of it overall. I'm not saying you're wrong, but there are certainly other ways to interpret it.
For one thing, I don't see Ian's continuing to record and tour as "cash-grab gigs". Musicians gonna make music. It's what they are and what they do. If others view their current output as inferior, they're entitled to their opinion, but it's not like Ian is intentionally putting out stuff he knows is shit and laughing about how people still buy it or come to see it in concert. This is what he does now. This is the music he makes now.
Could/should he call the band something else? Should it not be called Jethro Tull because a lot of people don't consider it Tull without Martin Barre? Again, that's a distinction that in some ways was blurred long ago and not by Ian. Maybe he didn't fight the suits as hard as some think he could/should have back when [A] was released as a Tull album, but that ship sailed a long time ago.
So basically he's like "I tried to be Ian Anderson but people don't want Ian Anderson, they want Jethro Tull. So fuck it, it's Jethro Tull." Yeah, Ian Anderson is a dick by most accounts. But I really don't see how he's done anything wrong here. He's playing the game, and he's not the one who made the rules. He's making music and selling it. There's no deception involved. Anyone who cares whether or not Martin or Florian are still in the band knows that they're not. But if he can sell more tickets/albums if it says Jethro Tull as opposed to Ian Anderson, then that's what he's gonna do.
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Kiss.
Tony Iommi (with Black Sabbath)
I kind of hear you, but I hear Bart as well, having enjoying some of those later tours before the "implosion" or whatever we're calling it. Back in the late '80s, early '90s, a Tull show was money, and it's my understanding that it was even better before that (I was late to the party; I got into Tull with that 20th Anniversary box set, which is still one of the top three box sets I own, and one I listen to, still, a LOT).
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Having never really delved into Tull in depth before, I started a listen-through of their discography late last year, and TBH I was a little surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I only got up through War Child before being interrupted by Christmas, but I look forward to continuing on soon.
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I haven't listened that much to Tull. I checked out the 3 CD compilation "50 For 50" last year, and got a pretty nice overview of the discography. There's plenty of fine stuff there. I'll have to do a deep dive into them some time.
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That's a pretty cynical view of it overall. I'm not saying you're wrong, but there are certainly other ways to interpret it.
For one thing, I don't see Ian's continuing to record and tour as "cash-grab gigs". Musicians gonna make music. It's what they are and what they do. If others view their current output as inferior, they're entitled to their opinion, but it's not like Ian is intentionally putting out stuff he knows is shit and laughing about how people still buy it or come to see it in concert. This is what he does now. This is the music he makes now.
Could/should he call the band something else? Should it not be called Jethro Tull because a lot of people don't consider it Tull without Martin Barre? Again, that's a distinction that in some ways was blurred long ago and not by Ian. Maybe he didn't fight the suits as hard as some think he could/should have back when [A] was released as a Tull album, but that ship sailed a long time ago.
So basically he's like "I tried to be Ian Anderson but people don't want Ian Anderson, they want Jethro Tull. So fuck it, it's Jethro Tull." Yeah, Ian Anderson is a dick by most accounts. But I really don't see how he's done anything wrong here. He's playing the game, and he's not the one who made the rules. He's making music and selling it. There's no deception involved. Anyone who cares whether or not Martin or Florian are still in the band knows that they're not. But if he can sell more tickets/albums if it says Jethro Tull as opposed to Ian Anderson, then that's what he's gonna do.
I was specifically referring to his live shows. Most of their albums don't interest me, so I don't pay any attention to the new ones. They're strictly a live band for me. And the last time I saw him/them it was entirely a cash grab. Greatest hits performed poorly with lots of piped in bits, performed for a bunch of drunken Okies in a casino who only want to hear two songs. If he'd just played an 80 minute long version of Aqualung soundcheck style it would have gone over much better. And if Ian watched a video of that show I bet he'd agree with me. I don't see that changing going forward. It'll be another greatest hits gig with one new song that nobody will want to hear.
Compared with the two previous shows I caught, it was night and day. On the TaaB 1 and 2 tours he brought the personnel to do it justice, and the people who went to see it knew exactly what they were getting. Before that was a proper Tull show where they broke out a wonderful setlist ranging from Beggar's Farm to a fantastic rendition of Budapest. Even brought the fiddler girl along with them. The casino gig was so starkly different and crappy I decided he wasn't getting anymore of my money.
And like I said, he is Jethro Tull. I've got no problem using the name. Though I'd suggest that it probably makes no difference what he calls himself. People who went to see "Ian Anderson performs Jethro Tull" figured they were going to see Jethro Tull anyway.
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Okay, I kinduv agree with you on the live gigs. I've watched parts of recent YouTube videos (I know, not the most extensive research) and it was all pretty horrible. His voice is shot, so someone else sings a lot. The band wasn't bad, but it certainly wasn't on the level of Martin Barre and 70's-era Tull; but then I don't think any band today is going to match that.
lots of piped in bits
Are you talking about pre-recorded "tracks"? Man, I hate that shit. I don't want to hear anything coming out of the mains that isn't being played/sung by someone on stage. That's an argument for another place and time. But yeah, if it's come to that, it's time to throw in the towel. I didn't realize that it had come to that.
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Okay, I kinduv agree with you on the live gigs. I've watched parts of recent YouTube videos (I know, not the most extensive research) and it was all pretty horrible. His voice is shot, so someone else sings a lot. The band wasn't bad, but it certainly wasn't on the level of Martin Barre and 70's-era Tull; but then I don't think any band today is going to match that.
lots of piped in bits
Are you talking about pre-recorded "tracks"? Man, I hate that shit. I don't want to hear anything coming out of the mains that isn't being played/sung by someone on stage. That's an argument for another place and time. But yeah, if it's come to that, it's time to throw in the towel. I didn't realize that it had come to that.
When he had someone else there to sing it was a lot better. That was the TaaB2 tour, and I thought Sideshow Cecil (https://youtu.be/T_er-HNnIXw?t=1950) did a fine job. I've got no problem with bringing in somebody who can sing to, well, sing. In fact, if that guy was still there I'd actually consider going to see them again. The problem is that he dumped him after that tour and went back to trying to do most if it himself. And that's what I was getting at with piping things in. It's not that he's trying to pull one over on anybody. It's just that occasionally he'll show Sideshow Cecil or the fiddler girl on the back screen singing or playing their parts rather than having them there to do it. Saving a couple of meal vouchers and bus racks, I reckon. He's honest about it, but he's still short-changing the audience to save a few quid.
Interestingly, Martin Barre is bringing in Clive Bunker for some of the shows, including Texas. That's another reason I want to catch his version more than IA's. Personally, I was always a Doan Parry kind of guy, but there's no denying that Clive was Tull's drummer. The show will be a mixed bag. As far as I'm concerned it's not Aqualung if you don't have IA singing My God, and Wind UP, but that's not really possible anymore, and somebody who can actually do it is probably better, even if unauthentic.
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Having never really delved into Tull in depth before, I started a listen-through of their discography late last year, and TBH I was a little surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I only got up through War Child before being interrupted by Christmas, but I look forward to continuing on soon.
Hef, post- War Child, the cream of the crop IMO would be Minstrel In the Gallery, followed by the so-called "folk trilogy", Songs From the Wood, Heavy Horses and Stormwatch. After that, they dove a bit into 80's style electronica with 'A' and Broadsword and the Beast, both of which are very solid albums.
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Having never really delved into Tull in depth before, I started a listen-through of their discography late last year, and TBH I was a little surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I only got up through War Child before being interrupted by Christmas, but I look forward to continuing on soon.
Hef, post- War Child, the cream of the crop IMO would be Minstrel In the Gallery, followed by the so-called "folk trilogy", Songs From the Wood, Heavy Horses and Stormwatch. After that, they dove a bit into 80's style electronica with 'A' and Broadsword and the Beast, both of which are very solid albums.
That period is by far my favorite. Not that I dislike the other periods, but that's the one I seem to go back to the most.
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My interview with Ian was published today. Check it out below, and please leave us a comment on the video!!!!
https://youtu.be/ug211N9zsIc
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Saw Martin Barre's band last night; good show. He opened with Hunting Girl, and closed the first set with Heavy Horses. Two of my favorites and I don't think I've seen either of them live before. His approach to playing Aqualung was pretty nifty, and generally very good. I was curious how My God and Wind Up were going to play out, given Ian Anderson's scorn and contempt in the lyrics. While Dan Crisp typically does pull off a decent Ian Anderson affectation, for these songs he didn't try. He just straight up sang them, and it worked very well. Kind of like JLB choosing not to try to be Dio at the end of Stargazer. Don't try to recreate the iconic. He also had along two chick singers who, among other things, did Slipstream and a folksy[er] rendition of Wond'ring Aloud. Also an interesting approach. Overall i thought he pulled it off quite well. The strange bit was swapping Wind Up and Locomotive Breath. Presumably he wanted to end it on a hard rocking note. Really, though, Wind Up needs to wind it up. That's kind of the point.
I prefer what Barre is doing over Anderson, mostly because I like him and don't like IA. It's also interesting to note that MB is taking 6 people along with him (two drummers, two chick singers). Ian Anderson is touring much more comfortably, I suspect his tour bus days are long since past, and can't be bothered to take along performers that perform in his show. As I suggested a week or two ago, it just seems like IA just wants my money, and doesn't feel that a quality show isn't really necessary. At the same time, Anderson's flute is such an integral part of what you're wanting to see, Barre's show isn't really everything you want to see, either. I get Martin wanting to do his rock approach to Tull, and enjoy it, but it'd be nice to see them both put together the real thing. Between them they've definitely got the players to pull it off very well.
I'd post a video or two from the tour, but apparently this was only the second night with the chick singers, so what I saw hasn't really made it to YT yet.
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I listened to the new album and I think it is solid. I wish it had a tad more instrumental sections and guitar solos though. And I would've liked the return of the second singer he used on Thick as a Brick 2 and Homo Erraticus.
Saw Martin Barre's band last night; good show. He opened with Hunting Girl, and closed the first set with Heavy Horses. Two of my favorites and I don't think I've seen either of them live before. His approach to playing Aqualung was pretty nifty, and generally very good. I was curious how My God and Wind Up were going to play out, given Ian Anderson's scorn and contempt in the lyrics. While Dan Crisp typically does pull off a decent Ian Anderson affectation, for these songs he didn't try. He just straight up sang them, and it worked very well. Kind of like JLB choosing not to try to be Dio at the end of Stargazer. Don't try to recreate the iconic. He also had along two chick singers who, among other things, did Slipstream and a folksy[er] rendition of Wond'ring Aloud. Also an interesting approach. Overall i thought he pulled it off quite well. The strange bit was swapping Wind Up and Locomotive Breath. Presumably he wanted to end it on a hard rocking note. Really, though, Wind Up needs to wind it up. That's kind of the point.
I prefer what Barre is doing over Anderson, mostly because I like him and don't like IA. It's also interesting to note that MB is taking 6 people along with him (two drummers, two chick singers). Ian Anderson is touring much more comfortably, I suspect his tour bus days are long since past, and can't be bothered to take along performers that perform in his show. As I suggested a week or two ago, it just seems like IA just wants my money, and doesn't feel that a quality show isn't really necessary. At the same time, Anderson's flute is such an integral part of what you're wanting to see, Barre's show isn't really everything you want to see, either. I get Martin wanting to do his rock approach to Tull, and enjoy it, but it'd be nice to see them both put together the real thing. Between them they've definitely got the players to pull it off very well.
I'd post a video or two from the tour, but apparently this was only the second night with the chick singers, so what I saw hasn't really made it to YT yet.
Martin Barre has this 50th anniversary CD with a second disc with female singers, it sounds pleasant. Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4J6m_96tDw (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4J6m_96tDw)
Ian Anderson shows would be truly great if he did not sing most songs (and have another singer do most of that). But unfortunately he seems set on his ways. Live Ian has sounded really bad since the early 90's and it has only gotten worse. Somehow he is never in sync with the music, he always sings slightly too late.
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With the band now back on the road in Europe, they recently added new fan-favorite song "Mine Is The Mountain" to their live stage. To celebrate, a new video for the song is sure to be released, created by Tom Hicks, who previously did the "Shoshana Sleeping" clip. Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/dwn6_qikkwQ
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A heads up to people wanting the nice anniversary books of classic Tull albums; they reprinted the Thick as a Brick book and the prices have gone down massively, making it an afforable buy of the 5.1 Steven Wilson mix. The repress is the "fixed" version and the safest buy. Last year they were like 200 something dollar/euro, now you can get them for like 30-40.
And they are apparently releasing another new album in the new year. One thing I hope is a larger focus on instrumental sections and Ian's vocals lower in the mix. The guy obviously lost his vocal capabilities and I think the music should accomodate to that more.
Personally I am looking forward to the anniversary release of Broadsword and the Beast, which apparently has a lot of bonus stuff. I thought the A book was great as well, in particular the live concert with remixed sound.
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Link?
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Link?
You are US, no? Over here it is in most record stores. I don't know a lot of US stores.
But this may help:
This is the release as listed on Discogs:
2022: https://www.discogs.com/release/25347985-Jethro-Tull-Thick-As-A-Brick (https://www.discogs.com/release/25347985-Jethro-Tull-Thick-As-A-Brick)
2012:https://www.discogs.com/release/4024114-Jethro-Tull-Thick-As-A-Brick (https://www.discogs.com/release/4024114-Jethro-Tull-Thick-As-A-Brick)
Productcode is 5099970461923 (same for both releases, but early 2012 releases may have a faulty DVD)..
It just released over here (about a week ago), maybe the release is later in the US?
I am seeing january at merchbar, which I think is US? (I did import a Ghost album there once, I paid non-EU taxes).
https://www.merchbar.com/rock-alternative/jethro-tull/jethro-tull-thick-as-a-brick-40th-anniversary-edition-cd (https://www.merchbar.com/rock-alternative/jethro-tull/jethro-tull-thick-as-a-brick-40th-anniversary-edition-cd)
And the official UK store (via the bands own site): https://burningshed.com/tag/Jethro%20Tull (https://burningshed.com/tag/Jethro%20Tull)
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Are they reprinting any of the others? I could go for some "Songs From The Wood". I have Heavy Horses and Stormwatch, and they are EXCELLENT. I love that period of Tull.
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New single:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoBAD-TRxYA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoBAD-TRxYA)
Norse mythology theme for the new album.
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Another new song, I think this one is good, I enjoy the the guitarwork and keys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUTtSU_6y1c&ab_channel=JethroTull (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUTtSU_6y1c&ab_channel=JethroTull)
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Wow, both of those sound like classic Jethro Tull. Ian's voice is different now, of course, but it still sounds like him.
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Anyone listened to the new album?
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Anyone listened to the new album?
I just did. I like it and can safely say I prefer it to Zealot Gene. Instrumentally this album frequently has that playfulness and proggyness I enjoy from late 70's Tull. Vocals are modern Ian, but a tad better than the Zealot Gene to me. And personally I am just a sucker for songs like Trickster.
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Anyone listened to the new album?
I just did. I like it and can safely say I prefer it to Zealot Gene. Instrumentally this album frequently has that playfulness and proggyness I enjoy from late 70's Tull. Vocals are modern Ian, but a tad better than the Zealot Gene to me. And personally I am just a sucker for songs like Trickster.
That’s good to hear since I really like The Zealot Gene.
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My album review:
https://lotsofmuzik.com/jethro-tulls-rokflote-a-mythical-exploration-of-norse-paganism-and-flute-mastery/
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My album review:
https://lotsofmuzik.com/jethro-tulls-rokflote-a-mythical-exploration-of-norse-paganism-and-flute-mastery/
:tup
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That was beyond well written. :tup
Considering that time has not been kind to Ian's vocals, was wondering what you thought about them on this release, since there was nothing mentioned.
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Nice review. The vocals aren't good, but there are definitely some enjoyable lines and melodies there for me. But one thing I do appreciate is that Ian pronounces the words clearly. This album has more prominent instrumental sections and elements than Zealot Gene, which is part of why it works better for me.
It is a good sign that I feel a couple of the tracks could be a minute or more longer.
I got my dad the special book LP version for his birthday and it is a very nice release. It also has two mixes of the album on vinyl, but I don't know how much the second stereo mix differs.
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Thanks for the compliment on the album review. It's cool that we can vibe with some parts of it, even if the vocals aren't exactly hitting the mark, and maybe that's why I tried to focus the review of the album on the things I liked. But yeah, Ian's clear pronunciation and those catchy melodies definitely help make it enjoyable.
I'm with you on the more prominent instrumentals compared to Zealot Gene. It's pretty rad when a band tries "new stuff" and creates a different listening experience.
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The Broadsword 40th anniversary version was announced and up for order. A bit more pricey, but also 8 discs of content (5 CD's, as well as 3 DVD's worth of surround versions).
https://burningshed.com/jethro-tull_the-broadsword-and-the-beast-monster_boxset (https://burningshed.com/jethro-tull_the-broadsword-and-the-beast-monster_boxset)
There is also a vinyl boxset.
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I’m wondering how much further they will go with these sets. I’d be shocked if they did one for Under Wraps, considering that it was nearly universally hated. Although the 3 after it were at least somewhat well received.
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I’m wondering how much further they will go with these sets. I’d be shocked if they did one for Under Wraps, considering that it was nearly universally hated. Although the 3 after it were at least somewhat well received.
If they did Under Wraps, I can see it work when the mix is vastly different. You can hear some great playing in the background, but it is almost completely overtaken by synth sounds and not-so-great sounding porgrammed drums. A remix with the guitars more up front and perhaps new drums would go a long way. Wilson mostly stayed true to the original vision in his remixes, in case he would do Under Wraps, I wish he strays from that.
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I’m wondering how much further they will go with these sets. I’d be shocked if they did one for Under Wraps, considering that it was nearly universally hated. Although the 3 after it were at least somewhat well received.
If they did Under Wraps, I can see it work when the mix is vastly different. You can hear some great playing in the background, but it is almost completely overtaken by synth sounds and not-so-great sounding porgrammed drums. A remix with the guitars more up front and perhaps new drums would go a long way. Wilson mostly stayed true to the original vision in his remixes, in case he would do Under Wraps, I wish he strays from that.
Isn't he notoriously finicky (or just a dick) about doing records he didn't connect with? Do we know if he would even DO Under Wraps?
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I don't know if I'd call it being a dick, but yes, he's stated many times that he does the album that he chooses. He's done a great job with pretty much everything he's done, as far as I can tell, but he's so in-demand right now as the go-to guy for 5.1 remixes that he has the luxury of being picky. Why would he do an album he's never heard or doesn't like, when there are so many others?
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I’m wondering how much further they will go with these sets. I’d be shocked if they did one for Under Wraps, considering that it was nearly universally hated. Although the 3 after it were at least somewhat well received.
If they did Under Wraps, I can see it work when the mix is vastly different. You can hear some great playing in the background, but it is almost completely overtaken by synth sounds and not-so-great sounding porgrammed drums. A remix with the guitars more up front and perhaps new drums would go a long way. Wilson mostly stayed true to the original vision in his remixes, in case he would do Under Wraps, I wish he strays from that.
I'm reading an interview with Ian Anderson, and he talks about the album Under Wraps.
https://www.allmusic.com/blog/post/jethro-tulls-ian-anderson-new-album-overlooked-tull-salmon-farming (https://www.allmusic.com/blog/post/jethro-tulls-ian-anderson-new-album-overlooked-tull-salmon-farming)
AllMusic: Which is the most underrated or overlooked Jethro Tull album?
Anderson: "Possibly the album Under Wraps, which was a bold experiment back then in the new technology of sequencers, samplers, and drum machines. Computers in music. It was an opportunity for me to see what I could do in that type of 'technical music production.' It's got great songs on it and it's really well played by the band. One of the best performances of Martin Barre's was Under Wraps – he plays really great guitar that doesn't depend on the blues heritage. So, from that point of view, it ain't the blues, and in its way, it's inventive, original music."
"But clearly, in today's hindsight, it is derivative of the sounds of that era, when other artists and musicians were started to use that technology. It would be all the better today if it were re-recorded with real drums with a human being playing the parts. But that would be expensive. And I think that perhaps in a way, the cost of rerecording, remixing, remastering, and all the rest of it might not be something that Warner Music – who own the copyrights – would want to engage in. I have mentioned it to them on more than one occasion, but they haven't taken the bait yet."
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I know fuck all about the music industry behind the scenes, but would getting a drummer (the current one from JT?) to record new drum tracks be that expensive? Assuming they are doing a remix by someone at some point, the additional costs would be hust the drums right?
If a niche band like, say, Theocracy can do it, why would it be a problem from Jethro Tull?
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I think it depends on what has to be done. If it's JUST the drums, maybe not, but if by doing the drums you now have to go in and re-tweak the vocals or the bass, or whatever, the cost goes up pretty quickly. And it's always balanced against what the expected sales will be.
Fish has a studio right in his house, but he's sort of declined to do the 5.1 mixes on all the remasters because it would take too long to pay (I guess) Callum Malcolm, and the return just isn't there.
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Kinda pissed none of you told me how good Hymn 43 is.
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My BSATB 40th Anniversary Set just arrived in the mail. This one should actually be interesting because I bought this one completely blind. I’ve never heard a single note of this album.
I ended up ordering it somewhat on a whim because 1. The album itself has a fairly good reputation among Tull fans (and I do like JT). 2. Every set I’ve gotten, I’ve been absolutely thrilled with. And 3. I feel that all of these sets offer a lot of bang for the buck. $85 includes the international shipping and I feel the set itself is worth at least $100. I’m just really impressed by the quality of these sets. And of course, with SW at the helm, the sound quality is always going to be top notch.
Can’t wait to dive into this one.
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My BSATB 40th Anniversary Set just arrived in the mail. This one should actually be interesting because I bought this one completely blind. I’ve never heard a single note of this album.
I ended up ordering it somewhat on a whim because 1. The album itself has a fairly good reputation among Tull fans (and I do like JT). 2. Every set I’ve gotten, I’ve been absolutely thrilled with. And 3. I feel that all of these sets offer a lot of bang for the buck. $85 includes the international shipping and I feel the set itself is worth at least $100. I’m just really impressed by the quality of these sets. And of course, with SW at the helm, the sound quality is always going to be top notch.
Can’t wait to dive into this one.
I just got mine too. These sets have been excellent across the board; I'm pissed I missed the Songs From The Wood one, because now it's getting $250 to $300 online. Vultures!!!
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My BSATB 40th Anniversary Set just arrived in the mail. This one should actually be interesting because I bought this one completely blind. I’ve never heard a single note of this album.
I ended up ordering it somewhat on a whim because 1. The album itself has a fairly good reputation among Tull fans (and I do like JT). 2. Every set I’ve gotten, I’ve been absolutely thrilled with. And 3. I feel that all of these sets offer a lot of bang for the buck. $85 includes the international shipping and I feel the set itself is worth at least $100. I’m just really impressed by the quality of these sets. And of course, with SW at the helm, the sound quality is always going to be top notch.
Can’t wait to dive into this one.
I just got mine too. These sets have been excellent across the board; I'm pissed I missed the Songs From The Wood one, because now it's getting $250 to $300 online. Vultures!!!
I was just thinking today and last night how sorry I am that I missed out on some of the box sets that I really wanted.
I have:
Benefit
A Passion Play
Minstrel in the Gallery
Stormwatch
A
The Broadsword and the Beast
Killing myself that I’m missing:
Aqualung
Thick as a Brick
Too Old to Rock’n’Roll
Songs from the Wood
Heavy Horses
The ones I’m a bit more indifferent to, but if I had the rest, I would probably get them to complete the set:
Stand Up
Warchild
EDIT - not sure if they made a “book edition” of This Was or not, but I picked up a single disc of that remaster a long time ago, and that’s probably enough.
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It seems Broadsword did not get a streaming release, which is disappointing for a casual listener like me.
My BSATB 40th Anniversary Set just arrived in the mail. This one should actually be interesting because I bought this one completely blind. I’ve never heard a single note of this album.
I ended up ordering it somewhat on a whim because 1. The album itself has a fairly good reputation among Tull fans (and I do like JT). 2. Every set I’ve gotten, I’ve been absolutely thrilled with. And 3. I feel that all of these sets offer a lot of bang for the buck. $85 includes the international shipping and I feel the set itself is worth at least $100. I’m just really impressed by the quality of these sets. And of course, with SW at the helm, the sound quality is always going to be top notch.
Can’t wait to dive into this one.
I just got mine too. These sets have been excellent across the board; I'm pissed I missed the Songs From The Wood one, because now it's getting $250 to $300 online. Vultures!!!
I was just thinking today and last night how sorry I am that I missed out on some of the box sets that I really wanted.
I have:
Benefit
A Passion Play
Minstrel in the Gallery
Stormwatch
A
The Broadsword and the Beast
Killing myself that I’m missing:
Aqualung
Thick as a Brick
Too Old to Rock’n’Roll
Songs from the Wood
Heavy Horses
The ones I’m a bit more indifferent to, but if I had the rest, I would probably get them to complete the set:
Stand Up
Warchild
EDIT - not sure if they made a “book edition” of This Was or not, but I picked up a single disc of that remaster a long time ago, and that’s probably enough.
This was got a 50th anniversary release in book form, fairly recently I think. The initial release was a regular CD.
And yes, they are very nice releases. My dad now is only missing Stand Up. I recently gifted him Songs From the Wood, which I found sealed for about 110 euros locally (which is expensive but a great deal given discogs/ebay prices).
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3-4 spins into Broadsword and I have to say I like it so far. I suppose it’s to be expected, but it feels much more like a natural progression of Stormwatch which (for obvious reasons) makes A feel even more like an outlier. I mean ya, you still have some keyboards, but they seem more for “color” and less prominent in the mix than on A. And the “feel” of the album is just a bit warmer than A as well.
I’ll dig into the live discs soon.
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A is quite good, but I rate Broadsword a touch higher than A. But I don't have Broadsword higher than Stormwatch.
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A is quite good, but I rate Broadsword a touch higher than A. But I don't have Broadsword higher than Stormwatch.
I’m getting more and more of a feeling that the run from Benefit thru Stormwatch is mostly incredible (with the possible exception of Warchild, which I still think is fairly spotty).
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I was just visiting my man cave to pay some bills. (Haven’t had any time to listen to any music down here in a long time….too long)
And I discovered that at some point I DID get my hands on the Thick as a Brick 40th Anniversary book style set. After finding it, I was reminded why I forgot it. SW’s mix is still top notch and the packaging is every bit as gorgeous as the rest…but there was absolutely no bonus material at all. 1 CD and 1 DVD with no bonus or live material.
That’s the only one that I picked up later and it does say “Made in Germany”. Were they all like this? Or did I get some sort of late pressing that omitted the extras?
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A is quite good, but I rate Broadsword a touch higher than A. But I don't have Broadsword higher than Stormwatch.
I’m getting more and more of a feeling that the run from Benefit thru Stormwatch is mostly incredible (with the possible exception of Warchild, which I still think is fairly spotty).
Warchild is definitely a grower, as is Too Old to Rock n' Roll Too Young to Die. I would include Stand Up in that run, which I personally prefer over Benefit.
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Just popped in to say that I JUST TODAY acquired the TV Edition of TOTRNRTYTD.
Interesting that they used the TV special re-record because the multitrack recordings for Side 1 couldn’t be found. I’m curious as to how different they are going to sound. (I ripped it to my library tonight, I will spin it over the coming days)
The more I listen to classic Tull, the bigger fan I’m becoming. I do have to say that, based on a vinyl rip I did over a year ago, that I’ve always been a bit surprised by the Luke warm response to this album. I think it’s one of the better ones. Certainly superior to Warchild.
I also managed to rip the “New Shoes” Edition of Heavy Horses from the local library. I will buy it someday if given the opportunity…but the prices are outrageous on some of these sets. The prices for SFTW and SU are often in the mid 300’s to over 400!!! It’s maddening. But maybe there will be a 50th anniversary re-printing??? I think my version of Benefit was something like that…
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Just popped in to say that I JUST TODAY acquired the TV Edition of TOTRNRTYTD.
Interesting that they used the TV special re-record because the multitrack recordings for Side 1 couldn’t be found. I’m curious as to how different they are going to sound. (I ripped it to my library tonight, I will spin it over the coming days)
The more I listen to classic Tull, the bigger fan I’m becoming. I do have to say that, based on a vinyl rip I did over a year ago, that I’ve always been a bit surprised by the Luke warm response to this album. I think it’s one of the better ones. Certainly superior to Warchild.
I also managed to rip the “New Shoes” Edition of Heavy Horses from the local library. I will buy it someday if given the opportunity…but the prices are outrageous on some of these sets. The prices for SFTW and SU are often in the mid 300’s to over 400!!! It’s maddening. But maybe there will be a 50th anniversary re-printing??? I think my version of Benefit was something like that…
Recently Thick as a Brick, Minstrel, and Aqualung all got a reprint. Here these are all available for under 50 euros as a result. Hopefully the rest gets a reprint as well!
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If anyone’s interested, a 98% seller on eBay by the name of InnerSleeveMusic out of North Carolina, apparently had a horde of the country edition of songs from the wood. And they are selling a whole bunch of them for under $60 each.!!!
It almost sounds too good to be true but apparently there’s only 12 left, and it was too good of a price not to jump at it. They do have great feedback and they are in the United States so it’s not like it’s coming from Russia or something.
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If anyone’s interested, a 98% seller on eBay by the name of InnerSleeveMusic out of North Carolina, apparently had a horde of the country edition of songs from the wood. And they are selling a whole bunch of them for under $60 each.!!!
It almost sounds too good to be true but apparently there’s only 12 left, and it was too good of a price not to jump at it. They do have great feedback and they are in the United States so it’s not like it’s coming from Russia or something.
MovieMars as well and I've bought from them before. I'm taking the flier on it. This is not quite holy grail, but pretty close.
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Songs From the Wood is a great one.
And I think it also got a reprint, as I can order it from Amazon right now over here (50 euro). Hell, Minstrel and Aqualung are even 28 euros on (Dutch) Amazon right now. I hope/assume the rest will follow.
My dad only has Stand Up to go, hopefully that one will get a reprint as well. But seeing there have been 5 reprints already, I think the odds are pretty good? All of them are fantastic releases, so a good buy for any fan.
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I just bought SFTW and Aqualung. That, with what I already have, suits me fine.
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Songs From the Wood is a great one.
And I think it also got a reprint, as I can order it from Amazon right now over here (50 euro). Hell, Minstrel and Aqualung are even 28 euros on (Dutch) Amazon right now. I hope/assume the rest will follow.
My dad only has Stand Up to go, hopefully that one will get a reprint as well. But seeing there have been 5 reprints already, I think the odds are pretty good? All of them are fantastic releases, so a good buy for any fan.
Are these reissues exact as the originals or have they been edited?
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Songs From the Wood is a great one.
And I think it also got a reprint, as I can order it from Amazon right now over here (50 euro). Hell, Minstrel and Aqualung are even 28 euros on (Dutch) Amazon right now. I hope/assume the rest will follow.
My dad only has Stand Up to go, hopefully that one will get a reprint as well. But seeing there have been 5 reprints already, I think the odds are pretty good? All of them are fantastic releases, so a good buy for any fan.
Are these reissues exact as the originals or have they been edited?
Thick as a Brick is identical in content, but on top of 2012, there is also 2015 and 2022 on the bottom of the packaging, indicating it is a reprint. And they fixed some issues (better dynamic range of the CD, which I believe has to do with the Peter Mew vs Wilson mastering, and no 5.1 sound dvd issues). So the 2022 reprint for that one is actually better. The 2015 date on the packaging I believe refers to the HDtracks release, which is potentially the source of this master.
As for the other ones, I assume they are at least identical in terms of content, but I don't own them and my dad has the originals. How they handled the Thick as a Brick reprint bodes well in my opinion.
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Songs From the Wood is a great one.
And I think it also got a reprint, as I can order it from Amazon right now over here (50 euro). Hell, Minstrel and Aqualung are even 28 euros on (Dutch) Amazon right now. I hope/assume the rest will follow.
My dad only has Stand Up to go, hopefully that one will get a reprint as well. But seeing there have been 5 reprints already, I think the odds are pretty good? All of them are fantastic releases, so a good buy for any fan.
Are these reissues exact as the originals or have they been edited?
Thick as a Brick is identical in content, but on top of 2012, there is also 2015 and 2022 on the bottom of the packaging, indicating it is a reprint. And they fixed some issues (better dynamic range of the CD, which I believe has to do with the Peter Mew vs Wilson mastering, and no 5.1 sound dvd issues). So the 2022 reprint for that one is actually better. The 2015 date on the packaging I believe refers to the HDtracks release, which is potentially the source of this master.
As for the other ones, I assume they are at least identical in terms of content, but I don't own them and my dad has the originals. How they handled the Thick as a Brick reprint bodes well in my opinion.
I was hoping they are straight reissues because I waited too long on the original deluxe editions and It would be nice to get them all at a reasonable price.
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Songs From the Wood is a great one.
And I think it also got a reprint, as I can order it from Amazon right now over here (50 euro). Hell, Minstrel and Aqualung are even 28 euros on (Dutch) Amazon right now. I hope/assume the rest will follow.
My dad only has Stand Up to go, hopefully that one will get a reprint as well. But seeing there have been 5 reprints already, I think the odds are pretty good? All of them are fantastic releases, so a good buy for any fan.
Are these reissues exact as the originals or have they been edited?
Thick as a Brick is identical in content, but on top of 2012, there is also 2015 and 2022 on the bottom of the packaging, indicating it is a reprint. And they fixed some issues (better dynamic range of the CD, which I believe has to do with the Peter Mew vs Wilson mastering, and no 5.1 sound dvd issues). So the 2022 reprint for that one is actually better. The 2015 date on the packaging I believe refers to the HDtracks release, which is potentially the source of this master.
As for the other ones, I assume they are at least identical in terms of content, but I don't own them and my dad has the originals. How they handled the Thick as a Brick reprint bodes well in my opinion.
I was hoping they are straight reissues because I waited too long on the original deluxe editions and It would be nice to get them all at a reasonable price.
I mean, aren't they? Thick as a Brick was fixed as it had issues. Steven Wilson himself actually made a statement on that in the past. The other sets I am not aware of any changes. Size, material, booklet, content etc is all identical. Even the print on the discs is completely identical for the Thick as a Brick one.
You can buy the Thick as a Brick one from 2012 on discogs for "cheap" though. For the other releases I do not see a seperate listing, but I can't comment on if there will be a different date in (very) small print on the lower left corner or not.
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Had to bump this to say that my SFTW boxed set arrived and it’s gorgeous!! I have scoured the packaging from front to back to see if there’s been any newly dated reprint year, but everything about the set only says 2017. So if they’ve done a reprint, they haven’t bothered redating it. They just did an exact copy. I haven’t even listened to it yet, but I’m just thrilled with the packaging and what’s included on it.
This was my crown jewel. This is one of my favorite Jethro Tull albums, and it was a very difficult one to find. I don’t care if they just happened to find an extra 1000 sitting in a warehouse. I’m just glad I got one.
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Had to bump this to say that my SFTW boxed set arrived and it’s gorgeous!! I have scoured the packaging from front to back to see if there’s been any newly dated reprint year, but everything about the set only says 2017. So if they’ve done a reprint, they haven’t bothered redating it. They just did an exact copy. I haven’t even listened to it yet, but I’m just thrilled with the packaging and what’s included on it.
This was my crown jewel. This is one of my favorite Jethro Tull albums, and it was a very difficult one to find. I don’t care if they just happened to find an extra 1000 sitting in a warehouse. I’m just glad I got one.
Good to know. As long as all the music is still on there, I don't care if it's a repress.
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Ben, mine came too. I actually ended up buying two of them (not to be greedy, but to improve my odds). It too is my Tull holy grail. I LOVE that album. I ended up buying the repress of the Aqualung set as well. So now I have the "acoustic trilogy", Broadsword, and Aqualung. I think I'm good now.
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The next one I’m hoping they repress is the elevated version of Stand Up. Copies of that are upwards of $400. I haven’t listened to Stand Up enough to know if I really love it or not, but I’ve admittedly become addicted to the sets themselves. I feel like I’m holding a piece of art.
Right now I have:
Benefit
Thick as a Brick
A Passion Play
The Minstrel in the Gallery
Too Old to Rock ‘n’ Roll: Too Young to Die
Songs from the Wood
Stormwatch
A
Broadsword and the Beast
Missing:
Stand Up
Aqualung
War Child
Heavy Horses
The Aqualung sets are pretty easy to get. I saw a brand new one on EBay for under $100 (and it was the Adapted Edition) so I might get that soon. Then I’ll eventually get around to the other 3. I did find Heavy Horses at the library and ripped the material, but I’d still like to have a new one of my own.
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Ben, mine came too. I actually ended up buying two of them (not to be greedy, but to improve my odds). It too is my Tull holy grail. I LOVE that album. I ended up buying the repress of the Aqualung set as well. So now I have the "acoustic trilogy", Broadsword, and Aqualung. I think I'm good now.
I will say that A is surprisingly good and heavy on content. One of my first exposures to JT was seeing the Slipstream movie on cable when I was about 12. Admittedly that is an odd one for a first JT experience, but having not only the movie itself, but also the audio of the complete show from that performance is quite nice. And the album itself isn’t as bad as many people make it out to be. Even the synth experiments are quite good when taken with more objectivity than when it came out.
Still makes me wonder if they are going to keep moving forward and do Under Wraps next year, or just stop with Broadsword.
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OK so on a lazy Saturday afternoon, I just sat down to watch the November 1977 Landover show from the Songs from the Wood set, followed immediately by the July 1970 show at Tanglewood contained on the Benefit 50th Anniversary set.
Talk about a tale of 2 bands.
At Tanglewood, JT was touring for Benefit, had begun recording Aqualung, Ian was 23 years old (practically a kid) and JT was doing more improvised jams than actual songs. Whereas in the Landover show, they are touring for arguably their strongest album since TAAB, Ian is 30, and a bandleader of a tight knight arena rock act at the top of their game delivering over 20 songs.
The contrast over a 7 year period is rather staggering. And yet, I don’t mean to sound dismissive of the Tanglewood set. It’s obvious that there’s a lot of youthful fire to the performance. And Clive Barker’s drum solo (despite going on maybe a minute or two long) was surprisingly “musical”, and several passages sounded VERY similar to Neil Peart’s early drum solos on Chromy…although I would definitely say that Neil had better chops. Still, it was Neil that I once heard say that he wrote drum solos to sound “musical” and I’ve always found that to be a rare quality in drum solos, and I felt like Clive’s solo had that quality that I didn’t quite get out of BB’s solo in the 77 set.
I was a bit surprised that, in spite of being on tour for Benefit, the Tanglewood show was compromised of only 1 song from Benefit, 3 from Stand Up, 1 from the then unreleased Aqualung, 1 completely reworked song from This Was, and the rest was all soloing and instrumental stuff. And yet I still found it very enjoyable.
But the 77 Landover show was really Tull at the peak. What a treat to have this show very nearly in full. And the fact that they had to sync the audio for the first 4 tracks from a later Boston show makes the final product even more impressive. If I hadn’t been told in the book that this was the case, I might not have even noticed. And considering the time period, I suppose we’re fortunate to even have this at all.
And even though I’m thankful to have these two visual representations, it almost makes it that much more of a shame that the sets between these two contain almost nothing in the way of live material at all. I have seen some of the bootleg from the TAAB tour. Thank goodness it at least exists. But to think that nothing in a professional capacity was recorded for Aqualung, TAAB, Passion Play, War Child, Minstrel (ok…a partial audio only set on this collection), and Too Old to RNR tours is really disappointing.
But if I had to pick a tour to have a complete visual of, the SFTW tour is a pretty good set to have. And then we have audio from almost every tour to follow, so I guess I can’t complain too much.
But ya…I really enjoyed watching both these shows today.
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That's an element of live performance that's practically lost nowadays, the improv. I grew up in the 70's, and live albums were often my gateway to bands because I got to hear what they could really do as musicians. Sure, it's impressive to hear complex tunes performed live, but I was always drawn to the improv sections. What do they do that's not in the studio version? Even something as simple as doubling the length of a solo and making it all new. But really going for it "without a net" was to me the mark of a truly good band. They're listening to each other, responding in real time. They have to know the tunes, know their instruments, and know their bandmates. It's a different side of musicianship that doesn't depend on having amazing chops or a million-dollar rig.
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That's an element of live performance that's practically lost nowadays, the improv. I grew up in the 70's, and live albums were often my gateway to bands because I got to hear what they could really do as musicians. Sure, it's impressive to hear complex tunes performed live, but I was always drawn to the improv sections. What do they do that's not in the studio version? Even something as simple as doubling the length of a solo and making it all new. But really going for it "without a net" was to me the mark of a truly good band. They're listening to each other, responding in real time. They have to know the tunes, know their instruments, and know their bandmates. It's a different side of musicianship that doesn't depend on having amazing chops or a million-dollar rig.
You mean, playing without a click?
Sorry, I've been drinking. ;) :) :) :) :) :) :)
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It’s not like there wasn’t improvisation in the 1977 show. But I thought that the 1977 show focused more on making sure the songs were there. There were tons of improvisation moments for Martin Barre, John Evans, Barrymore Barlow, and of course, Ian himself with his flute solos.
But the Tanglewood show seem to be almost 50-50. Almost the entire show was somebody noodling on about something. I was actually really impressed with the drum solo but I think it went on for about 12 minutes and that might be a bit much. If you were to add up the time from the Tanglewood show, I’d be willing to bet they spent more time noodling on things than they did playing any of their actual music.
I think Ian even said as much in the liner notes. But I would still watch it again. There were some very cool moments and just seeing the band so young and just going for it was worth the price of admission.
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OK so on a lazy Saturday afternoon, I just sat down to watch the November 1977 Landover show from the Songs from the Wood set, followed immediately by the July 1970 show at Tanglewood contained on the Benefit 50th Anniversary set.
Talk about a tale of 2 bands.
At Tanglewood, JT was touring for Benefit, had begun recording Aqualung, Ian was 23 years old (practically a kid) and JT was doing more improvised jams than actual songs. Whereas in the Landover show, they are touring for arguably their strongest album since TAAB, Ian is 30, and a bandleader of a tight knight arena rock act at the top of their game delivering over 20 songs.
The contrast over a 7 year period is rather staggering. And yet, I don’t mean to sound dismissive of the Tanglewood set. It’s obvious that there’s a lot of youthful fire to the performance. And Clive Barker’s drum solo (despite going on maybe a minute or two long) was surprisingly “musical”, and several passages sounded VERY similar to Neil Peart’s early drum solos on Chromy…although I would definitely say that Neil had better chops. Still, it was Neil that I once heard say that he wrote drum solos to sound “musical” and I’ve always found that to be a rare quality in drum solos, and I felt like Clive’s solo had that quality that I didn’t quite get out of BB’s solo in the 77 set.
I was a bit surprised that, in spite of being on tour for Benefit, the Tanglewood show was compromised of only 1 song from Benefit, 3 from Stand Up, 1 from the then unreleased Aqualung, 1 completely reworked song from This Was, and the rest was all soloing and instrumental stuff. And yet I still found it very enjoyable.
But the 77 Landover show was really Tull at the peak. What a treat to have this show very nearly in full. And the fact that they had to sync the audio for the first 4 tracks from a later Boston show makes the final product even more impressive. If I hadn’t been told in the book that this was the case, I might not have even noticed. And considering the time period, I suppose we’re fortunate to even have this at all.
And even though I’m thankful to have these two visual representations, it almost makes it that much more of a shame that the sets between these two contain almost nothing in the way of live material at all. I have seen some of the bootleg from the TAAB tour. Thank goodness it at least exists. But to think that nothing in a professional capacity was recorded for Aqualung, TAAB, Passion Play, War Child, Minstrel (ok…a partial audio only set on this collection), and Too Old to RNR tours is really disappointing.
But if I had to pick a tour to have a complete visual of, the SFTW tour is a pretty good set to have. And then we have audio from almost every tour to follow, so I guess I can’t complain too much.
But ya…I really enjoyed watching both these shows today.
Yup, Clive Barker was really a hellraiser!
*winkwink*
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Oh…it’s Bunker isn’t it. :facepalm:
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I always misname him the same way.
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That's an element of live performance that's practically lost nowadays, the improv. I grew up in the 70's, and live albums were often my gateway to bands because I got to hear what they could really do as musicians. Sure, it's impressive to hear complex tunes performed live, but I was always drawn to the improv sections. What do they do that's not in the studio version? Even something as simple as doubling the length of a solo and making it all new. But really going for it "without a net" was to me the mark of a truly good band. They're listening to each other, responding in real time. They have to know the tunes, know their instruments, and know their bandmates. It's a different side of musicianship that doesn't depend on having amazing chops or a million-dollar rig.
A major reason why I love live music. Being there in the moment (this includes most live albums too.) Is so much better than listening listening to studio albums in most cases. At least that's how it is with bands I really like.
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Picked up both A (40) and Thick As a Brick (50) for a little over $50 shipped on Ebay last week. Don't think I'm going to get that lucky with the rest of them but it's a good first dip in the Tull Anniversary Edition pool. Got bids on a few others but nothing outrageous. (After all I still have no Rush Super Deluxes (just the regular deluxes.)
Still kicking myself for not biting on a Chicago Super Deluxe Carnegie Hall that I could have had for $110 but I couldn't justify it because I wasn't supposed to be Christmas shopping for me!
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Picked up both A (40) and Thick As a Brick (50) for a little over $50 shipped on Ebay last week. Don't think I'm going to get that lucky with the rest of them but it's a good first dip in the Tull Anniversary Edition pool. Got bids on a few others but nothing outrageous. (After all I still have no Rush Super Deluxes (just the regular deluxes.)
Still kicking myself for not biting on a Chicago Super Deluxe Carnegie Hall that I could have had for $110 but I couldn't justify it because I wasn't supposed to be Christmas shopping for me!
Let me know (via PM if you want) what you're going after.
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I just finished watching the TV special of Too Old to Rock ‘n’ Roll.
As I take a deeper dive into the JT catalog, this is an album I keep being drawn back to. I first heard it on a crappy “Columbia Record Club” pressing on vinyl. And the reviews on the internet had me expecting a subpar JT album. But the more I listened, the more I felt like this album is grossly underrated. The songs are there, and the concept is top notch. It baffles me that this is considered a middling JT album. I mean, I will confess that it is sandwiched between my personal favorite album (TMITG) and the often hailed SFTW, so maybe that’s why it gets overlooked.
I just see a trend where after riding high on Aqualung and TAAB, they possibly tripped up a bit with the brilliant (but very misunderstood) Passion Play, followed by the extremely underwhelming WC (possibly my least favorite of the “classic era”) only to rebound with Minstrel, stay strong with Too Old, and then stay on the plateau with the “acoustic trilogy” as Stadler put it.
But I think that TOTRNRTYTD is a criminally overlooked high point. There’s not a weak point on the entire album to my ears. Maybe mixed a bit quiet??? Which I originally thought was just an issue with my vinyl pressing, but I honestly feel like I have to crank this album more than others when it comes up on shuffle.
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Picked up both A (40) and Thick As a Brick (50) for a little over $50 shipped on Ebay last week. Don't think I'm going to get that lucky with the rest of them but it's a good first dip in the Tull Anniversary Edition pool. Got bids on a few others but nothing outrageous. (After all I still have no Rush Super Deluxes (just the regular deluxes.)
Still kicking myself for not biting on a Chicago Super Deluxe Carnegie Hall that I could have had for $110 but I couldn't justify it because I wasn't supposed to be Christmas shopping for me!
Let me know (via PM if you want) what you're going after.
Thanks.
Didn't win anything. Was trying for anything but A and Thick As a Brick Super Deluxes which I just won. Not in any hurry as I have most of the previous releases and the 25th box.
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I suppose I shouldn’t be as surprised as I am. Especially since a nearly identical show was released with the Heavy Horses set. But Bursting Out has been remastered by Steven Wilson, and the 3CD/3DVD set comes out on June 24th.
https://store.rhino.com/en/rhino-store/artists/jethro-tull/bursting-out-the-inflated-edition-3cd3dvdbook/5054197723971.html
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I just acquired the adapted edition of Aqualung for a more than fair price off EBay.
That means that the only “book edition” remastered rereleases that I’m missing are the first two, War Child, and Heavy Horses.
This Was is really cheap, and easy to get so I’m not going to worry about that one until it becomes the last piece of the puzzle. But the Stand Up Elevated Edition is *ridiculously* priced. Only 2 copies exist on eBay, and they are $500 and $620. And Discogs isn’t much better. They have a used one for $380.
War Child is surprisingly high priced, but I’m eyeballing one right now that’s $280/obo, so maybe I might offer the guy $200 and see what he says.
Heavy Horses is usually hovering just above the $100 range, so I should be able to get that one soon.
Is there anyone here who owns them all?
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Owns them all meaning ALL the releases, or the four that you're missing?
I have Heavy Horses, Aqualung, SFTW and Broadsword. They are all out-STANDING. I'll probably get Bursting Out as well.
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Owns them all meaning ALL the releases, or the four that you're missing?
I have Heavy Horses, Aqualung, SFTW and Broadsword. They are all out-STANDING. I'll probably get Bursting Out as well.
I was wondering if anyone had them all.
My current collection:
Benefit
Aqualung
Thick as a Brick
A Passion Play
The Minstrel in the Gallery
Too Old to Rock n Roll
Songs From the Wood
Stormwatch
A
The Broadsword and the Beast
Bursting Out is on preorder.
I’m still wondering if Under Wraps is in the works…
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My dad owns all but Stand Up Elevated. I really hope that one gets a repress like many others recently did, as it is way too expensive on the second hand market.
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What really kills me is I literally remember Stand Up Elevated being in my hands at the local Silver Platters when it first came out. I just didn’t realize what I was looking at until it was too late.