Jethro Tull

[Pols Voice]

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

I may get the smaller Special Edition. The "remastered" CD currently available sounds like garbage.

[MasterShakezula]

Dude, Aqualung's one of my favorite albums ever!


I will definitely have to consider getting myself some version of this 40th edition. 

[jammindude]

Wasn't sure about this....til I saw that STEVEN WILSON mixed it!!!   Absolutely a must by now!!!

[Phoenix87x]

I love Aqualung 

[KevShmev]

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. 

[Nel]

We could bungle in the jungle. lol

Always liked the band. Don't own a thing by them, oddly enough.

[MasterShakezula]

I have their first 5 albums.  What's the best of the rest?

[Pols Voice]

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.

[DarkEternalNight]

Minstrel In The Gallery has some sweet guitar.

[jammindude]

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??

[Mladen]

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. 

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

Thick as a Brick is one of the best albums ever so it should.

[jammindude]

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.   

[Pols Voice]

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.

[Mladen]

I liked a couple of songs from Benefit, like Nothing to say, Son and Sossity. Still, it's nowhere as enjoyable as Aqualung. 

[LudwigVan]

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. 

[Pols Voice]

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

[Orbert]

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.

[DebraKadabra]

I was introduced to Tull by my Dad when I was about... 6 or 7, I think.  Awesome band.

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

I'm guessing Thick as a Brick is getting SW remastered too. I didn't know. Love Ian's remark at the end.

https://www.progrocks.co.uk/progrocks/Exclusive-Video/

[Mladen]

Man, that guy does not like prog. 

And does that mean that Free hand is also getting a SW remaster? I didn't really get the point of the videos. 

[MasterShakezula]

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.

Better mark 2.4.12 on your calendar. 

[Orbert]

Wow, nice shout-out to Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree and Spock's Beard as well!

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

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.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSuI-_Xj3Bg

Also, someone make a gif of the last two seconds.

[Priest of Syrinx]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7jZMCBEsZM

[theseoafs]

Huh. The soundbites have me intrigued, though I'm afraid it'll just be more of the same.

[Priest of Syrinx]

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

[Sigz]

Where the eff is Martin Barre?

[bundy]

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.

[skydivingninja]

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?

[Mladen]

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.

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

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.

[Sigz]

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

[Orbert]

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.

[Priest of Syrinx]

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.