The Jethro Tull/Ian Anderson Discography

[Orbert]

O, any chance you could add that link to the OP?

I'm still trying to figure out what to do about that.  I ran across it a few months ago, when I first starting doing my research for this discography, then forgot about it.  Then it showed up in my Facebook feed today because it's Ian Anderson's birthday.

I was thinking of adding a little "Ian says..." section to each album writeup, but putting it right in the OP makes sense, too.  Maybe I'll do both.

[TAC]

Yeah, when we are done, I just wanted to be able to refer back to it.

[LudwigVan]

I do appreciate Asia more than I did back then, but given my druthers, I’d still prefer listening to U.K.    And yes, as Orbert suggested, you do feel Wetton’s vocals looking for space to break out in between the morass of prog/fusion on those U.K. albums.

[Orbert]

O, any chance you could add that link to the OP?

I'm still trying to figure out what to do about that.  I ran across it a few months ago, when I first starting doing my research for this discography, then forgot about it.  Then it showed up in my Facebook feed today because it's Ian Anderson's birthday.

I was thinking of adding a little "Ian says..." section to each album writeup, but putting it right in the OP makes sense, too.  Maybe I'll do both.

I did both.  Incredibly, we're already getting towards the end of the official Jethro Tull studio releases, so there aren't many more "Ian says" bits to include, but there is still more stuff that's been released and I'll try to cover things in a way that makes sense.

[LudwigVan]

Before I forget: Happy Birthday to Ian Anderson!

Every Jethro Tull album in Ian Anderson's own words

LOL so Steve Harris loves A Passion Play and Ian can’t understand why.

[Orbert]

That article is interesting.  Ian tosses out little tidbits about who liked it and such.  I wouldn't be surprised if that was culled from a much longer interview.  I mean, like Ian originally had two or three paragraphs, or more, about each album, but they trimmed it down to just a few sentences about each just so the article wouldn't be super long.

[TAC]

Before I forget: Happy Birthday to Ian Anderson!

Every Jethro Tull album in Ian Anderson's own words

LOL so Steve Harris loves A Passion Play and Ian can’t understand why.

I knew I was onto something. 

[LudwigVan]

Before I forget: Happy Birthday to Ian Anderson!

Every Jethro Tull album in Ian Anderson's own words

LOL so Steve Harris loves A Passion Play and Ian can’t understand why.

I knew I was onto something. 

   I never pegged you to like A Passion Play. I would’ve put money on you hating it.
 

[TAC]

So I thought I'd spin A Passion Play tonight.

I was thinking that in my past life, there were times where I'd go off in another room and lay down on the couch and chill to Animals or Wish You Were Hear. I'm not a Pink Floyd guy by any stretch, but those albums were real stress relievers.  At they same time, they could also recharge me.

That's what I thought about with A Passion Play. It's really transportative (is that even a word?). The music and arrangements are quite intricate and really well rehearsed.

Granted, I still owe many of these albums a second listen, but I stand by A Passion Play. It has character and flavor, save for The Hare. That song appears like the snacks and refreshments commercial mid way through a movie at the drive in, if you know what I mean.

[Orbert]

The Story of the Hare who Lost His Spectacles is meant to be the intermission, or at the very least, the break from all the seriousness normally associated with a Passion play.  I understand why it bothers people; you really do have to have an appreciation for not only what they were going for, but how they did it.  When Ian mentioned the band's universal love of Monty Python's Flying Circus, it all made sense.

I know some people create their own edits, removing that section.  Fortunately, there are full stops both before and after it.  They're short, but if you're making an edit anyway, I'm sure it can be done.

[Orbert]

As mentioned, the vocal parts in Under Wraps are particularly demanding, with Ian Anderson singing in the upper register most of the time, and he ended up damaging his vocal cords.  On doctor's orders, Anderson took a break from singing and barely spoke, ultimately having surgery to repair the damage he'd done.

This is when you would normally expect another Greatest Hits Thing (and indeed, there is one following this release, so fair warning), but in February of 1985, A Classic Case: The London Symphony Orchestra plays the Music of Jethro Tull was released on RCA Records.  If I had to guess, it would be because Chrysalis was not keen to release such an album, but RCA was, under their Red Seal label, which catered to classical recordings.

A Classic Case (1985)



Ian Anderson - Flute, Acoustic Guitar
Martin Barre - Electric Guitar
Paul Burgess - Drums, Percussion
Dave Pegg - Bass Guitar
Peter-John Vettese - Keyboards

The London Symphony Orchestra
Dee Palmer - Orchestral Arrangments
----------

Locomotive Breath 4:16
Thick as a Brick 4:24
Elegy 3:41
Bourée 3:10
Fly by Night 4:12
Aqualung 6:22
Too Old to Rock ’n’ Roll; Too Young to Die 3:27
Teacher / Bungle in the Jungle / Rainbow Blues / Locomotive Breath 3:58
Living in the Past 3:29
War Child 4:56

----------

We've all seen these "Orchestral Things" before.  Some orchestra, hopefully a well-known one or at least a good one, performing the music of some band, for people who like the music enough to maybe want to hear it in an orchestral setting.  What makes this one different, and the reason I've included it here in the Discography, is that the band actually plays on the album.  The four members of Jethro Tull at the time are joined by drummer Paul Burgess, best known as a member of 10cc and later Camel.  The orchestral arrangements were done by Dee Palmer (then David), working again with Jethro Tull for the first time since Stormwatch and The Big Split.  Perhaps the challenge of arranging for a full symphony orchestra was enough to let bygones be bygones.

I know that this isn't DTF's normal cup of tea, but I happen to come from a classical background and am always willing to check out orchestral music.  The thing I find most interesting is how well will the music be able to carry the load, given that it was primarily written with lyrics in mind.  Will the melodies be transcribed literally?  Will they take certain liberties in terms of rhythm and phrasing?  Or will they simply come across as pedestrian and boring because really, they were meant to be sung, not played?

Here, we get a bit of each.  It's mostly done pretty well, occassionally taking a few chances and doing things a bit differently than you might expect.  And at the very least, I like hearing the music in a new setting.  And really, you're not gonna do much better than The London Symphony Orchestra.  My biggest complaint is the fade-outs.  In Rock and Roll, it's something of a necessary evil (though I don't like it any better there) but in orchestral music it's unforgiveable.  Lazy arranging.

But overall, I actually kinda like this one.  As Orchestral Things go, this is one of the better ones.

[Stadler]

These can be hit or miss, of course, but with Dee Palmer and the London Symphony Orchestra, this is quality stuff.  By the way, I have a similar CD - also with Dee Palmer and the LSO - for the music of Genesis.   Ian Anderson guests on that one on the track "I Know What I Like (In Your Warddrobe)". 

[Orbert]

Yeah, I've listened to some of the Genesis one (We Know What We Like) and found it interesting, but largely unnecessary.  In Tony Banks' interview in Keyboard magazine, they asked him if he sees his role in the band as "the orchestra", and his response was that he sees the entire band as the orchestra, and he contributes to that in an orchestral sense.  In other words, that wonderful mini-concerto during the break of "Mad Man Moon" which could have become something really amazing, is actually a bit disappointing because I think Banks did a better job orchestrating it with his keyboards than Palmer did with an entire orchestra at his disposal.  Genesis music is already quite rich, and while you'd expect a symphony orchestra to take it to the next level, it rarely happens.

Palmer is very good, and as I said, must have risen to the challenge of working with a symphony orchestra.  But the arrangements sometimes lack the depth that an experienced arranger might have.  Are you using all 120 voices (or however many you have), or do have sections largely doubling each other rather than working in layers?  Are you taking full advantage of the contrast available to you?  That kind of thing.  Also, there are things like the guitar solo in "Aqualung" which is still performed by Martin Barre here.  In fact, that part of the song is Jethro Tull, without the orchestra, which then comes back for the quiet section.  So there are logisitical considerations as well, which you wouldn't have in a "normal" arranging situation.  Sometimes the orchestra is just there to embellish the band, and sometimes the orchestra takes the fore and the band sits back.

[TAC]

 

[Orbert]

Later in 1985, Chrysalis Records released the Greatest Hits Thing that most people would expect while the band is on hiatus.

Jethro Tull: Original Masters (1985)



Living in the Past 3:18
Aqualung 6:34
Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die 5:38
Locomotive Breath 4:23
Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day 3:28
Bungle in the Jungle 3:34
Sweet Dream 4:01
Songs from the Wood 4:52
The Witch's Promise 3:47
Thick as a Brick (Edit #1) 3:00
Minstrel in the Gallery 7:47
Life's a Long Song 3:16

----------

Another Greatest Hits Thing, and as is so often the case, with its own share of peculiarities.  Chrysalis had already released two Greatest Hits Things (M.U. and Repeat), which collectively covered up through 1977.  You would expect that this one includes material released in the eight years since then, but you would be wrong.  This compilation also covers material up through 1977, completely ignoring the five studio albums since then.  And it's not a question of rights; all of these releases were on Chrysalis Records.

In fact, the version of "Aqualung" here (with the opening guitar riff played twice) is the same version as on M.U., as is "Thick as a Brick (Edit #1)".

And in case you were still wondering whether anyone at Chrysalis actually cared about this release, the title of "The Witch's Promise" is misspelled on the back of the original LP jacket (which is also the inner CD insert).  It says "Witches Promise".

On the plus side, this collection does pare down the first two Greatest Hits Things to a single disk (or disc, as the case may be) and is a pretty good mix tape.  "The best of the best of Jethro Tull", or something.

[DragonAttack]

A couple of tidbits here and there on both of the previous releases....

First, as to charts, the 'Original Masters' made it to #68 in the UK, and reached Silver status in sales.  It didn't chart in the States. I do not know when it reached Gold certification, and it was eventually certified Platinum in 1999.  'Living In The Past' / 'Cross Eyed Mary' was the single offering. 

And, at 53:48, was released as a single LP, with ‘Sweet Dream’ starting Side Two.  ‘Minstrel’ is the full LP track, minus the spoken dialogue at the beginning.  ‘Too Old…’ was also the full LP track, and not the much shorter 45 version (I just discovered that version a few weeks ago, and actually prefer it).  I do happen to like various ‘best ofs’, and with the advent of CDs, they could have added songs such as ‘Teacher’, ‘New Day Yesterday’, 'Nothing Is Easy', ‘Overseer Overture’, ‘Hunting Girl’,  'Something's On The Move, 'Rainbow Blues', 'Summerday Sands', 'Broadford Bazaar', ‘Heavy Horses’, etc [feel free to insert your options] to fill out the disc for added sales (it certainly worked for Queen).  I will say that the cover is quite appealing, and a stark improvement to the first two ‘best ofs’. 

Another result from the workings with David Palmer and the LSO was a song called ‘Coronach’
Original  https://jethrotull.proboards.com/thread/1420/coronach  and the full version released on the anniversary box set  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHj2c9U8ORo  (quite lovely until the overloud drums kick in, and Anderson is in fine voice).  He wasn’t exactly crazy about the whole experience per ‘Minstrels’. 

"Coronach" (credited as Jethro Tull and David Palmer) b/w "Jack Frost and the Hooded Crow"  with a 12” UK release as well
Coronach /Jack Frost & The Hooded Crow / Living In The Past / Elegy

'Rock' symphonic releases:  I have a few, and they always tend to be 'one listen wonders' with a song or two revisited years apart.  This one is yet another 'it's OK', but they always seem to be played slower, with various powerful moments 'softened' throughout.

[ErHaO]

In the modern era and most of my youth best of releases do not have much appeal I feel. Some bands put in some effort with remixes, rerecordings, alternate takes etc. I tend to like those, but regular best off's don't do much for me, outside some cheap vinyls that have a nice tracklist.

[DragonAttack]

Modern era, 'yes', because one only needs to go to Spotify, iTunes, etc. for individual song purchases and make their own 'best ofs'.  So much different eons ago.  The Beatles' 'Red Album' (though too short) and 'Blue Album' were 'must haves', and many other hits packages for 60's and 70's bands were things I'd grab out of the rack because I didn't have the money or willingness to buy the LPs due to finances.  For example, I have two Sinatra albums, 'In The Wee Small Hours' (perhaps the first concept album) and a double LP 'Greatest Hits'.  Same goes with a couple of Benny Goodman best ofs.  I'm not going to invest in much more, but I bought and enjoy the hell out of those.

Queen's 'Greatest Hits' has sold 25 million copies worldwide, and is the biggest album seller ever in the UK.  The Eagles Greatest Hits was the biggest selling album in the States until 'Thriller' passed it in 2009.  'Original Masters' eventually went Platinum. 

Times have changed.

[Orbert]

In 1987, Jethro Tull returned after a three-year break.  Well, most of them, anyway.  The largely negative response to the keyboard-heavy sound introduced on The Broadsword and The Beast and further developed on Under Wraps, as well as Ian Anderson's solo album Walk Into Light, led Peter-John Vettese to quit the band in anger.  Jethro Tull was down to three members: Ian Anderson, the everpresent Martin Barre on guitar, and Dave Pegg on bass.  Anderson provided the keyboards, and three tracks had programmed drums.  Drummers Doane Perry and Gerry Conway both returned to play on the remaining six tracks, though they were not credited as official members of the band.

Crest of a Knave (1987)



Ian Anderson - Vocals, Flute, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Percussion, Keyboards, Drum Programming (tracks 1, 5, 9)
Martin Barre - Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar
Dave Pegg - Bass Guitar, Acoustic Bass (track 4)

Gerry Conway - Drums, Percussion (tracks 3, 4, 6, 8)
Doane Perry - Drums, Percussion (tracks 2, 7)
Ric Sanders - Violin (track 6)

----------

Steel Monkey 3:39
Farm on the Freeway 6:31
Jump Start 4:55
Said She Was a Dancer 3:43
Dogs in the Midwinter 4:37
Budapest 10:05
Mountain Men 6:20
The Waking Edge 4:49
Raising Steam 4:05

Bonus track (2005 Remaster)

Part of the Machine 6:54

----------

With the departure of keyboardist Peter-John Vettese, guitarist Martin Barre really steps up his game here, and as usual, he is amazing.  This is the most guitar-driven Jethro Tull album since the 70's.  Ian's damned flute is here, dancing through several songs and taking the occassional solo, and there's some nice keyboard work (which I didn't realize at first was done by Anderson).  I didn't even notice that some songs had programmed drums while most had "real" drums.  Honestly, Ian was becoming quite proficient as a drum programmer.

Ian's voice is quieter now.  I had no idea about the issues he'd been having; I just assumed that he was getting older and that this is what he sounds like now.  More subdued but still very expressive, something like Mark Knopfler from Dire Straits.  In fact, this album was often compared to Dire Straits, though apparently it was meant in a negative way.  I took it as a compliment.  I like Dire Straits and Mark Knopfler's "just enough tonality to call it singing rather than talking" style of storytelling, and a few of the songs take their time to play out and tell the story ("Farm on the Freeway", "Budapest", and others).

Martin Barre recalls Crest of a Knave being "the album where a lot of things were of my invention. There are still chunks of the music where lan very much knew what he wanted, but I think my input was far greater on that album than on any other."

The Grammy Controversy

It's basically impossible to discuss this album without bringing up the "controversy" surrounding the 1989 Grammys.  Also, this was the first Jethro Tull album to win a Grammy, so it would have come up anyway.

Fogies such as myself remember growing up with four music genres: Rock, Jazz, Country & Western, and Classical.  Most towns only had one radio station, so it either had to mix things up, or pick a genre and stick to it.  If you were lucky, you lived in an area where you had your choice of stations.  But in the early days, all "pop", "rock", and even "heavy metal" fell under the basic "Rock" category.  Country had their own station, and you maybe had a public radio station from the local college that played Jazz and/or Classical.

But by the 80's, music was fragmenting, and in 1989 The Grammys introduced a new category: "Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental".  Nominees were AC/DC for Blow Up Your Video, Iggy Pop for "Cold Metal" (from Instinct), Jane's Addiction for Nothing's Shocking, Metallica for ...And Justice For All, and Jethro Tull for Crest of a Knave.

Ian Anderson was surprised that they were nominated for this category, although if I had to guess, Martin Barre may not have been.  I'd always considered Jethro Tull to be Prog more than Hard Rock, but think about "Aqualung", "Locomotive Breath", and even early stuff like "Teacher".  Guitar-driven, great heavy riffs.  Anyway, Tull's management didn't think they had any chance to win, and advised them to not bother attending, so they did not.  Everyone was sure Metallica would win.  They did not.  Jethro Tull won for Crest of a Knave.

To pull it mildly, people lost their shit.  "Jethro Tull is not heavy metal!"  True, but in all fairness, the category was "Hard Rock/Metal", an attempt to separate the heavier side of Rock, and as I said, there are Jethro Tull songs out there which could be considered Hard Rock.  Also "Performance" could mean either a song or an album (which is why Iggy Pop had a song nominated, while the other nominees were albums) and "Vocal or Instrumental" was even in there, suggesting that there could be other types of music performance.  Let's face it, it was a stupid category.  The very next year, they split it into "Best Hard Rock Performance" and "Best Metal Performance".  At least they figured out that musical performances are either instrumental or include vocals.

When presenters Alice Cooper and Lita Ford opened the envelope, they were visibly surprised.  When Alice read the winner, there was actual booing from the audience.  Ian Anderson later said that he assumed it was one of those awards you give someone recognizing their body of work, and considered himself fortunate that he did not attend the awards, as "there's no way I could have accepted it under those circumstances."

----------

I missed most of the 80's, so when this album came out in 1987, I had no idea that Jethro Tull had gone through as much drama, trauma, and lineup turnover as they had in the years prior.  I just knew that my life had stabilized to the point where I could once again buy the occassional album, CDs had replaced LPs as the medium of choice, and Jethro Tull had a new album out, so I bought it.  My first Jethro Tull CD.  I personally love this one.  It's one of my favorite Jethro Tull albums.  Is it Prog?  Is it Hard Rock?  I know it's not Metal, but I don't really care.  Jethro Tull has always defied labels and genres.

----------

Ian says:

"I was going out and doing Under Wraps live, and I ripped up my throat – I couldn’t sing and I thought maybe time was up and I’d blown my voice completely. I spent a year not doing anything but seeing throat specialists, so it wasn’t until the summer of ’86 that we went out and did some shows, including one in Budapest where I wrote the song of the same name. In America it was the early days of MTV and Steel Monkey got quite a lot of prominence. That album did well in the US and won the Grammy."

From Every Jethro Tull album in Ian Anderson's own words

[Evermind]

My second favourite Jethro Tull album after Thick as a Brick, and this one actually barely made my Top 50. I love it.

Farm on the Freeway, Budapest (the best Jethro Tull song, in my opinion), Said She Was a Dancer, Mountain Men are all top Jethro Tull songs. I love this album, and I still revisit it quite often. I think a bit of this stems from how underwhelmed I was with Under Wraps as I was listening to their album in chronological order when I was discovering the band, but I truly think this is one of the best Jethro Tull albums. Strong songwriting, strong vocal melodies, strong instrumental parts, the band is in their top form on this record.

I saw Budapest live two times, and despite Ian's voice being pretty shot these days, I loved every minute of it. I never grow bored of this song. This song is the pinnacle of Jethro Tull, in my opinion.

[Stadler]

I LOVE this album.  LOVE it.  I started with the 20th Anniversary box set, which came out in '88, then I got this, the "current" album, so I guess you could say this was the first album of NEW material that I got since becoming a Tull fan (late in the game, as you can see). 

You have to mention the ad that appeared in UK papers following the Grammy kerfluffle, taken out by the record company:  "The flute is a metal instrument" with "heavy" pencilled in before the "metal".

[DragonAttack]

http://truemusicfactswednesday.blogspot.com/2013/10/tmfw-1-jethro-tull-heavy-metal.html
(I had a copy of this ad at one time...)

https://www.loudersound.com/features/what-happened-the-night-jethro-tull-beat-metallica-to-a-grammy-award

**************
Crest of a Knave charts: US Gold, certified May 1988 (the last Tull release to reach Gold or Platinum in the States),
UK Gold (certified by BPI in Feb 1989...the last in the UK),
Switzerland 7 - Oct 1987 (9 weeks), ODK Germany 10 - Sep 1987 (16 weeks) (1 week in top 10), Germany 10 - Oct 1987 (5 weeks), UK 19 - Sep 1987 (10 weeks), Austria 22 - Nov 1987 (1 month), Billboard 32 - Oct 1987 (28 weeks), Sweden 40 - Oct 1987 (2 weeks), RYM 144 of 1987

Singles:  "Farm on the Freeway"/b/w "Said She Was a Dancer"  #7 US Mainstream, "Steel Monkey"/b/w "Down at the End of Your Road" (from 20 Years of Jethro Tull)   #10 US Mainstream, #84   UK, "Jump Start" #12    US Mainstream, and    "Said She Was a Dancer"/b/w "Dogs in the Midwinter"   #55   UK

The original LP vinyl track listing was:
Side One
Steel Monkey 3:39 / Farm On The Freeway 6:31 / Jump Start 4:55 / Said She Was A Dancer 3:43
Side Two
Budapest 10:05 / Mountain Men 6:20 / Raising Steam 4:05

Absolutely loved side one when it came out, along with occasionally listening to 'Budapest'.  And all of that was before the Grammys.



   

[Orbert]

Maybe I'm the one who's out of touch, but to me, it was an upset for sure, but not the huge travesty everyone says it was.  I make a distinction between Hard Rock and Heavy Metal.  Apparently most people don't, because all of the criticism is that Jethro Tull is not Heavy Metal.  They're not.  But since there isn't a Prog category, the next closest thing that Tull might be is Hard Rock.  If you're gonna lump Hard Rock in with Heavy Metal, the winner will be the most popular band from either genre.  And as the articles mention, Metallica was still pretty new, and the academy is a bunch of old fogies.  Since I'm a much bigger Tull fan than I am a Metallica fan, I thought it was hilarious.

[TAC]

When Metallica actually won the Grammy in '92, Lars had the best line..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhJarG5jft8

[Orbert]

The original "joke" was kinda funny, if you didn't know that it was the same joke that Paul Simon made years earlier, thanking Stevie Wonder for not releasing an album that year.  Then he went on to belabour the point and basically bitch about it because they didn't get to say anything three years earlier, and I thought that that was just being a whiner.  Read between the lines?  Come on, we get it.  We're not morons.  Right or wrong, nobody likes a whiner.

[TAC]

I thought the line was funny, but I don't vouch for anything else that came out of his mouth. In fact, he's usually full of shit anyway.

[Orbert]

I'm sure my bias against Lars is showing, because yeah, he is full of shit.  It was funny.  He's just not the first person to think of that line.

[DragonAttack]

^
yes, to all the previous comments...

Reviews:  http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=2035   ....and the last one from
https://altrockchick.com/2013/06/10/classic-music-review-crest-of-a-knave-by-jethro-tull-original-vinyl-version/


The vocals:  Anderson intentionally toned down in the studio, so as not to cause him problems trying to recreate them on tour.  Indeed, having not heard any Tull songs since ‘Broadsword’ (and that was just one listen), I was rather taken aback, having no idea of his throat issues.  I just thought he’d become an ‘old man’ at around 45 or so at this time.  And had no idea as well in regards to all the turmoil and line up changes and such. Interesting to think of those hearing this as their first Tull offering. 

Mark Knopfler-esque:  interesting that he had asked Hamer guitars to make him one that sounded like Martin Barre.  Chicken or egg?

And lyrically, they range from tongue in cheek to serious to story telling to….well, what Anderson was often so damn good at.  Musically, I get to rock, to appreciate, to ‘drift’ off at times.  What I had enjoyed so much of their pre 80’s offerings. 

[ErHaO]

I really enjoy this album. Easily their best 80's effort. Farm on the Freeway and Budapest are probably my favourites, but I need more listens.


As someone born at the start of the 90's and getting into music in the 00's, it is so hard to imagine anyone in the metal genre really caring about the Grammies. I do think it is nice when your favourite artist gets recognition, the nominations of Dream Theater being an example.

[jammindude]

I really enjoy this album. Easily their best 80's effort. Farm on the Freeway and Budapest are probably my favourites, but I need more listens.


As someone born at the start of the 90's and getting into music in the 00's, it is so hard to imagine anyone in the metal genre really caring about the Grammies. I do think it is nice when your favourite artist gets recognition, the nominations of Dream Theater being an example.

The Grammy’s used to be a bigger deal than they are now. It was the music version of The Oscars. And it was the first time the metal genre had even been acknowledged in any way. And our new up and coming heroes were actually being asked to perform live at this major event. It was a very big deal.

Also the biggest collective “blue ball” in the history of announcements. 

[TAC]

Orbert, I started with Crest today, until I saw the Pete Way news. I was only three songs in, but so far, this album rocks!

[Orbert]

Wow, bummer about Pete.  I hadn't heard.

Have fun with Crest of a Knave, though.  It's better than Metallica.

[DragonAttack]

From ‘Minstrels’:  Doane Perry was supposed to play drums for all songs on the album, but his mother became ill during the sessions, and soon died while he was away.  He came back and tried to finish off the remaining ones in a rush, but they were not deemed acceptable by both him and Anderson.

All the tracks that made it to the original CD were played to various Tull fans in the States prior to the album’s release, and they were allowed to vote on their favorites.   Whether that influenced what made it to the vinyl version is anyone’s guess.

David Pegg did a reunion LP with Fairport Convention, and finally talked Ian & Martin to appear with them at the Cropredy Festival in August for a short set. Pegg, along with future Tull members Maart Allcock and Dave Mattacks performed for 45 minutes.   ‘Crest’ played over the loudspeakers between band performances.  Fairport opened for most of the European and all of the North American dates……with Pegg playing bass for both bands.

******
The 'Not Quite The World, More The Here And There Tour' in Europe and across the pond was a short one, lasting from October through December

Typical setlist
Songs From The Wood, Thick As A Brick/Steel Monkey, Farm On The Freeway/Heavy Horses, Living In The Past/Serenade To A Cuckoo, Budapest, Hunting Girl, The Waking Edge (inst.)/Peggy Instrumental,Keyboard Solo, Drum Solo, Wond'ring Aloud, Skating Away..., Jump Start, Too Old To Rock'N'Roll..., Aqualung, Locomotive Breath/Thick As A Brick (reprise), Wind Up

I’ve listened to bits of a couple shows.
Nassau Coliseum (audio)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNISkaXGvzo&t=5290s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5m2ocEC0evA  (A- audience audio, good video, Maple Leaf Garden, and quite enjoyable once the taper’s hand steadies) 
same show, but with most of the intro https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0LCZNuCQlM

SFtW was a pretty good visual show opener.  Anderson’s voice can be a bit ‘nasally', but is in quite good form most of the time.  His frickin’ energy throughout the shows is a damn enjoyable experience.  ‘Aqualung’  ‘Locomotive Breath’ ‘Thick (reprise) gave me goosebumps, as did ‘Wind Up’ (and the instrumental and the ever present balloons) as the encore.  Short haired, slimmed down, marathon running Martin Barre is in great form throughout.

The band would still perform in the same cities, and some times the same large venues as year’s past, but more often it would be a downgrade (Joe Louis Arena in Detroit 20K seating to Cobo Hall 11K …..from the LA Forum 20K seating to the Amphitheater 6K over three nights).

Watching the Toronto show……I passed on the Detroit show with some friends, as it was on ‘Black Friday’, and I would eagerly work 72-80 hours most T’giving weeks.  Now I know why my friends had such a great time.  Frick! 

[TAC]

What is this, the Dire Straits Discography Thread??

Just finished Crest. It was really interesting. The Dire Straits feeling had me wanting more lead guitar. Knopfer would have given the lead guitar a bit more breathing room, and I could've used that here. Not a major complaint though.

I found this album quite varied, but pretty good actually. The first three songs are pretty rocking, but the music does get dialed back for sure the rest of the way. I liked Mountain Men the best.

Even the mellow songs had a lot of character to them, and I liked the keyboards on this. Had I randomly heard any of these songs though, I would've never guessed that that was Ian Anderson singing.

[DragonAttack]

Would have been an even more interesting album perhaps, had 'Budapest' remained as a 20+ minute track, encompassing all of Side Two (just read that today).