I have Benefit,Aqualung, & Thick as a Brick. I've always loved Aqualung. But it wasn't until recently that I started to check out more of their catalog. I wish I would have done it sooner. What should I check out next? Donny, I have to say that you have started out with a few of the
best from the voluminous Tull catalogue.
Jethro Tull, similar to Fleetwood Mac to a degree, started out as more
of an eclectic blues based sound in the early days. Unique in deliverance and especially the vocal stylings of Ian Anderson...in my opinion anyway.
The good news is, the older material is still up for grabs and a lot of the earlier music can be had for a decent price through outlets such as Amazon.com and similar sources. I'm sure EBay has some of the "now out of print" releases as well.
As mentioned in a previous Tull post of yours, I'm a huge fan of "The Broadsword and The Beast" album. Personally, it combines everything and anything I love about the group and the music that they have
released over the years. Commercially, it wasn't such a stand out and for the most part, signaled the end of Andersons previous talent in terms of the vocal department. (I do recall reading somewhere however that this album was the top selling Tull album in Germany to date)?
Apparently, it was during this period of 1982's release of TBATB, that Ian suffered some sort of injury to his vocal abilities during that tour and has not been quite the same since.
Anyway, the group did manage to come back quite strongly with
the 1987 release "Crest of A Knave" and I have to admit, it ranks
up there in the top 5 of my favourite Tull releases.
Check out the Wikipedia info regarding the Grammy for this release...I thought it was pretty good then, as I do now...haha.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jethro_Tull_(band)Depending on your personal preference in regards to Tull's sound and catalogue of music, you may be interested in some of the more "rarities" type compilations.
The reason I mention this is because Anderson and co. had a wealth of previously unreleased music stored away over the years. Not just from one recording session, but it seems the group always had more than enough for an album.
For example, I've said it before and I'll say it again, in my humble opinion, The Broadsword and The Beast could surely have been a double album. Proof of this is in hearing the unreleased tracks from those 81/82 sessions that have popped up on not only "20 Years of Jethro Tull", either as the 1 cd or 25 year box set, The double cd "Nightcap" album or, even better...the recently remastered "The Broadsword & The Beast" release, with bonus tracks!
Donny, if you enjoy the heavier version of Tull, this is one to check out.
Martin Barre is fantastic and the combination of his guitar stylings and Anderson's handle on the flute on a track such as "Overhang" is something else.
Unfortunately, "Rock Island" was a bit of a let down, and the "Roots to Branches" release pretty much made it apparent that Tull was delving into calmer waters musically. I thought that with the release of Dot Com a few years later, they would pick it up a bit more...but in my opinion, it just didn't happen...regardless of what the critics had to say.
Either way however, there is definitely something out there for anyone that even remotely considers Tull as a group worthy of a listen or two.
Personally, my faves from the meager 11 album collection I have
of the group is as follows...
1. The Broadsword and The Beast
2. 20 Years of Jethro Tull - (remastered version)
3. Crest of A Knave
4. Warchild (Hey, "Skating Away on the Thin Ice of A New Day" is one of my all time Tull favs... ;D)
5. Nightcap
Granted, "20 Years", and "Nightcap" are compilations, but I have to consider them as they contain a wealth of otherwise previously unreleased material...and for what it's worth, I think it's some of their
best work?
In my opinion, they should have included "Commons Brawl" and "Man of Principle" on TBATB album and did away with "Watching Me Watching You" and "Seal Driver"...but HEY!...just my opinion...hahaha.
Thanks
Kim
