Jethro Tull: Classic or Dud?

Xpost with Martin barre on board?

Cant see anything about Barre but I'm not sure. I know next to nothing about Tull after the 70s (apart from actress Lucia Micarelli being in the band, wow) but there must be a reason this isn't just another solo album.

Barre and Anderson are on pretty bad terms right now it seems, also IA's voice is really quite shot so it'll be interesting to see what comes up with this new record.

That sucks about this voice, he was always one of rock's great enunciators.

On one of those solo albums I thought he made good use of his ravaged voice. Not really trying to sing

I would love for there to be a Steven Wilson remix of "Walk Into Light".

Re: Chateau sessions. I cant believe they never used "Left Right", such an awesome song, I think it did appear on other compilations but I'd urge anyone to grab the Passion Play: Extended Performance before it's gone, because the sessions are remastered too.

it was only $21 on Amazon the other week, so I picked it up. Heavy Horses too!

Cool, I think I'll jump into town to get Heavy Horses this week.

On a Tull kick myself (see other thread).

Also, Ian Anderson's vaguely synth pop / occasionally baeleric album Walk Into Light is...not bad?

I have found my way into some of the early 80s stuff but haven’t tried that one yet

I'm not an expert on his solo career by any means, but this one seems like an anomaly

Title track is my jam right now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hs6V91LgdKs

Had a look over my Heavy Horses book. Never knew they had so much work with Maddy Prior, she's interviewed.

that walk into light title track deserves resuscitation on some resident advisor mix imo, it's really good

definitely own like 6 or 7 albums by these guys and never quite decided if I am a fan or not

Other favorite Chateau moments

"The editor lies screaming, baking in his waking dream,
QUESTIONING "WHO IS GOD'S FAVOURITE ROCK BAND THIS WEEK?"
And will the front page take him?
The deadline for the headline is the breadline"

"Who the hell can he be when he's never had V.D. and he doesn't even sit on toilet seats?"

I love "Broadford Bazaar" from the single-disc remaster of Heavy Horses, although I have no idea if it's from the same recording sessions or just tacked on as a good bonus track.

Also, “Inside” from Benefit is an absolute jam. Glen Cornick’s bass on this is just incredible.

hmm... the Nightcap liner notes say Broadford Bazaar was "recorded 1978 at Maison Rouge Mobile Studio, Fulham London" so maybe it's from the Stormwatch recording sessions?

the song is like a Heavy Horses sound with a definite Stormwatch vibe

hmm... the Nightcap liner notes say Broadford Bazaar was "recorded 1978 at Maison Rouge Mobile Studio, Fulham London" so maybe it's from the Stormwatch recording sessions?

—>singing

The Horses in those Heavy Horses photos are fucking massive.

The horses were much smaller than intended, so they got a midget to pose for the photoshoot. That's why "Ian's" head is tilted down.

He said he regrets the cover because it's too close and you don't really get a proper look at their size. The book has lots of better photos from that shoot.

Loving "Acres Wild", a beauty. Loving the Heavy Horses tracks which Anderson noted as going in a Scottish direction. I wouldn't know where to begin with traditional Scottish dance music, the stuff I used to hear my gran listening on the radio was a bit too leisurely so anyone could keep up with it. But of course I want it fast and complex and only professionals could dance to properly.
Writer Jack Vance once recommended Jimmy Shand but I doubt he ever goes nuts with it.

In the notes Anderson is quite ashamed of some of the bonus tracks, like "Botanic Man" (an unused tv theme tune), and the start of a track which he said he wouldn't subject the biggest Tull nerds to (it's not listed on the back tracklist for some reason).

I had "Beltane" on an earlier Songs From The Woods CD as a bonus track and I wasn't too fond of it, but I'm quite impressed by it now. Oddly Anderson said the references were maybe too obscure (what kind of reasoning is that? Especially for this sort of music?) and he was a bit embarrassed by the accent he put on (sounds much the way he does on most of Heavy Horses to me) and that it's a bit too "let's get in touch with our pagan roots", I see where he's coming from but I find it quite evocative nonetheless.

"There's a snap in the grass behind your feet
and a tap upon your shoulder.
And the thin wind crawls along your neck ---
it's just the old gods getting older"

I don’t see how that’s any less atavistic than jack-in-the-green.

Maybe he thought both those on one album would be too much

Sorry any MORE atavistic

It's a Heavy Horses reject though. I guess it ended up as a bonus on some versions of Songs From The Woods because it fit more thematically.

"No Lullaby" lyrics he wrote for his children when they were small but they didn't hear until decades later.

"So come out fighting with your rattle in hand, thrust and parry. Light
A match to catch the devil's eye, bring a cross of fire to the fight.
And let no sleep bring false relief from the tension of the fray.
Come wake the dead with the scream of life, do battle with ghosts at play.
And gather your toys at the call-to-arms and swing your big bear down
Upon our necks when we come to set you sleeping safe and sound.
It's as well we tell no lie to chase the face that cries.
And little birds can't fly so keep an open eye.
It's as well we tell no lie, so I'll sing you no lullaby."

Any of you got a good feel for Tull's whole lifetime? Their ups and downs, solo albums etc?

Kinda do. Couple of years ago I dug in and listened to everything I hadn’t ever heard. I’d have to look over the discography to refresh my memory now. It didn’t change my top tier favorites but I discovered some really nice 2nd tier stuff (Broadsword, Crest, one of the recent growly ones but I can’t remember which). Tried hard for the umpteenth time with War Child, incl the Wilson edition and the outtakes/alternates, bc skating away is possibly my favorite song he ever wrote, but it’s overall a dud.

For me, it's hard to push past 'A', I like Broadsword well enough but apart from the odd track everything after that has felt like a bit of a snooze, if somebody was to compile a later period album list of worthwhile tunes I'd be interested though.

But the run from the beginning up to Stormwatch is fabulous, agree with Jon about most of War Child and I'm not as fussed about To Old... but hell, that leaves a pretty big chunk of greatness.

Thanks.

I'm kind of worried that the backlash against A Passion Play distorted their opinions of the material. It's now one of my favorite albums by any band and I've been daydreaming about wishing I was an expert dancer so I could invent dances to go with the album. It's just so much fun.

Heavy Horses is pretty good, the bonus tracks I could have mostly lived without but there's maybe three really good ones (("Jack A Lynn" (early version), "Quatrain" (studio version) and "Beltane"))

title track of HH just made me cry (i'm having a bad week)

It's a good one. Anderson says it's a favorite to perform.

https://www.last.fm/music/Jethro+Tull/+images/6e079bed45eb40fdc0d9c733acece474

There's a great Minstrel In The Gallery era photo of them that's completely in the "photos of people who've figured out to live" vein.

http://www.tullpress.com/images/tull803.jpg

"And then I turned around, exited Vault 82, and decided to try my luck alone in the post-apocalyptic wasteland"

Always good to be reminded that the "long hair with receding hairline" look used to be a thing.

"They were the best NASCAR pit crew I ever had, and that's why I took them to Mars with me, to win the Red Planet 350"

Hahaha!

"It took all year for us find one another, so there was only one glorious weekend, before they busted up the union and we went our separate ways, that we were the Brotherhood of Lunar Miners Local 580 Zero-G Perpendicular-Track Roller Derby Team"

I've got mixed feelings about Minstrel In The Gallery, but it's mostly good.

The title track is mostly great but I'm not so fond of the rockier second half. Aside from a few moments "Cold Wind to Valhalla" and "Black Satin Dancer" don't really do much for me sadly.

But "Requiem" and "Baker St. Muse" are wonderful ("I can't get out!" is one of my favorite bits of non-musical jokery in an album). The rest is good.

Bonus highlights: the early version of "Requiem" is well worth hearing and the BBC version of "Minstrel in the Gallery" has a great vocal echo effect at the start and the BBC "Aqualung" really thrilled me with the opening and closing sections.

Until the Stormwatch deluxe comes out I think I'll start in chronological order from the first album.

those three BBC versions at the end totally slay, i actually only have those on my player currently in lieu of the actual album.

I heard "Bungle in the Jungle" today and jeez, that song, which I liked a lot at 13, is terrible.

Just put on "Living in the Past," and whew, this one is still good.

The other "Bungle in the Jungle" tracks from the Chateau Sessions are brilliant.

War Child is weird, having my favorite Tull song and what may be my least favorite

"Bungle in the Jungle" was of seven audio questions at a trivia contest I was part of last week. Same thing: loved it when it was on the radio, "Living in the Past" a thousand times better today.