Jethro Tull: Classic or Dud?

As I continue my now month-long #TullBender, I have dug into this podcast whilst I walk my dog and schlep my kids around and, well, it's delightful. Two (or maybe just one?) theater/RenFair dudes farfing around about every song doesn't sound like an intriguing proposition at first. But they are self-aware, have great chemistry and have an infectious passion for and insight into this music. The "Baker Street Muse" episode was particularly good, I thought. All told, very fun and highly recommended for those who wonder what it might be like to scale Tull Mountain. Belated thanks, Maresn3st!

― Naive Teen Idol, Monday, March 4, 2024 3:32 PM (one week ago) bookmarkflaglink

As my #TullBender stretches into yet another week, I'm just about finishing up the 8th and final Talk Tull To Me episode on TAAB -- which has been great. It's def. a time commitment, but they do an excellent job digging into the "story," which has always been kind of a puzzle to me. The podcast goes pretty deep into the characters and archetypes Anderson populates it with, and ultimately they kind of conclude what I said above about it, but it's been a fun journey nonetheless.

I started digging through TheNuNuNu's list above -- I didn't know a lot of it and am more partial to Rock Island than Catfish Rising which I used to own. I'm still not 100% sure of the songwriting on the latter--he sure was pervy around that time--but there's a lot of sprightly mandolin on that record for sure.

To get back to the original post about Tull being a great singles band, I nominate the Stormwatch bonus track 'Kelpie' as their 'way ahead of its time' potential smash hit, had it been released/remade in the late-'90s by a hopeful popstar. The propulsion of the bass and drums, the instrumental counter-melody in the verses, the subtle use of guitar squeals at the ends of verse sections, the moments of silence, the wild bridge, plus the rhythmic cadence of the vocal melody - it's not quite Max Martin or Bloodshy/Avant & Britney's 'Toxic', but it's not not that! There's some serious 'music as math' going on here. I could totally have seen the late Denniz Pop (or Jellybean Benitez) loving this track, and remaking/reinterpolating it into some huge dancefloor banger. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyR7pdLDz_g

Problem is, it's in triple time! So the only dancing it will inspire are jigs.

It's not one of their greatest songs but "A Small Cigar" is such a funny idea with really funny lyrics, it was only released as bonus material
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBIA06c4L3s

I mean it does sound good but much of the amusement comes from the lyrics

they have some songs I really love - "Mother Goose", "The Whistler", "Inside"...what else have they got like that?

Singing All Day
Wond'ring Aloud/Again
Life's a Long Song
Alive and Well and Living In
Fat Man
Jeffrey Goes To Leicester Square
Dr. Bogenbroom
Teacher
Up to Me
Cheap Day Return
Up the 'Pool
Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day
Salamander
Moths
Fire at Midnight
Broadford Bazaar
Home

...as you go later, their albums will usually have 2-3 more acoustic and poppier numbers, but they kinda get increasingly baroque

― the absence of bikes (f. hazel), Saturday, March 9, 2024 7:49 PM (two weeks ago) bookmarkflaglink

thanks, as I go through these I have come to the conclusion that I actually do like Jethro Tull

I'd say that the odds are better that a given Tull song will be worthy if it's a ballad or "pop" song than a riff-rocker, maybe partly because the rockers last longer and have to make space for various often-monotonous instrumental solos.

Still, some eternal riffs in the Tull catalogue: Locomotive Breath, No Lullaby, Sweet Dream. Cross-eyed Mary, Hunting Girl, Something's On The Move, etc.

Frogbs - have you done Passion Play yet?

In the documentary I watched last year Dee Palmer said that Eddie Jobson was the dictionary definition of a wizard (she even said which dictionary, oxford maybe?) and I looked it up and didn't really catch her meaning, I suspected it was an insult but maybe not.

was about to, I thought I had it but it turns out it was Minstrel in the Galary lol

Valentijn otm velvet green is the ne plus ultra
For frogbs, this would be my Tull PO5 right now:
Velvet green
No lullaby
Witches promise
TaaB (the usual excerpt from part 1)
Mother goose

And top 5 albums:
Songs from the wood
Living in the past (the first LP of the 2LP set or the first CD of the 2CD set)
Aqualung
Heavy horses (ideally the box so you get the live show)
A (ideally the box so you get the especially killer live show)

Ohhhh, I didn't think this would get a reissue, I'm not sure that I've listened to it more than once.

https://superdeluxeedition.com/news/jethro-tull-bursting-out-the-inflated-edition/

I love how Thick as a Brick is claimed to be a parody of prog concept albums, which they thought would be apparent once people listened to the lyrics. as though people were gonna listen to it and go "yes I understand everything this guy is saying"

amazing album though surely one of the best prog LPs ever made parody or no

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

― Naive Teen Idol, Monday, April 23, 2018 9:48 PM (five years ago)

This song sounds so much like Can.