Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
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You say Mega Ultra Deluxe Special Limited Edition Extended Autographed 5-LP, 3-CD, 4-DVD, 2-BlueRay, 4-Cassette, five 8-Track, MP4 Download plus Demos, Outtakes, Booklet, T-Shirt and Guitar Pick Gold-Leafed Box Set Version like it's a bad thing...
Absolutely, great tune! I've said multiple times - if 1974 Ian was singing on SLOB, it might be the greatest acoustic-ish album Ian ever wrote. The tunes and arrangements are downright magnificent. Rupi's Dance is not far behind, there is some fantastic stuff on there. I always rediscover tunes on these albums after all of these years. They are sort of the modern day Wood/Horses in many ways. Dot Com has a few killer tunes too. Ian is simply a fantastic writer. And don't overlook Brick 2 and Erraticus, great writing abounds, albeit some stale production values and playing. The biggest weak point is of course his vocals, but even in early 2000's he was light-years from where he is in 2018. imo.
If it isn't Krautrock, it's krap.
"And it's only the giving
That makes you what you are" - Ian Anderson
Agreed. This is why I still look forward to hearing what Ian comes up with next. I liked plenty on TAAB2 and Erraticus... obviously he's going to write the music to suit his diminished range, which is a lot easier for the listener to swallow than him attempting the stuff he wrote and sang as a young man.
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
*** Join me in the Garden of Delights for 4 hours of tune-spinning... every Saturday at 5pm EST on Deep Nuggets radio! www.deepnuggets.com ***
I wish Ian would focus more on recording new music. Obviously touring is extremely hard on his voice and at this stage in his life and career recording is much easier. I’m sure there’s a reason why he still tours. He’ll he could make an album of half instrumentals and I wouldn’t complain.
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Oh, I really liked The Secret Language Of Birds! Glad to see so many of you fine folks here speaking highly of it.
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"what's better, peanut butter or g-sharp minor?"
- Sturgeon's Lawyer, 2021
Frankie
Whats your Tull top ten albums by order
My favorites, listed chronologically:
Stand Up
Benefit
Aqualung
TaaB
A Passion Play
Minstrel in the Gallery
Songs from the Wood
Heavy Horses
Crest of a Knave
Either Warchild or Stormwatch would round out the 10th album, but I don't like either of these albums as much as the ones listed above. No big surprises, I'm sure.
Bill
This is as hard as naming Zappa favs, but I tend to have "lumps" of favs, something like this:
Thick/Brick
Passion Play
The Château D'Hérouville Sessions (however I DO like the flute overdubs, but I prefer the SW remixing/mastering over the reverb-drenched Nightcap mastering...so ultimately my fav version will never exist....Make sense?)
Songs/Wood
Minstrel
Aqualung
Living in the Past
Nothing is Easy: Live at the Isle of Wight
DVD 2 from "The Country Set" - Live at The Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland, 21st November 1977
20 Years of Jethro Tull (Full Box Set)
........................
Heavy Horses
WarChild
Stand Up
Benefit
Too Old (Yes I really love this album, especially the new SW Morgan Studios TV Special - I prefer this over the official version)
Stormwatch
Broadsword/Beast
Bursting Out
Christmas Album
This Was
........................
A
Under Wraps
Crest of a Knave
Roots to Branches
Rupis Dance
Homo Erraticus
Secret Language of Birds
Dot Com
A Little Light Music
.........................
Rock Island
Catfish Rising
I know this is cheating, but in my mind this is how I would break down this music into subcategories of favs.....too hard otherwise.
What's 'yers Udester?
If it isn't Krautrock, it's krap.
"And it's only the giving
That makes you what you are" - Ian Anderson
Love this tune recently....Ian's voice was so killer during the Broadsword/Under Wraps era:
If it isn't Krautrock, it's krap.
"And it's only the giving
That makes you what you are" - Ian Anderson
^ I love that album and it's companion Walk Into Light. I get the complete hate of the drum machines, but the songwriting is some of Ian's best in a long time. Maybe that's because of Peter-John Vettese, but they really are cohesive albums.
"Always ready with the ray of sunshine"
If it isn't Krautrock, it's krap.
"And it's only the giving
That makes you what you are" - Ian Anderson
Aqualung and Crest of a Knave are the two that I enjoy a lot outside of the ones I listed. I may as well throw in This Was also. Damn it, I can't keep it to only 10.
I'm not sure why most people don't consider Storm Watch in with the classic Tull albums. I think it has everything the classic albums have.
Never was a big fan of This Was, but re-purchased it on CD about a year ago, and found enough there to justify keeping it this time. Not really a top favorite Tull album for me, but not as bad an album as I'd previously felt.
To me, it is the last of the true classic Tull albums. But like Warchild and TOtR&R, it just feels like there's something missing on this one. It just feels like the formula was getting a little thin by this point, and you can almost palpably hear the turmoil about Glascock being ill. All good things must end, and this was the end of a particularly fruitful period for the band.
Don't get me wrong, I still really like the album. Not putting it in my top-10 Tull albums is as much a measure of the quality of the other albums as any comment on this album's shortcomings. But if I had to choose 10, Stormwatch wouldn't be one of them. My choosing Crest over that one is my own personal idiosyncratic taste. I just love that album for some reason, but I recognize most wouldn't rate it so highly.
Bill
The ones I absolutely have to own, in order:
Thick as a Brick
Songs from the Wood
Heavy Horses
Passion Play
War Child
Christmas Album
I like a lot of the remaining albums but won't feel the loss if you take them away from me.
You say Mega Ultra Deluxe Special Limited Edition Extended Autographed 5-LP, 3-CD, 4-DVD, 2-BlueRay, 4-Cassette, five 8-Track, MP4 Download plus Demos, Outtakes, Booklet, T-Shirt and Guitar Pick Gold-Leafed Box Set Version like it's a bad thing...
This Was is for sure a totally different animal. My cousin bought Benefit by mistake thinking it was a different band at the time. I remember me and my brother were out playing ball with them when he said you gotta hear these guys. We went down to their house and played Benefit all the way through. We went out and looked to see what other albums were available and got our dad to give us the money to buy Benefit Stand Up and This was all at one time. We were a little puzzled at This Was because it was so different but it’s always held a special place in my childhood. Clive Bunker’s unique style on My Sunday Feeling always brings a smile to my face when I hear it. It’s odd how some albums can just do something to you after all the years and others when you play them after years you wonder why you even liked it at one time.
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Now that we have the remixes, there's not much difference in quality between each session anymore. Lots of great extra tracks on the remixes, especially the albums which were originally weaker. It really evens out and pretty much proves the band were trying different styles of songs and albums each year. Some years prog, some years folk, some years commercial. But overall there's enough quality prog each year to prove the band were always making great music from the late 60s and all the way through the 70s until the early 80s.
I played it last night and ... the wife didn't even complain "is that Jethro Tull again!" Again, I really thing it comes down to the songs... Different Germany, Toad In The hole, Black & White TV, the flow of the entire album just makes for a great listen, plus I am a fan of that keyboard tech. Maybe it sounds dated, but it sounds good!
"Always ready with the ray of sunshine"
I love Walk Into Light. A distinctly moody vibe to it that always makes me think of a rainy day - in a good way. I think it's a strong batch of songs and Ian's vocals were excellent around that time. I listen to it far more often than I do Under Wraps.
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
*** Join me in the Garden of Delights for 4 hours of tune-spinning... every Saturday at 5pm EST on Deep Nuggets radio! www.deepnuggets.com ***
My favourites are the 1968-72 albums and then SFTW/Heavy Horses. I like Crest Of A Knave and Roots To Branches. I really struggle with A Passion Play, War Child and Too Old...
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