Jethro Tull celebrates 50th Anniversary with new collections

[Mister Triscuits]

"20 Years of Jethro Tull" is a great anthology.

Oh, man, another treasure trove. As A Passion Play is my favorite album, I was just so blown away by finally hearing the legendary Chateau recordings after all those years...and even so, of the fragments that had been performed live and circulated on bootlegs, my favorite section--"Left Right"--was not included. That would have to wait until Nightcap, yet another treasure trove!

[arturs]

^^^ OK, but it is not really what I meant by anthology. 20 Years was a mind-blower when it came out. The live stuff. The unreleased stuff. I love all that. What I am talking about is assembling tracks from existing studio albums into a new sequence. At best, it makes you hear something new in music you know well. At worst, it removes the overall gestalt of the original albums and IMHO that is what happened with MU and Repeat.

Based on the tracklisting of the 50th set above, it seems as though Ian A has thought about this issue. I get why he has sequenced some things from different albums together (e.g, Tracks 18-21 on Disc 2). But I would still prefer the originals.

[Dave (in MA)]

Of all the things to pick from Under Wraps, Paparazzi?

[Facelift]

But, "age-wise" misses my point. A lot of the scoffing here is by people who already have everything. This set is not targeting them.

And my point was that whomever *was* being targeted by this set doesn't really exist; hence my DOA comment. There will probably be more Tull fans who already own all of the albums buying it than there will be people who don't already own Tull music buying it.

[Mister Triscuits]

^At best, it makes you hear something new in music you know well. At worst, it removes the overall gestalt of the original albums

But eliminating that gestalt can be a fun and refreshing exercise. Back in the days before CDs and shuffle play, Tull was one of the bands I used to enjoy making semi-random mix tapes of, so I could immerse myself in the songs without always knowing what would come next.

[JKL2000]

I can tell by the emoticon you're kidding, but the song actually did appear (in both stereo and mono) on the 2013 Collector's Edition of Benefit. It's listed as an "associated song".

What I would prefer from Tull is a remix of Living in the Past on one or two CDs, not songs from the album plopped helter-skelter on remixes of other studio releases. Yes, yes...I know Living in the Past is merely a collection of songs from different sessions and albums, but since it was released in 1972 it has, for me anyway, taken on a life of its own. I listen to it as a wholly independent album, and it is great.
'

I'm happy to have the 2CD MOFI release of Living in the Past. It sounds fine to me.

[wilcox660]

Lota the panther woman grows nervous.

[Halmyre]

I can tell by the emoticon you're kidding, but the song actually did appear (in both stereo and mono) on the 2013 Collector's Edition of Benefit. It's listed as an "associated song".

Not just that, but I don't think it originally had the definite article in the song title. Although googling suggests that the 'The' seems to come and go at random.

[Progatron]

Not just that, but I don't think it originally had the definite article in the song title. Although googling suggests that the 'The' seems to come and go at random.

Also, sometimes it's seen as "Witches" and other times "Witch's".

[ronmac]

And my point was that whomever *was* being targeted by this set doesn't really exist; hence my DOA comment.

Nonsense. You're living in a bubble.

[notallwhowander]

"20 Years of Jethro Tull" is a great anthology.

I immediately thought of this as well. For a long time, it was my gold standard for boxset content. It was a great companion for those who already owned the albums, and yet it provided a great overview of the band to that point. Each disc had a great flow and mood.

[JKL2000]

But eliminating that gestalt can be a fun and refreshing exercise. Back in the days before CDs and shuffle play, Tull was one of the bands I used to enjoy making semi-random mix tapes of, so I could immerse myself in the songs without always knowing what would come next.

Just like shuffle play, that is an abomination. Ok, not really, but sort of.

[Facelift]

Nonsense. You're living in a bubble.

OK, who is this for - besides people who already own lots of Jethro Tull albums and feel compelled by impulses of completism to have this as well?

[Facelift]

I immediately thought of this as well. For a long time, it was my gold standard for boxset content. It was a great companion for those who already owned the albums, and yet it provided a great overview of the band to that point. Each disc had a great flow and mood.

Yeah, it was among the best of those early box sets. There still inexplicably were some tracks taken straight from the studio albums, but the majority of the set was stuff that was "new" to people who otherwise only owned the albums.

[ronmac]

OK, who is this for - besides people who already own lots of Jethro Tull albums and feel compelled by impulses of completism to have this as well?

Oh, I dont know. Maybe the guy who's Tull collection is mostly on vinyl and doesn't want to spend tons of money buying every CD? Maybe those who attend the current tour and want a nice collection, so they don't have to buy everything. Maybe the new fan who doesn't want everything.

By your logic, there will be zero sales. I'd like to think the publishers and artist know the market a little better than you.

[Facelift]

Oh, I dont know. Maybe the guy who's Tull collection is mostly on vinyl and doesn't want to spend tons of money buying every CD? Maybe those who attend the current tour and want a nice collection, so they don't have to buy everything. Maybe the new fan who doesn't want everything.

By your logic, there will be zero sales. I'd like to think the publishers and artist know the market a little better than you.

Of course there won't be zero sales. But a multi CD set of no new material being released in 2018 is an utterly terrible idea - and a missed opportunity, because there are still Jethro Tull fans who buy physical product and would spring for the whole set if even just a portion of it was new to them.

It's certainly not surprising that you are defending an idea so brain-dead and indefensible, however.

[JKL2000]

I think there are a fair number of very casual Tull fans who aren't prog fans per se. Probably some of them would buy this in physical or download form, just as they might buy a new, 2CD Billy Joel collection for example. As a "hard-core" Tull fan, if they included a couple of new tracks, I'd just illegally download them, I wouldn't buy the whole compilation.

[ronmac]

It's certainly not surprising that you are defending an idea so brain-dead and indefensible, however.

Always need to throw in the personal insult, huh? It's sign of weakness and insecurity. It's amazing how one head can hold so many correct opinions to present as absolute facts. Where do you find hats?

[ronmac]

If any band is entitled to release an anthology without new tracks, it's Jethro Tull. Look at all the recent expanded and remastered releases. It's unbelievable the arrogance of fans who think every release should suit their specific needs to fill holes in their collections. No surprise it's all the same people.

[chalkpie]

Always need to throw in the personal insult, huh? It's sign of weakness and insecurity. It's amazing how one head can hold so many correct opinions to present as absolute facts. Where do you find hats?

Is he as big of an a-hole in real life as he is on PE?

[Facelift]

Always need to throw in the personal insult, huh?

That was not meant to be an insult, just an expression of an observable fact.

You're being a bit touchy for someone who was insulting me to begin with.

[Facelift]

Is he as big of an a-hole in real life as he is on PE?

You met me at the Magma show at Le Poisson Rouge in 2015. I'm not an asshole at all - not in real life and certainly not here. If you would like to explain to everyone who the audience for a 3CD Jethro tull box set of no new material is, in 2018, please give it a shot. Anything would be preferable to Ronmac making an attempt at logical reasoning.

[ronmac]

"I'm not an asshole, but I play one on PE."

[mozo-pg]

[BravadoNJ]

although releasing (yet another) compilation for JT's 50th Anniversary is a great idea, i think who ever put this together probably thinks Jethro Tull is a member of the band. i never met an anthology i didn't like 100%, in fact i'm never even happy with the one's that i burn myself. when you have a band like Tull who's catalog is very diverse you can have a million different versions depending on who is picking the songs. this like all other collections have the same problems- it's not perfect!