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Thread: A Reassessment of the Jethro Tull catalog

  1. #26
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    I love Jethro Tull and wanna play!!!

    This Was 5/10
    Stand Up 7/10
    Benefit 6/10
    Aqualung 10/10
    Thick As A Brick 10/10
    A Passion Play 10/10

    War Child 7/10
    Minstrel In The Gallery 8/10
    Too Old To Rock 'N Roll 7/10
    Songs From The Wood 10/10
    Heavy Horses 10/10

    Stormwatch 7/10
    A 4/10
    Broadsword & The Beast 6/10
    Under Wraps 2/10
    Crest Of A Knave 7/10
    Rock Island 4/10
    Catfish Rising 5/10
    Roots To Branches 6/10
    J-Tull Dot Com 4/10
    Christmas Album 7/10

    Living In The Past 8/10
    Bursting Out 9/10
    The Prog Corner

  2. #27
    Best to Worst
    Minstrel In The Gallery
    Heavy Horses
    Stand Up
    Aqualung
    Songs From The Wood
    Thick As A Brick
    Stormwatch
    Benefit
    War Child
    Broadsword & The Beast
    A Passion Play
    Too Old To Rock 'N Roll
    Under Wraps
    Roots To Branches
    This Was
    Catfish Rising

    Never Owned
    A
    Rock Island
    J-Tull Dot Com
    Christmas Album

  3. #28
    Member bennymania's Avatar
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    It was all downhill after he invented the seed drill.

  4. #29
    Progdog ThomasKDye's Avatar
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    This Was (don't own)
    Stand Up 7/10
    Benefit 5/10
    Aqualung 9/10
    Thick As A Brick 10/10
    A Passion Play 9/10
    War Child 10/10
    Minstrel In The Gallery 7/10
    Too Old To Rock 'N Roll 1/10
    Songs From The Wood 6/10
    Heavy Horses 5/10
    Stormwatch 8/10 (this was one of my first Tull albums so it has a special place for me)
    A 8/10
    Broadsword & The Beast 9/10
    Under Wraps 4/10
    Crest Of A Knave 4/10
    Rock Island 3/10

    Don't have the rest.
    Last edited by ThomasKDye; 05-26-2017 at 11:09 AM.
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  5. #30
    Member chalkpie's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bennymania View Post
    It was all downhill after he invented the seed drill.
    Ha!

  6. #31
    Quote Originally Posted by saucyjackstl View Post
    Best to Worst
    Minstrel In The Gallery
    Heavy Horses
    Stand Up
    Aqualung
    Songs From The Wood
    Thick As A Brick
    Stormwatch
    Benefit
    War Child
    Broadsword & The Beast
    A Passion Play
    Too Old To Rock 'N Roll
    Under Wraps
    Roots To Branches
    This Was
    Catfish Rising

    Never Owned
    A
    Rock Island
    J-Tull Dot Com
    Christmas Album
    Well, if we're rating them...

    Heavy Horses, Minstrel, Thick as a Brick, Aqualung and Stand Up are the strongest studio albums, IMO.

    Behind them, in order of my preference would be:

    Songs From the Wood
    Benefit
    A Passion Play
    This Was
    Crest of a Knave
    Stormwatch
    War Child

    The other albums range from "decent but unremarkable" to outright bad, but all of them have at least a couple of songs that I think are strong, and these are all on my Ipod. I've got EP-length versions of A, Broadsword, Rock Island, etc. that I enjoy from time to time, when I'm in the mood for either '80s or '90s Tull.

  7. #32
    Member Plasmatopia's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dave (in MA) View Post
    Somehow he's managed to not claim he's going to slow the rise of the oceans and heal the planet.
    So far all the occupants of that house have managed to avoid that claim.
    <sig out of order>

  8. #33
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    I’m a big Jethro Tull fan, but honestly I do not find much to enjoy in Stormwatch. It sounds like they ran out of gas after a very successful run of albums in the seventies. But then I have a similar feeling about Heavy Horses, which in my opinion pales compared to Songs from the Wood. My favorites would be the following:

    1. Songs from the Wood (their absolute best for me);
    2. Passion Play (this one rocks really hard, and yes, I do enjoy the bloody hare);
    3. Stand Up (this is where everything came together for the first time);
    4. Warchild (I do like the diversity and the format with shorter songs; “Skating away” is simply gorgeous, their best acoustic tune for me);
    5. Minstrel in the Gallery (great acoustic tunes, a heavy-as-hell centerpiece in “Baker St. Muse”, and a good title track);

    In a second group I would put:

    6. Living in the Past (OK, it is a compilation, but there are so many gems in here that it is hard to ignore it; I almost put it in the first group);
    7. Aqualung/Thick as a Brick/Benefit (all great albums, but honestly I think don’t need to listen to any of them ever again, they are all carved in my brain);
    8. Heavy Horses (some inconsequential tunes, some nice ones, like No Lullaby and Rover. I never warmed up to the title track, though);
    9. Too Old (same as Heavy Horses, but with poorer material IMHO);

    In a third and final group I would put:

    10. A / Crest of a Knave (rather good albums, but with a different sound);
    11. Stormwatch (never understood the appeal of this one)
    12. The rest…

  9. #34
    I'll play...1968-1987 albums (in order):

    Aqualung
    Thick as a Brick
    Passion Play
    Stand Up
    Songs from the Wood
    Benefit
    Stormwatch
    Heavy Horses
    War Child
    Broadsword and the Beast
    Minstrel in the Gallery
    UnderWraps
    A
    Too Old to Rock and Roll
    Crest of a Knave
    This Was
    Last edited by Score2112; 05-24-2017 at 02:33 PM.

  10. #35
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    I find Tull to be one of those bands that are difficult to compare because of the different styles. This Was, Aqualung, Passion Play and Songs From The Wood are all very different, so for me it's like comparing the early Crimson to the 80's years to Thrak etc etc(all very different styles)

    As far as Stormwatch, I really like it and I actually prefer it a bit to Heavy Horses(the title track is too long).

    My favourites would be Stand Up, Aqualung, Passion Play and Songs From The Wood. Find Warchild and Too Old very weak, same with pretty much everything after Broadsword. Also really like Minstrel and This Was!
    We are the grandchildren of apes, not angels
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  11. #36
    TW 6
    SU 8
    B. 6
    A. 10
    TAAB. 10
    aPP. 7
    WC. 5
    MITG. 8
    TOTRR. 5
    SFTW. 9
    HH. 7
    SW. 7
    A. 5

  12. #37
    Member chalkpie's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 2steves View Post
    my problem with the band is the sameness of sound on all their albums---
    ??

  13. #38
    Member chalkpie's Avatar
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    One of my favorite Tull album that seems to go missing here is Living in the Past. I know its not a true "album" like the others, but man, there are some amazing gems to be found. The original UK vinyl sounds SO good, although the original Chrysalis always sounded decent as well. I never heard the MFSL.

    The 20 Years Box Set is also quite good, although a bunch of that stuff has found its way as bonus tracks.

    My top shelf JT albums are (in no order): everything from Stand Up until Heavy Horses (including Living/Past). The one I'm usually listening to from that period is my favorite. Yes, I even have deep admiration for Too Old (especially the new TV version) and WarChild.

    Later stuff I dig: Stormwatch, Broadsword, Under Wraps, Crest/Knave, Roots to Branches, Dot Com, Christmas Album, The String Quartets

  14. #39
    Parrots Ripped My Flesh Dave (in MA)'s Avatar
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    I never left the fold, though sometime around 15 years ago I gave up going to the shows, preferring to remember the days when singing didn't involve standing on tip-toes and croaking out notes a fraction of a second late.

  15. #40
    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Plasmatopia View Post
    So far all the occupants of that house have managed to avoid that claim.
    Why would the claim they were going to do that if they believe it's 100% unnecessary?

  16. #41
    Stand Up
    Brick
    Passion
    Minstrel
    Wood

    Horses comes extremely close. 'fit and 'lung a bit uneven (IMO), like transitional works by a band not truly coming into shape just yet. This Was is a firm addition to the Uk blues-boom without fitting in at all, being far too unconventional in approach. I love that short jazzy croone of Abrahams' there, and if anything the "Dharma for One" contains an insane drum solo, even for that era. War Child Ok, not great - Too Old pretty weak overall but has some gems still. Stormwatch dull, and I never liked the double live. A somewhat like 'watch to my ears. Broadsword tedious and uninspired, I think, Wraps completely hilarious attempt at getting 'young' and reminiscent of Alec Guinness dancing wildly at a discotheque, Crest too much of a scary extreme metal affair even outdoing the followers of Metallica, Rock Island bad songs, Catfish utterly unremarkable, J. dot not pot, Roots fairly alright.
    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
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  17. #42
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    I like Roots To Branches more than several of their 70s albums (A Passion Play, War Child, Minstrel..., Too Old... and Stormwatch).

    Crest Of A Knave is also mostly a solid album but the sound of it hasn't aged gracefully and nor have a couple of the songs like 'Steel Monkey'.

    Under Wraps was one I always gave a wide berth to and I don't plan to change that.

    Quote Originally Posted by chalkpie View Post
    One of my favorite Tull album that seems to go missing here is Living in the Past. I know its not a true "album" like the others, but man, there are some amazing gems to be found. The original UK vinyl sounds SO good, although the original Chrysalis always sounded decent as well. I never heard the MFSL.
    There should be a new CD release of this...with the studio tracks on one disc and the full live show on another. The original one seems to be a victim of that early CDs thing where they hacked off tracks just to put it out as one disc. Sure, there's nothing unavailable elsewhere but it's a nice package that was very popular at the time.
    Last edited by JJ88; 05-24-2017 at 04:25 PM.

  18. #43
    Parrots Ripped My Flesh Dave (in MA)'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JJ88 View Post
    There should be a new CD release of this...with the studio tracks on one disc and the full live show on another. The original one seems to be a victim of that early CDs thing where they hacked off tracks just to put it out as one disc. Sure, there's nothing unavailable elsewhere but it's a nice package that was very popular at the time.
    The 2010 Stand Up has Carnegie Hall on it, and the 25th box has the Carnegie Hall tracks not on LITP. For some reason the Wilson Stand Up 2016 set gave us Stockholm but not Carnegie Hall.

  19. #44
    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    I think has been answered by Ian somewhere, but why wasn't Under Wraps released as an IA solo album. Label pressure? Was the rest of the band (if there was one) involved? I listened to it last week and pretty much enjoyed it, but it immediately whisks me away to an 80s dorm room.

    I have a soft spot for Broadsword because I was in Italy with my mom for a few weeks right after it came out, and I found it on cassette in a shop on Capri. I was so happy to have something new for my walkman.

  20. #45
    Member Plasmatopia's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JKL2000 View Post
    Why would the claim they were going to do that if they believe it's 100% unnecessary?
    I should have said "all current and former" occupants.
    <sig out of order>

  21. #46
    Quote Originally Posted by aith01 View Post
    A Passion Play is probably my favorite Tull album, so take any of my opinions with a grain of salt. Gosh, some of those passages are just so powerful on APP. One thing about Wilson's new mix for APP that I did not care for was that he stripped away some of the saxophone overdubs, and to me it made those sections lose some of their punch (especially the "Overseer Overture" section).
    If I recall right, the missing sax was at Ian's request/demand.

  22. #47
    Jazzbo manqué Mister Triscuits's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JKL2000 View Post
    I think has been answered by Ian somewhere, but why wasn't Under Wraps released as an IA solo album. Label pressure? Was the rest of the band (if there was one) involved?
    Under Wraps is actually the Tull album with the most songwriting credits for other band members besides Ian Anderson, with Peter-John Vettese and Martin Barre getting co-writing credits on many of the tracks. This followed on the heels of the previous year's Walk Into Light, which was Ian's first official solo album, but which ironically was recorded as a collaboration with Vettese, who was the only other musician and was credited with co-writing half the songs. (And from what I hear should have gotten more credit than he did, but Ian was never very generous in that regard.) Under Wraps was recorded by the quartet of Anderson, Barre, Pegg, and Vettese, and despite the lack of a drummer and the continuity with Ian's solo album, it was still a band effort.
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  23. #48
    Quote Originally Posted by JKL2000 View Post
    I think has been answered by Ian somewhere, but why wasn't Under Wraps released as an IA solo album. Label pressure? Was the rest of the band (if there was one) involved? I listened to it last week and pretty much enjoyed it, but it immediately whisks me away to an 80s dorm room.
    The rest of the band (Martin Barre, Dave Pegg, Peter Vettese) were involved.

  24. #49
    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mister Triscuits View Post
    Under Wraps is actually the Tull album with the most songwriting credits for other band members besides Ian Anderson, with Peter-John Vettese and Martin Barre getting co-writing credits on many of the tracks. This followed on the heels of the previous year's Walk Into Light, which was Ian's first official solo album, but which ironically was recorded as a collaboration with Vettese, who was the only other musician and was credited with co-writing half the songs. (And from what I hear should have gotten more credit than he did, but Ian was never very generous in that regard.) Under Wraps was recorded by the quartet of Anderson, Barre, Pegg, and Vettese, and despite the lack of a drummer and the continuity with Ian's solo album, it was still a band effort.
    Thanks, I forgot about Walk Into Light!

  25. #50
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    The Sublime:

    A Passion Play
    Thick As A Brick
    Stand Up

    The Good:

    Songs From The Woods
    Aqualung
    Minstrel In The Gallery

    The Acceptable:

    War Child
    Heavy Horses

    [U]MEH...../U]

    The rest....
    "The woods would be very silent if the only birds that sang were those who sang best..." - Henry David Thoreau

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