Jethro Tull - Aqualung
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Music Reviews of Aqualung
Music Review: If "Up To Me" you'll pick this CD!
Rating: 4 Stars
As the author of the Jefferson Airplane book "Take Me To A Circus Tent" I am often asked to review or discuss rock albums from the 60's and 70's.
"Aqualung" was able to more then satisfy the Jethro Tull fan that had been with the band since "This Was", the casual observer that would purchase a few records by the group, and the outsider that wished to represent Tull in their collection with one item.
You have not doubt have heard the- is or isn't- question by now. To some this is a concept album with the two themes homelessness and organized religion. To others it is simply a record conceived of songs that turned out a certain way. Which ever side you believe can not alter the final results.
Martin Barre's guitar percipience is evident from the opening notes. He can display every human emotion on the six string with the skill of a master craftsmen.
The strong point of a recording to the average buyer can be if the non-radio songs measure up to those they are familiar with. Take the challenge. Listen with great intent to "Mother Goose" and "Up To Me." They are not only magnificent compositions but two of the most overlooked Tull tunes in the catalog.
If you still aren't convinced, maybe the bonus tracks will seal the deal.
Enjoy the music and be well always,
Craig Fenton
Author of the Jefferson Airplane book "Take Me To A circus Tent"
Music Review: Classic in every way.
Rating: 5 Stars
Ah yes, Aqualung. Out of the eleven or so Tull albums I own, this is my favorite. It's just a flat-out amazing record. For instance, listen to the title track, a four-part suite about a perverted hobo. Several changes of tempo and mood are featured. Within the song's six-and-a-half minutes, it jumps from hard rock to acoustic-driven to one of the best guitar solos ever...amazing. Then there's Cross-Eyed Mary, another centerpiece of this album. Though not as complex as Aqualung, it does start with a great flute solo and shows off Martin Barre's skills. Then there's Cheap Day Return, which is a good track but way too short! Mother Goose has a nursery-rhyme feel, but they somehow pull it off. (Perhaps it's that line about a scarecrow stealing a raincoat from a snowman). In Up to Me, they showcase the dark humor that would make up a major part of Thick As a Brick. After that comes the anti-organized-religion side, starting off with the epic My God. What a song! Same with Hymn 43, musically the closest to traditional rock this album comes. After that comes the highlight of side two, Locomotive Breath, building from a quiet piano introduction to driving. Another great song is Wind Up, the story of a young boy who is dragged to Sunday School though he knows that the teachers have the wrong view of God. Has a lot of meaning to me.
Should be in your record collection.
Music Review: Over-rated album from the BRILLIANT Jethro Tull
Rating: 3 Stars
Jethro Tull's fourth album, made in 1971, has long been held up as the band's definitive work. While many of the songs are wonderful, complex, and layered with the electric/acoustic tensions that mark Jethro Tull's best work, there are far too many moments that fall flat, mostly due to odd or even seemingly poor production. There are much more consistent Tull albums.There is a crispness and vitality missing here that is present to this day when Jethro Tull play these songs live, which reinforces the feeling that the production itself is at fault. Ian Anderson's flute is stunning and well to the fore, but his vocals (particularly on the "heavy' rock numbers where his snarling delivery is meant to accentuate the weighty themes of his lyrics) are flat and abrasive. His softer delivery on the acoustic tracks works much better in the context of the album as a whole.
This album is worth owning, though, for "My God," one of Ian Anderson's finest compositions. It encapsulates everything that makes Tull special - being part acoustic number, part challenging progressive rock piece, and featuring a tour-de-force flute solo from Mr. Anderson.
This is one good album in the midst of the Jethro Tull's vast, wonderful output, but hardly their definitive statement. For that, check out "A Passion Play" or "Roots To Branches..."
Music Review: Tull with attitude and balls to match
Rating: 5 Stars
It's fair to say that Ian Anderson was the heart and soul of Jethro Tull but the band was the essense of the music. Martin Barres guitar work was prominent with Tulls sound and it was when I heard them perform live in Edmonton back in the mid- seventies that I appreciated the bands total work on stage. It was Aqualung, Thick as a Brick and Passion Play that came out of that tour and all the time, Ian co-ordinated the concert in a conductors fashion, much the same way Jagger would with the Stones. Aqualung is the true coming of age for Jethro Tull in that all the stories in the songs were like a renisance of time. Anderson had little difficuty telling stories with-in the music and blended the arrangements quite well. My favorites include the title song along with "Locomotive Breath", "My God", "Hymn 43"and "Wind Up". The CD has bonus tracks which I feel were added to increase the awareness of more music (although the songs are good, they lack the original format that made the album such a listening treat). Still I feel that along with Stand Up and Benefit, Jethro Tull was the definitive alternate rock and roll group of the 70's. Pink Floyd was the only other group that made the attempt to branch out of the norm and make a splash with being diverse. Buy this and enjoy the ride. It's destined to be a classic
Music Review: An Irreplaceable - an Indispensable Jethro Tull recording
Rating: 5 Stars
Oh, boy! To write an interview about J.T. Aqualung - it ain't easy task, is it? Most probably this is one of the most mentioned records ever released. This music is very, very, very specific and so many, many over-competent people have expressed their views on it. To say something stupid and unfit here must easily be taken as killing oneself in the eyes of J.T. followers (at least). I would still run a risk in telling that:
Aqualung is the only (of GREAT) J.T.'s irreplaceable and indispensable album! To prove that one can assume/imagine there is no any other (one) J.T. album and it will not be difficult to find some other J.T. album to be compared to, to fill the gap.
If one had never ever heard Aqualung, which of J.T. albums would you recommend to be listened to instead to get the idea of Aqualung? Which one? Pondering over? - Just drop it. One cannot find an answer if there is no answer.
If you were careful enough, you must have noticed me using the word GREAT. If one proves J.T. first "This was" 1968 being GREAT - I will give up and you can easily disregard the above written. If no, I still think I haven't killed myself in writing this review.
Bottom line: The classic, indispensable, irreplaceable Jethro Tull album. If you haven't listened to this CD, you haven't listened to Jethro Tull.