Jethro Tull - Broadsword or Under Wraps or Knave or Rock Island or Catfish or Roots

Broadsword by a country mile. My first Tull LP, and I must have played it hundreds of times in the last 30 years.

--Geoff

 

Was about to post in this thread and realised I already did a couple of years ago!

Still sticking with Under Wraps however, my favourite Tull album post Stormwatch...

 

Catfish & Roots are still my favourites from 80's/90's. I especially like This is Not Love, Like A Tall Thin Girl, Still Loving You Tonight & Rocks on the Road. The Catfish tour was my introduction to Tull & then 6 weeks later I saw the first A Little Light Music show, I was amazed they could change the show in such a short time. Roots was strong & the last album they properly promoted on the subsequent tour. Haven't listed to Dot Com for since 2000.
I enjoy the 80's albums, but 'A' is the only one that I revist regularly. Just got Walk into Light on cd so I'll revist that & Under Wraps shortly.
There are certainly enough strong tracks on these albums for an excellent 80's/90's centric show without the old warhorses.

 

2006 "Rock Island" & "Catfish Rising" remasters have crisper highs and deeper bass. I don't mind them. Although my advice is to stick with the more neutral sounding original CD's.

 

Love Broadsword. To me, the last of the great Tull albums.

 

And what about Under Wraps remaster? Is it Ok or just bad?

 

Do you know the phrase "you can't polish a turd"?

Anyway, I like all these albums to varying degrees. None are great, but all have good things on them. I even like parts of Dot Com.

 

Yes, i know the music on the album.. Just want to know if those remaster does not sound too bad

 

The bass is too much. Disco time.
Best to get this:
http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threa...r-catfish-or-roots.148096/page-2#post-6622022

 

I choose Rock Island .
I really like Broadsword which is my second choice but Rock Islands is my favorite, I like the combination of the synth lines with the other instruments and the dramatic feel of the album.
my favorite tracks: The Rattlesnake Trail , Rock Island, Heavy Water, Another Christmas Song , The Whaler's Dues and Strange Avenues

( my favorite Era of this magnificent band is from This was up to Heavy Horses ( include)

 

Crest of a Knave. Farm on the Freeway is worth the price of admission on it's own. Then you have Jump Start and Steel Monkey.

 

Broadsword...still Broadsword.

 

He blew his voice out on the Under Wraps tour and returned sounding like a cross between Mark Knopfler and Popeye The Sailorman!

 

Ah, thank you Tootull. As long as I'm here, same question on "Crest of a Knave," if you can comment.

 

Granted this is the later Jethro Tull we are talking about (kinda like later Genesis, hoping desperately that they would sound like they used to)

My ranking:
1) The Broadsword and The Beast - great album and great tour. Loved the retro pirate/renaissance look of the band in concert
2) Rock Island - some of their best 80s-90s tunes were on this album and some of their worst. Still gets second place on this list. I loved the concert, my girlfriend at the time was bored out of her gourd.
3) Roots to Branches - meh, but some good meh
4) Catfish Rising- same as above, could easily change places
5) Under Wraps - part #2 Ian was back to his acoustic roots. Nobody's car, Later, That Same Evening...good stuff. Wait a minute, how come I don't play this record more often? Tull live ditched those nasty electric drums, except for a few tunes off the album, much to our satisfaction. Serenade To A Cuckoo as part of the set list
6) Crest of A Knave - The poacher and his daughter throw soft shadows on the water in the night. Mountain Men is the only song I can stand to listen to on this album. What's wrong with me? Too much Mark Knopfler perhaps.

 

Crest Of A Knave, original CD/LP other room echo is tamed. The remaster is my favourite version.


Plan9 said it best: ↑
1987 Crest of a Knave > the remaster tames the 80's sounding reverb and production. For the better IMO.
http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threa...ethro-tull-albums.132673/page-15#post-9275165

 

Thanks Tootull... loved Tull in the Seventies but then got hooked on punk, New Wave, etc. and they fell off my radar for 30 years. Last year I picked up the Steve Wilson Aqualung and TAAB and have only now started exploring their 80s/90/ catalog for the very first time. I really love the solo Secret Language of Birds and have enjoyed Roots and Knave. As I see it, besides the obvious band member changes, it's to be expected that creativity, hunger, and tastes will change in +40 years, as they should. From what I can tell, it appears that every latter-day Tull album has its moments and are worth checking out. To compare these albums to HH, Aqualung, etc. is unrealistic.

 

Check out Mountain Men from Crest....his voice is still pretty strong on this cut.

 

And it has one of his best songs from the 80s as a bonus track: "Part of the Machine".

 

When they played Part of the Machine during the 20th anniversary tour, I thought 'this is good, haven't heard it before either'. I predicted it would be a hit. It wasn't but I'll agree with you that it's a great song.

 

Broadsword - also my first JT album. Still play it a lot.

 

Yes, I agree. It was the tonality of his voice that really changed around this timeframe. If I recall, live he still sang everything on pitch and in thier original keys for the next few tours. It was not until the Catfish Rising tour that I really noticed how bad he was straining.

To stay on topic.....my favorite of these release is by far Broadsword!

 

Dot com isn´t their greatest work, but the flute - guitar duel between Ian and Martin are faboulus on El nino:

 

Of course, this thread is about the albums from 1982-1995, but I think it´s important to know that the long recording pause between 2003-2011 seemed to be healthy for Ian. The song cycle between "A change of horses" to "Kismet in surburbia" on the Thick as a brick 2" album, is so much better than anyone could have expected this late in his career. Lend your to a live version of the first one: And what I´ve hear so far from the forthcoming new album, I´m so happy to be alive to take part of his new music!