Jethro Tull quality album streak

For me the run ended after Songs From the Wood.

Stand Up is my favorite, and one of the great records ever, by anyone, in my opinion.

The Stones run from Beggars Banquet through Tattoo You gets the slight nod - I loved pretty much every record in that group.

To me, the Beatles run started with Help!, and carried right through to the end. Flawlessly, except for Yellow Submarine.

Zeppelin, from the debut through Presence, could do no wrong. But that's where it ended for me.

 

Going back to the OP for a moment....I think there's a lot of space between a "great album" and a "stinker". Many of these releases qualify as good to pretty good albums. But personally, I have a much higher standard for something to achieve "great album" status. Stand Up, Benefit, Aqualung, TAAB and Passion Play are all great albums...after that it varies.

 

I am a fan since 69 and had seen all tours, Ian or Tull thru 2005, and about half since. Oddly my answer to that would be right now, 95's Roots, 99's Dot Com, 01's Living With The Past,and 03's Christmas album, and an imaginary album of all the things that as of yet have not been recorded since 95, most certainly A Change of Horses. Additionally all the relatively recent Ian solo output starting with Secret Language of Birds and including the orchestral album.
The other gold star winners are This Was, Stand Up, Aqualung, Thick as a Brick, Too Old to Rock and Roll Too Young to Die, Songs From The Wood, Stormwatch, Broadsword and the Beast, individual cd's of the 20 and 25 years sets but not the whole thing, and Rock Island.
Yes no inclusion for Benefit, Living in the Past, Passion Play, War Child, Minstrel in the Gallery, Heavy Horses, Bursting Out, A, Fly By Night, Under Wraps,Crest of a Knave or Catfish Rising.Yes, being the Tullist any of the above on an individual night in my life I might have considered the greatest thing ever recorded, or at least another great Tull album, but with history's hindsight I can see the problem's with all. And I would mark the last 17 minutes of Thick as a Brick as the apex of their recorded career, funny to see it referred to as bloated and repeating themes, I think it bares a much closer investigation than that. Not sure I have heard the arrival of a new day be described any more beautifully than 'Soft Venus lonely maiden brings the ageless one" I believe I am correct in saying that Venus is normally the last thing seen in the dawn sky, if I'm wrong don't let me know.
Also Bursting Out may have benefited the most from re mastering, if I made time to listen to all of it again, I think it now belongs on that list. As well as that weird small distribution live show from 84 and the re made for radio Aqualung of about 6 years ago.
Although I have the Live at the Isle of Wight 70, not quite sure whether it makes the list or not. I am not a "those were the days" kind of guy where Tull is concerned, as in many respects I consider right here in their 44th year them to be as valid as in any of the other years, voice included.

 

Don't feel bad. War Child is a weird album.

 

I am a fan since 69 and had seen all tours, Ian or Tull thru 2005, and about half since. Oddly my answer to that would be right now, 95's Roots, 99's Dot Com, 01's Living With The Past,and 03's Christmas album, and an imaginary album of all the things that as of yet have not been recorded since 95, most certainly A Change of Horses. Additionally all the relatively recent Ian solo output starting with Secret Language of Birds and including the orchestral album.
The other gold star winners are This Was, Stand Up, Aqualung, Thick as a Brick, Too Old to Rock and Roll Too Young to Die, Songs From The Wood, Stormwatch, Broadsword and the Beast, individual cd's of the 20 and 25 years sets but not the whole thing, and Rock Island.
Yes no inclusion for Benefit, Living in the Past, Passion Play, War Child, Minstrel in the Gallery, Heavy Horses, Bursting Out, A, Fly By Night, Under Wraps,Crest of a Knave or Catfish Rising.Yes, being the Tullist any of the above on an individual night in my life I might have considered the greatest thing ever recorded, or at least another great Tull album, but with history's hindsight I can see the problem's with all. And I would mark the last 17 minutes of Thick as a Brick as the apex of their recorded career, funny to see it referred to as bloated and repeating themes, I think it bares a much closer investigation than that. Not sure I have heard the arrival of a new day be described any more beautifully than 'Soft Venus lonely maiden brings the ageless one" I believe I am correct in saying that Venus is normally the last thing seen in the dawn sky, if I'm wrong don't let me know.
Also Bursting Out may have benefited the most from re mastering, if I made time to listen to all of it again, I think it now belongs on that list. As well as that weird small distribution live show from 84 and the re made for radio Aqualung of about 6 years ago.
Although I have the Live at the Isle of Wight 70, not quite sure whether it makes the list or not. I am not a "those were the days" kind of guy where Tull is concerned, as in many respects I consider right here in their 44th year them to be as valid as in any of the other years, voice included. A Little Light Music is another that sits right on the edge, though I considered it the best tour since the 70's, (loved most or all of the 80's one's too)as much of the music on it, even to a fan who had been going to their shows since the spring of 72, had not been performed since prior to that. In recent decades it has been common but not up to 92, stuff like Beggars Farm or With You There To Help Me. And although I love Doane and am not one to reflexively consider Barrie or Clive the best Tull drummer, on the Light Music tour Dave Mattacks formed a formidable rhythm section with his Fairport buddy Dave.[/QUOTE]

 

War Child isn't a "real" album in the sense of the others, being cobbled together from abandoned projects like the first version of "Passion Play" (Skating Away, Only Solitaire, Bungle In The Jungle and maybe Sealion) and the film they never found funding for (War Child). Still, I like it.

 

Sorry for the three posts folks, the last one, or apparently two, are the finished product, although there probably is a delete mechanism around here someplace could not find it.

 

Warchild is a soundtrack and not really a proper tull album from 1974. It's a mixture of commercially friendly movie songs and other songs from 1972 era. But the remaster makes up for any problems with a great addition of 7 bonus tracks which are your normal high quality tull songs you expected to hear from the band. If there was no soundtrack, tull may not have recorded a song such as Bungle in the jungle or Third hoorah. The album probably would have been totally different and a lot more enjoyable if there was no such movie in the makings. We may have had a track list such as:

warchild
march the mad scientist
paradise steakhouse
quartet
rainbow blues
skating away
saturation
glory row
queen and country
only solitaire
sealion 2
warchild waltz

The remaster would get at least 4 stars for me, while the original album was closer to 3 stars. So the remaster is a much more realistic offering on the band in 1974.

 

And as much as I love Tull -- and that's a lot of -- "A Passion Play" and "Too Old To Rock And Roll" are duds for me...

but I'd add "This Was" to the OP's list (and "Living in the Past" if we get to include Compilation [actually mostly singles] albums).


BTW, the "Thick as a Brick" concert was the best show I've ever seen!

 

For me, it's This Was through Living in the Past, peaking with Thick as a Brick. After that, it's hit and miss in my opinion. I do quite like Songs From the Wood, though.

 

Certainly in my top five, also. I saw it in 1972 when they were touring behind it, so they played it in its entirety, and it was incredible.

 

Tull from 1969-1982 were unbeatable if you collect all the remasters

 

Blast Femer...

Big Tull fan for at least 30 years now, and I used to think that of all them Tull Tales/Albums the Op listed that 2o2RnR was the only stinker, but as this raver ages I think more of them albums are sub par Tull: Lop off Stormwatch for sure, and Heavy Horses is sorta a poor man's Songs From The Wood retread. Warchild is actually pretty weak as well. And A Passion Play though epic and proggy is really a less fun, dark, creepy bastard stepchild of Thick as a Brick, a anthropoormorph love child of the failed Chateau Disaster and Warchind I'deas... and it just does not equate to top flight Tull, in all their magestry. But then what do I know, I find even the hallowed canon of Aquadung mostly to be boring and pompous nowadays, where as I used to think 'it rocked dude'. Now I can only stomach all of side one once I skip the plodding title track...

So that leaves the OP's thesis in tatters, IMNSHO, and YMMV and tootulltoo...

Leaving only these epic Top Flight Tull Tales:

Stand Up
Benefit
Living in the Past
Thick as a Brick
Mistrel IN The Gallery
and
Songs From The Wood,

all tull in tops


cheers,

 

Jethro Tull is my favorite metal band.

 

My opinion only matters to me. LOL thesis thesis thesis

thesis Dizzy thesis mrbillswildride

What?

signed mrbillswildride

 

Its all good mate...

wheneverigettofeelthiswayitrytofindnewwordstosayithinkaboutthebadoldedaysweusedtoknow...

thesis-smeesis...

cheers,

 

you get the frog fog smog

:shfrog:

 

Thick As My _ick....

art thou imbibing too many tall ones again?

all trickle down or thinking round corners?

cheers,

 

Agreed. This album gets a bad wrap because of the album cover/title/song and the imagery it portrays. But aside from the Too Old... song itself and possibly From a Dead Beat..., the rest of the album is strong. I love Taxi Grab, Quizz Kid, Crazed Institution, Salamander, and The Chequered Flag in particular. Certainly not their finest work, but not nearly as bad as many would suggest.

The songs were good, if not great, but the concept and presentation was not (especially not in 1976 I gather).

 

You lost me about here: Heavy Horses is sorta a poor man's Songs From The Wood

BOO! Bill nothing wild going on

Add:More boos here & more & more.......................

 

Yes, that was the concert I was referring to.

They open with "Thick as a Brick" in its entirely.

At its conclusion (40 to maybe 50 [if they jammed a bit] minutes into the show) Ian deadpans, "And for our second number..."

The place erupted!

 

I hope Tootull keeps bringing the Tull threads!

I agree with the original post, though I had stopped buying their albums after Heavy Horses (which I love). I realize I am missing a lot of their output, but those early releases have been more than enough to sustain me over the years.

Your post reminded me of seeing Tull in '76 at the Seattle Center Coliseum. I thought Gentle Giant had opened for them, but it was actually Yes they opened for earlier that year. Starcastle opened for JT (I guess that makes more sense than them opening for Yes).

Tull is playing about 10 miles away from me in about two weeks. I believe I shall go see them.

 

The thing about Tull is that 99.9% of their reviews today are positive. The voice is the only question mark. Ian Anderson keeps on going.

toot toot