Jethro Tull quality album streak

Ian is the Energizer Bunny of Flute-toting troubadours!

 

I was honestly thinking Energizer Bunny when I posted. Didn't want to get mrbillswildride off his crash course.

 

I love Tull but that streak doesn't work for me like it does for you.

Of that list I absolutely HATE A Passion Play, and Heavy Horses does nothing for me.

Stormwatch has some good parts but overall isn't a Tull album I listen to very often.

I don't know if I could name any band that had a run of 10 straight albums that I think are all brilliant though. Maybe Rush or Iron Maiden. I dunno, would have to really think about it. I'm drawing a blank.

Guess I should read this whole thread (I'm just responding to the OP's message) without reading the rest.

 

The first 3 LPs will do me + a few 45's.

 

For me the "streak" ends with TotRnRtOtD. I despise that album. It is the ONLY Tull that I dislike so much that I refuse to own a copy.

Plus A Passion Play and Warchild are, really, not that great. aPP was going to the TaaB "progressive" well one time too many and Warchild always felt like a bunch of unfinished ideas to me.

Otherwise, Heavy Horses is just... okay, and Stormwatch is downright dull.

So, my Tull streak goes from Stand Up to Thick As A Brick. Still admirable, just not an entire decade.

 

Tull had quite a streak there no doubt. I'm not sure you can top it (in the rock world anyway) but Tom Waits had a helluva run from 1973 to 1987 too. Not a dud in the lot. And although he recorded less frequently in the last two decades anything he did release (Bone Machine, Mule Variations, Alice, Orphans) has been excellent. Not trying to outdo Tull here just offering up another great run of records.

p.s. come to think of it, he has remained quite prolific if you include theatrical projects like The Black Rider and soundtracks like Night On Earth. I don't think Waits has released a totally bad record in his entire career.

 

Songs From The Wood was their last great album IMO (although I was pleasantly surprised by Crest Of A Knave in 87)

I did not care for A Passion Play at all and Too Old... left me cold.

 

These Tull albums formed a core of essential listening for me during the mid 70's, and even today I listen to them frequently:

Aqualung
Living In The Past
Thick As A Brick
A Passion Play
War Child
Minstrel In The Gallery

Just bought tickets to see them a week from Saturday. Can't wait!

 

When you saw them perform Thick as a Brick, did they do the bit with the London Bobby and the ringing phone on the table? That was a highlight of the Chicago show.

 

Heavy horses is brilliant. Better than Songs from the wood.
Tull have a few 4.5-5 star original releases

Thick as a brick
Living in the past
Bursting out
Heavy horses

these are probably 4 star

A passion play
Songs from the wood

while some remasters have increased by a star due to the excellent bonus tracks which should be included as part of the album session to get a better idea of the bands greatness.

These are 4-4.5 stars

Stormwatch remaster(original album was 3.5-4 star)
Warchild remaster(original soundtrack was 3-3.5 star)
Benefit remaster(original album was 3.5-4 star)
Aqualung remaster(original album was 3.5-4 star)

If you don't include Living in the past which is/will be covered by remastered albums there are about 8 remasters of 4+ star rating. No other band in the 70's achieved this imo

 

If any title is a 5 star release it's "Stand Up"!

 

My first exposure to Jethro Tull was to see them live during the Aqualung tour and they were fricking awesome. I then saw then during the Thick as a Brick tour the following year. I bought all of their prior material and kept buying until the 80s. Here's my take on the below:

Stand Up 1969 - very good
Benefit 1970 - excellent
Aqualung 1971 - excellent
Thick As A Brick 1972 - excellent
Living In The Past 1972 - excellent
A Passion Play 1973 - dud
Warchild 1974 - alright
Minstrel In The Gallery 1975 - excellent
Too Old To Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young To Die! 1976 - alright
Songs From The Wood 1977 - excellent
Heavy Horses 1978 - alright
Stormwatch 1979 - alright

Subsequent to these, I would have to say the Rock Island is my favorite of the rest. With respect to Passion Play, I just don't understand how they released such a bomb after so many good albums. Maybe they just wanted to get something out to meet their commitment with the record company.

 

Nah. I'd give it 3.5-4 stars originally, but Tull were a 4 star band that year with songs such as Living in the past, Sweet dream as singles. The remaster is at least a 4 star cd

 

1971 is an interesting year for Tull. a lot of my fave songs are not even on Aqualung.

Aqualung side 1-excellent
Aqualung side 2-average
Living in the past Side 4-excellent

1974 is a similar year

Warchild side 1-pretty good
Warchild side 2-average
Warchild bonus tracks-very good

 

5 star system

This Was - 4
Stand Up - 4
Benefit - 4.5
Aqualung - 5
Thick as a Brick - 4.5
Living in the Past - 4
Passion Play - 3
Warchild - 3.5
Minstrel in the Gallery - 3.5
Too Old to Rock and Roll - 2
Songs from the Wood - 4.5
Heavy Horses - 4

...and then I stopped. I never heard Stormwatch, and the only album that I own after this run is Broadsword, and it rates a bit better than Too Old in my ears. A really great run (TOFRAR excepted - that remains a bit of a ... stinker).

 

Jethro Tull were indeed amazing and Ian Anderson was incredible.


The following albums were beyond brilliant:

A Passion Play
Chateau D'Isaster (full version)
Benefit
Minstrel in the Gallery
Aqualung
Living in the Past
Thick as a Brick


These remaining albums were also very good, but not in the same league as the above:

Heavy Horses
Warchild
Stand Up
Songs From The Wood
Too Old To Rock 'N Roll
Stand Up
Stormwatch

...their other albums are just okay.

 

I rate Minstrel and Too old equally. Both were a stepdown from the great 1970-74 and 1977-1982 periods

 

So who in here has the remasters and who rates them a lot higher than the original albums?
Can't wait for the Aqualung 40 year remaster. I reckon we'll get a whole classic album of extra material which would outclass the actual album Aqualung

eg.

life is long song(remix)
up the pool
for later
wondring again
dr bogenbroom
lick your fingers clean
nursie
wind up(quad)
locomotive breath(quad)

 

In brief; for me with the remasters, WarChild and Broadsword benefit the most from the bonus tracks. Makes them EXCELLENT albums, no doubt. Part Of the Machine is a nice addition to Crest Of a Knave. The Dressing Room tapes are very interesting on Rock Island.

I may prefer others but these are remasters that I like:
This Was (2001 stereo 2008 mono) (my fave versions) (prefer the mono)
Thick As A Brick (sounds more rock than folk here)
A Passion Play
WarChild
Minstrel In The Gallery
Too Old To Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young To Die
Heavy Horses (my fave version)
Stormwatch (my fave version)
A (my fave version)
The Broadsword And The Beast
Ian Anderson: Walk Into Light (my fave version)
Crest Of A Knave (original CD/LP other room echo is tamed) (my fave version)
Rock Island (my fave version) (The less bright/bass original is fine, too)
Catfish Rising (Prefer the less bright/bass original)

 

I've only heard the following remasters:

Aqualung, Thick as a Brick, Too Old, Songs from the Wood, and Heavy Horses.

Out of these Aqualung, Songs from the Wood, and Too Old are just terrible. Thick and Heavy Horses are quite good though.

 

I don't remember the London Bobby bit, but they did have the ringing phone.

I don't think their shows varied much from city to city.

IIRC, they started the concert by skulking around the stage either as roadies or custodians or something. You had no idea it was the band until, all at once, they ripped off their "work clothes," grabbed their instruments, and got down to it!

One of the highlights I remember is during one of the parts where only one guy was on the stage, when the song came to a section where there are cymbal crashes, the other four guys came leaping in from the wings, all holding cymbals, and crashing them in time... with strobe lights!

I was straight at that point in my life and it was still a hallucinagenic (SP?) experience!


I saw the "Who's Next" tour and Hendrix and Springsteen and lots of other live greats, but nothing touched that "Thick as a Brick" show.

 

Songs from the wood terrible, but Heavy horses quite good?

 

What are these dressing room tapes?
Warchild, Stormwatch and Benefit are the best value remasters maybe ever

 

wow, i cant believe the lack of appreciation for Stormwatch. well i guess i can, but i certainly dont agree with it. i think its a great album. also, anyone putting Benefit in anything less than the 5 star/brilliant album category is just nuts!

i think more than one person here has said that only side 1 of Aqualung is great. what?! now we're bordering on madness people.

anyways. yes. Tull had an amazing run of really strong albums. a huge body of wonderfull work. a truly great band.

 

Yeah Stormwatch is pretty cool, but it's remaster is very good. There's an additional strong EP of tunes added to the end of the album which are all better than at least some of the chosen album tracks. Benefit is greatly bolstered by 2 of the best songs released in 1970 by any band, Teacher and Witches promise. I wonder how many in here have bothered to update to remasters. With Tull, the remasters are a much better experience than the originals. I have a complete different appreciation for Tull in 1974 with the remaster compared to the old cd. I used to think Tull lost their quality by 1974 but when I got the remaster I was proven very wrong