AQUALUNG

This is a/the quintessential Tull album, no doubt. However, having said that, this album is also very polarized. On the one hand are great classics like Aqualung and Locomotive Breath, but the good stuff only takes up half the space. Despite being a fan of Ian Anderson's singing in general, on this album there are a number of tracks in which I find the vocals to be rather annoying (Hymm 43 is the worst for me), or the lyrics to be overly-preachy and pretentious (Wind Up). So, this results in my (bizarre?) conclusion that this quintessential Tull album is also the one you least need to have! (instead get the M.U./ greatest hits collections - they have all the songs you need from this album). Of course, purists (like myself) cringe at such a suggestion, and will already have this one anyway. But I find I rarely put this one on the turntable.