THE BEST OF JETHRO TULL: THE ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION

Only snippets of the best from Tull!

How do you make a 'best of' for Jethro Tull when the masterful "Thick As A Brick", the best work Ian Anderson and Co. have done, with its two tracks of 22+ minutes & 21+ minutes each is represented on this compilation for a little over three minutes? And a similar fate befalls another fine Jethro Tull album of two epic tracks, "A Passion Play". It is because of the epic proportions of many prog works that they do not lend themselves well to any form of 'best of' treatment, as evidenced here.

So, "Thick As A Brick" and "A Passion Play" aside, how does this album stack up? Surprisingly it works quite well. It has a lot of the JT classic tracks such as "Bourée", "Aqualung", "To Cry You A Song", "Cross=Eyed Mary", "Locomotive Breath", "Heavy Horses" and "Songs From The Wood", plus plenty of others in its 36-track play list to keep the listener interested.

Sadly, the booklet that came with this CD set (Australian manufactured) is very light on for information; it has just the track listing with the album and year in which the track originated, plus a single list of the musicians for the complete compilation without mention of their part in making of the music. (You can use ProgArchives to fill that gap, though.)

Recommended for those looking to ease their way into the works of Jethro Tull (but do not ease too slowly into the full albums of "Thick As A Brick" and "A Passion Play" as these are essential recordings), or for those just wanting a bit of JT diversity close at hand.

A good mix of tracks, although not essential in this compilation form, especially with two major works represented only by short excerpts. 3 out of 5 stars for me.

This is a great compilation for those new to Tull though understandably there are none of his classic epics such as Thick as A Brick which is edited here only providing the intro. However, there is enough here to keep even the most discerning Tull fan satisfied. The comp covers all of his greatest material from the first album to the latest at this point in the band's illustrious career.

There are excellent highlights on this double CD including:

CD1

Bourée Living In The Past Teacher Cross-Eyed Mary Mother Goose Aqualung Locomotive Breath Skating Away On The Thin Ice Of The New Day Bungle In The Jungle

On CD2 Minstrel In The Gallery Too Old To Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young To Die Songs From The Wood Heavy Horses Dun Ringill Broadsword Farm On The Freeway Kissing Willie This Is Not Love

Of course there are some there are criminally missing from Benefit, Aqualung, Stand Up, This Was, Minstrel in the Gallery and the excellent full length versions of Passion Play side 1 and Thick as a Brick sides 1 and 2. But you can get these all on the original albums and still have this as a complement to have the best of Jethro Tull. This is a great collection of songs from one of the greatest prog artists of the century - Jethro Tull, the Masters.

Normally when I see a compilation I think it twice before getting it, but if the text "The Best Of" is attached to a band's name, I simply run the other way, mainly because I hardly agree with the labels about which tracks are the best of a determined band, being that my interest is in the best music and their's exclusively in which songs sold more copies and had more radio coverage, two perceptions that in 99% of the cases are mutually contradictory.

So when I saw this "Best of Jethro Tull", simply passed to see the next item without even caring, but the store owner told me it was an Anniversary Edition and was pretty good. More as a sign of respect for the guy's knowledge (he's really informed about Prog) than for real conviction, took the album and read the song list.

Besides the usual suspects like a short version of "Thick as a Brick", "Living in the Past" and the well known masterpieces that you can find anywhere, this complete compilation has lesser known tracks from earlier albums like "This Was" which normally only older fans own or later own and also from "Crest of the Knave" or "Catfish Rising", albums that were released when many of us had already lost faith in the band, but still worth to listen once in a while.

But most important, "The Best of Jethro Tull Anniversary Collection", has a couple of "B" sides that won't be found in regular studio albums like "Christmas Song" and "Sweet Dream", all properly remastered with a very good sound.

So, unless you're one of those JETHRO TULL nuts who has each and every song the band released, this album is an excellent addition to your collection, much more if you're a casual Tull fan who will be pleased with 36 tracks of excellent musical quality.

I believe such a long collection of classics can't deserve less than 4 solid stars, even for fans like me who have most of the band's releases, but enjoy playing good music while having long distance car trips with the confidence that whatever comes from speakers will make me drive with pleasure.

Like many others here, I don't usually buy "best of" collections, but at the time, I was managing a CD store, and our CEMA rep was a Tull fan who enjoyed handing out their promos (and getting us invited back stage), so I own a copy of this one.

First, let me comment on the packaging. Two years prior to this release, on A Little Light Music, Ian Anderson commented on how old he and Martin Barre were getting. He, and his record company, should have known better than to print the song list and booklet in a font so tiny, his aging fan base would have trouble reading it.

The song selection is actually pretty good. It covers every period of Tull's ever-changing lineup right through Catfish Rising. The only real complaint, as others have mentioned, is the short shrift given to two of Tull's best albums, Thick As A Brick and A Passion Play. Three minute excerpts just don't do justice to either album.

And to all of you who added Tull albums to this site: the keyboardist back in the seventies was John Evan (no "S" at the end). Look it up. :P

This compilation album was my second exploration of Jethro Tull, right after the love-at-first-listen experience of Thick As A Brick, and in retrospect I'm glad that I got to hear what is most probably the best compilation release of the band's repertoire. This release follows all of the golden rules of how a great compilation should be and it's truly a pity that more of these "best of" can't follow this simple formula.

First off, this 2-CD collection features material compiled in a chronological order which makes it easy to follow the band's development with each new track. Another important rule is to have at least one track off each studio release, even the disastrous such, with an emphasis on the most popular recordings. In this case the compilation had highlighted the albums Stand Up, Aqualung and Songs From A Wood by adding 3 to 4 tracks from each of these albums. This choice falls in pretty well with my opinion of Jethro Tull's discography, even though I haven't heard each and every single one of their albums. Finally you add a few great none album tracks like Living In The Past and Life Is A Long Song and there you have it folks -- a great compilation album!

The Best Of Jethro Tull: The Anniversary Collection is an excellent way to discover Jethro Tull for everyone who might have only heard a few of their albums and are interested in figuring out what era of the band's sound they should explore next. My most obvious discovery was that I should probably stay away from the '80s material since I just can't stand how Jethro Tull incorporated that new sound into their style. Instead it gave me a taste of Too Old To Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young To Die, Songs From The Wood and Heavy Horses, even if the latter turned out to be a disappointment in the long run.

***** star songs: Bourée (3:46) Living In The Past (3:21) Cross-Eyed Mary (4:09) Aqualung (6:37) Locomotive Breath (4:25) Thick As A Brick (extract) (3:02) Skating Away On The Thin Ice Of The New Day (3:53) Too Old To Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young To Die (5:40) The Whistler (3:33) Heavy Horses (8:57)

**** star songs: A Song For Jeffrey (3:20) A New Day Yesterday (4:09) Nothing Is Easy (4:23) Teacher (4:01) Sweet Dream (4:01) Mother Goose (3:53) Life Is A Long Song (3:19) Bungle In The Jungle (3:34) Minstrel In The Gallery (6:11) Songs From The Wood (4:54) Jack-In-The-Green (2:29) Dun Ringill (2:41) Fylingdale Flyer (4:32) Jack-A-Lynn (4:42) Pussy Willow (3:54) Broadsword (4:59) Under Wraps II (2:14) Steel Monkey (3:34) Farm On The Freeway (6:28) Jump Start (4:53)

*** star songs: Beggar's Farm (4:19) A Christmas Song (3:08) To Cry You A Song (6:15) A Passion Play (extract) (3:47) Kissing Willie (3:31) This Is Not Love (3:54)