THE BEST OF JETHRO TULL VOL. III

"The Best Of Jethro Tull ? Vol. III" is a compilation of Jethro Tull and was released in 1981. As it name indicates, and apparently, it looks like that it was released as a complement to the two previous compillations of Jethro Tull, "M.U. ? The Best Of Jethro Tull" releaed in 1976 and "Repeat ? The Best Of Jethro Tull ? Vol. II" released in 1977. But, unlike those other two compilations that span songs from 1969 to 1976, this one spans songs from 1968 to 1975, which means that it cover songs from their debut studio album "This Was" till their eighth studio album "Minstrel In The Gallery".

As happened with the other two compilations, "The Best Of Jethro Tull ? Vol. III" deals with the several musicians from the several different line ups of the band, being virtually together only on these kind of compilation albuns. So, the musicians on this compilation are Ian Anderson (vocals, flute, harmonica, electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards and saxophone), Mick Abrahams (lead and backing vocals, guitar and 9 string guitar), Martin Barre (electric guitar), John Evan (Hammond organ, piano, organ, synthesizer and keyboards), Glenn Cornick (bass), Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond (bass), Clive Bunker (drums and percussion) and Barriemore Barlow (drums, percussion and glockenspiel).

"The Best Of Jethro Tull ? Vol. III" has ten tracks. The first track "My Sunday Feeling" is from "This Was". It's a song with some influences of blues and even more of jazz. It has good and energetic drumming very well followed by the flute and also by the voice of Ian Anderson used in a very unique style. The second track "Nothing Is Easy" is from "Stand Up". It's another classic Jethro Tull's song. This is a fantastic rock track with several musical sections and with incredible musical performance. It has fine drumming and the interaction between the flute and the guitar is perfect. The balance between the power and elegance is great too. The third track "Bourée" is from "Stand Up". It's one of the most recognisable Jethro Tull's tracks and it's based on a piece of music of J. S. Bach. This is a very interesting instrumental piece with some jazz influence, with a great solo of the flute and a fantastic bass line. This Jethro Tull's adaptation of the classical Bach's piece perhaps became one of the most popular adaptations of classical pieces for the masses. The fourth track "Locomotive Breath" is from "Aqualung". It has dark guitar chords, slow soft acoustic parts alternated with heavy fast rock and great rhythms. It's a Jethro Tull's legendary track with great piano, guitar and excellent flute work. The fifth track "For Michael Collins, Jeffrey And Me" is from "Benefit". It's a song with great piano, nice acoustic guitar, good bass, beautiful chorus and great singing. This is a song that starts as a mellow folk song, but that suddenly, it rocks. So, this is a song that is balanced between the folk and the rock, which is probably, the main characteristic of the entire "Benefit". The sixth track "Aqualung" is from "Aqualung". "Aqualung" is one of the best Jethro Tull's songs. It's a very well known song, very heavy and dark with acoustic elements. This is a great rock song that almost plays out as a mini suite with several different parts. It's a timeless composition where the changes in time and signature are excellent. Everything functions perfectly well here. The seventh track "Inside" is from "Benefit". It's an intimate and soft song with some intricate rhythms, a sweet flute playing and a nice and warm voice. It's really a cool, very relaxing and is truly a pleasant nice song to hear. The eighth track "Thick As A Brick" is from "Thick As A Brick". The version on this compilation is a very short edited version of the theme. "Thick As A Brick" is simply their greatest opus with more than 40 minutes. So, is absolutely ridiculous to reduce it so shortly. The ninth track "A Song For Jeffrey" is from "This Was". It's one of the best known tracks of "This Was". This is a very good song and represents one of the best musical moments on that album. We may say this is one of the first standard songs from the band that better represents the first musical period of Jethro Tull. The tenth track "Life Is A Long Song" was never released on any of their studio albums. It was first released on "Life Is A Long Song" EP. It later appeared on the 1972 compilation album "Living In The Past". "Life Is A Long Song" is a beautiful acoustic symphonic track. It's centred on Anderson's acoustic guitar playing and the lyrics talk about the everyday life. It represents one of the nicest things that Anderson ever composed.

Conclusion: As I wrote above, apparently everything led to believe that "The Best Of Jethro Tull ? Vol. III" would be a compilation album as a complement of "M.U. ? The Best Of Jethro Tull" and "Repeat ? The Best Of Jethro Tull ? Vol. II". However, this isn't quite so. While the other two compilations have completely different tracks, on "The Best Of Jethro Tull ? Vol. III" we can see that there are four tracks previously released on those compilations. This is very strange and completely incoherent, in my point of view. I can only see an explanation, the possible attempt to make money with the distraction of some unwary person. Besides, it continues with the incomprehensible and unjustifiable act of reduce "Thick As A Brick" to a very small extract. Despite some great music moments on it, I can't accept this kind of things. This kind of compilations can interest to collectors and fanatic fans only. So, I'm going to rate it with the same 2 stars.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)