Gentle Giant vs Jethro Tull

Gentle Giant!I'm very fond of Tull, especially the wonderful "Songs from the Wood", but I absolutely love Gentle Giant.

Chaser wrote: Gentle Giant! I'm very fond of Tull, especially the wonderful "Songs from the Wood", but I absolutely love Gentle Giant.   I love their complexity, their musical inventiveness, the way that every album is so different, their multi-instrumental musical virtuosity, and their amazingly diverse range of musical styles and influences.   A unique group of incomparable musicians.

Jethro Tull. It's not a remotely hard choice for me. Interestingly, I think there's a large difference of opinion over which period trounces GG. I like Tull's early bluesy period best - just to take the opportunity to agree with Micky (I may not get the chance later).

Tull's best albums are better than GG's.
Tull's worst albums are better than GG's.

On the one hand, Tull are very accessible and enjoyable. On the other, they also kind of got predictable somewhere down the line.  Dull, as micky put it.  For me, while GG may have missed the mark every now and then, they only began to get dull after Interview.  I always appreciate a band that tries to change up things.  And among bands with a steady lineup (unlike the revolving doors of KC and Yes), not many changed things quite as much as GG.  They were all versatile multi instrumentalists with a knack for very succinct songwriting to pack the experimentation into small, sustainable units long before Fripp actually executed it.  Yes, they are goofy and this turns off a lot of people but not me so I am going with GG on this.  Not surprised at all to see Tull win though.  Next to Genesis and Camel, one of the safest horses to bet on as far as PA goes.  Oh and how could I forget Rush.  Love all of these bands by the way , so don't take offence!

Tulls remixed albums are opening up a bigger gap on the next best band. So many cool extra tracks. Even in the years we thought they became a pop band with Warchild and Too old they still produced a secret prog album on the side. Best band by a fair bit

Kind of odd that some people call them dull. The 70-73 and 77-80 periods are equal to me. Actually 1974 and 76 has joined this group since I got the remixed sets. All the new tracks coming out are mainly first class Tull and better than most of the album tracks released those years

AFlowerKingCrimson wrote: Have you ever tried Octopus? THe songs are on the shorter side but complex yet catchy as hell.

Even though Jethro Tull has obviously put out much more music, it's still been basically the product of one person - Ian Anderson. He's done all of the songwriting, and has always been the leader.

Edited by Boojieboy - October 30 2018 at 09:05