The New Jethro Tull Appreciation Thread

TODDLER wrote: Tom Ozric wrote: ^ I never found Tull to have composed 'dark' material (well, not in doomy sound and tritones etc.). Surely their 'coldest' is Stormwatch, but that has a dismal and very grey concept (and presentation) - and a song called Dark Ages Tritones are on A Passion Play. "Sealion" and "Black Satin Dancer" both contain more dark black dots than anything imaginable on Stormwatch. Passion Play contains sections which are similar to early Gentle Giant...but not doomy K.C. or Univers Zero.

Yep - I hear the tritones, I get the Gentle Giant complexities. I even notice the dancer on the cover with blood dripping from the side of her mouth, but I still never get the 'dark' with Tull. Not arguing the point, just my perception of 'dark' is usually dodgey (negative/sinister/bleak/doomy.....) sounding, and Tull don't sound dodgey to me.

Tom Ozric wrote: ^ I never found Tull to have composed 'dark' material (well, not in doomy sound and tritones etc.). Surely their 'coldest' is Stormwatch, but that has a dismal and very grey concept (and presentation) - and a song called Dark Ages

I remember when the band changed their approach to composition. It all began with "Thick As A Brick" and then A Passion Play , War Child, and Minstrel In The Gallery. Aqualung was a transition into this new concept of writing, but also carried influences of the earlier albums like Benefit and Stand Up. This particular change in their music , I think to be their dark period. Some of the compositions cross into the complexity of Gentle Giant and Gryphon. The Chateau D'herouville sessions is from another planet and has an avant-garde approach theatrically. Some of the guidelines applied in the structure of the music..are typically experimental methods used when composing a dark theme/mini opera revolving around the subject of Satan.



 King Crimson utilized and developed the same process between 69' and 71'. When composing a dark theme...personal ideas of your own must be experimented with to transform into odd time signatures. Sometimes the notes arrive first and later it is decided if a quirky time signature can be applied. It's a long process because there are obviously several sections of the music...not yet created...but in the back of your mind and you should record your bits and piece what arrives to you later....with those small signature lines to form the epic or mini opera. This specific period of Jethro Tull was not exactly present on "Too Old To Rock N' Roll" and "Songs From The Wood". I mean....part of it was there and the other half of the end product was somewhere else. Songs From The Wood was very progressive , but the magic of composing something dark wasn't on the agenda like it used to be.




 "Stormwatch" was a return to a darker subject, but it contained a newer style that was evident on Songs From The Wood. From Thick As A Brick to Minstrel In The Gallery is their darkest period, their darkest work. The seriousness of the music and the sarcastic lyricism is from a dark world. It's just this one period of Jethro Tull's music in a box for people to observe. I've always been overwhelmed by this period of Jethro Tull.  

Edited by TODDLER - June 05 2015 at 12:05

Warchild is an odd step, but I think a key piece of Tull - it is a strong 2nd tier album (and i'd say only TAAB, Minstrel, Songs, Benefit, Stand Up are 1st tier).

Took me a while to fully appreciate Warchild.Very similar to Too Old To Rock N Roll:Too Young To Die! Good albums,but not Tull at their very best!

Good godmother could be easily in the side A of WarChild, such a great track.

Yep - the Golders Green live performance is OUTSTANDING. We even get Velvet Green here, surely one of the top Tull tracks of all time (.......it is for me, anyway......)

Gully Foyle wrote: the lighthouse keepe wrote: Can't believe there hasn't been any chat on here concerning the Deluxe version of Minstrel in the Gallery.Truly awesome! Once again Steven Wilson has remixed the album and made another good job.It especially stands out on the acoustic parts.Three BBC versions are good,with Aqualung sounding really sharp.The main reason to listen to this though is the Live recording from 1975.Some wonderful renditions of classic Tull,Minstrel in the Gallery being particularly strong!Anybody else heard this yet? The live disc from the Minstrel reissue is astounding - best live tull available I think.  Ian voice is leaps and bounds better than even Bursting out from three years later.  I found it relevatory.  I secretly hope there is more live material from 72-75 out there, waiting to be brought back to life.  Maybe from the PP tour, a show with PP as the concert, and the full TAAB as the encore!  That is the holy grail in my book. And, i've never been more enraptured with Barlow's drumming than on this disc - it is extraordinary. Side note - very glad to have a Jeffery live album.

Can't believe this recording has been kept from us for so long.Shame on you IA !!!

Atavachron wrote: GKR wrote: Talking about influences... why did few bands list Jethro Tull as influnce? I have read about Iron Maiden, Rush, Joe Bonamassa and Blood Ceremony.  With Aqualung, Thick as a Brick and Songs From the Wood (so pioneer and full of stuff to develop in music) I always though that few bands declare Tull as an important group. It's a good question;  I imagine partly it's because Tull were so unique that they were hard to emulate and almost impossible to imitate, as opposed to Zeppelin.   Also, I often hear a Tull influence in artists who don't seem to want to admit it, such as Yngwie Malmsteen or Randy Rhoads.

Its bizarre, right? I always though about that while listening other bands... that are so many things in common and it would be so much nice knowing if the conections are truly there. I still see a lot of Martin Barre in Alex Liefson and he solos. And this days I listen something of Neo-Prog that was really similar to the electric fluteless parts of Thick as a Brick.

Ian is the Jimi Hendrix of flute - if you play the flute, you know and probably like Jethro Tull, thats applied even to classical musicians now a days...

About the Italians... well, its no surprise that the Tullian connvention happens there... I guess that almost all RPI are influenced by Jethro Tull. PFM and Quella Vechia Locanda being the finest examples.

GKR wrote: Talking about influences... why did few bands list Jethro Tull as influnce? I have read about Iron Maiden, Rush, Joe Bonamassa and Blood Ceremony.  With Aqualung, Thick as a Brick and Songs From the Wood (so pioneer and full of stuff to develop in music) I always though that few bands declare Tull as an important group.

It's a good question;  I imagine partly it's because Tull were so unique that they were hard to emulate and almost impossible to imitate, as opposed to Zeppelin.   Also, I often hear a Tull influence in artists who don't seem to want to admit it, such as Yngwie Malmsteen or Randy Rhoads.