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Jethro Tull - Aqualung CD (album) cover

AQUALUNG

Jethro Tull

 

Prog Folk

4.37 | 2920 ratings

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LinusW
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
4 stars It's almost impossible not to love Jethro Tull's unique mixture of symphonic, folk, blues, jazz and just pure madness in the case of Ian Anderson. This album has got a little bit of everything and must be considered one of the quintessential Tull albums. Admittedly, Ian's voice can be a bit hard to accept for a new listener, but just give it a few spins and you'll love him. That's what I experienced. I also found the flute a little bit too intrusive in the beginning. After a while it will blend in perfectly, though.

Aqualung and Cross-eyed Mary are both very powerful, with grim imagery and lyrics and surprisingly heavy guitar from Martin Barre. The tension and the different segments in Aqualung are amazing, moving between the blasting guitar riffs and the calm piano-parts.

A necessary break then follows in the form of the acoustic Cheap Day Return, Mother Goose and Wond'ring Aloud. Delicate guitar indeed.

We're back to some quirkiness in Up to Me, with a dominating flute sound. This song always end too fast. Give us two more minutes!

My God starts out quietly, but rises in both force and grandeur until revisiting the powerful chords of Martin Barre. He then performs some nice licks until leaving room for the typical humming flute of Ian. A great passage that reaches epic heights alongside some choir chants.

Hymn 43 has a nice gospel feeling to it from time to time, between the signature guitar and a powerful piano. It feels like that's a word I use a lot, but this album is just that. Powerful.

One minute and thirteen seconds of Slipstream is slightly uninspired, but all is redeemed by what follows - Locomotive Breath. I'll just say it again: powerful, yet delicate.

Wind-Up is a nice rocking ending to this wonderful record. If you've never heard Jethro Tull this is the album to start with.

4 stars.

LinusW | 4/5 |

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