AQUALUNG

I do not see how many people see this album as Jethro Tull's masterpiece. There is some praise for the lyrics and the concept, but Anderson himself strongly denied that it was a concept album. While some parts are similar in sound to Thick as a Brick (their true masterpiece), this album has almost none of what makes TAAB an amazing album. The album does a good job mixing hard rock and folk music, and features some good flute parts, but overall the music is not very interesting. There are few chances for the members of the band to shine like on TAAB, and I dont find the vocals and lyrics to be great either. To me, this album shows the band still progressing (no pun intended) and evolving to what would later allow them to create a prog masterpiece. In fact, I dont find many of the songs on the album to be all that progressive. My God is probably my favorite song on the album, and even it isnt nearly the quality of their masterpiece which would follow. The only essential Tull album for all prog fans is Thick as a Brick, and Aqualung isnt even one of their best albums to me. I would recommend it to fans of the band, but it is not an album that I can see every prog fan enjoying. This album is still good, but I really do not see it as essential.