LIVING IN THE PAST

An earlier reviewer notes that this album is a "collection of previously released music.... Kind of like Tulls (sic) Physical Graffiti." (For the record, that excellent Led Zeppelin album was original, new material.) While this album is a compilation of sorts, it was cobbled together mostly from British-only singles, so most of the material (apart from the terrific "A Song for Jeffrey," "Inside," and "Hymn 43") won't be on any of your other Tull discs (not counting M.U. and Repeat). There is also a longer, re-worked and re-worded version of Aqualung's lovely "Wond'ring Aloud," (here called "Wond'ring Again") that I actually prefer to the original.

That being said, this is one of my favourite classic Tull albums. The disc has 19 tracks, and while I can't claim to love them all (the two live songs, "By Kind Permission of" and "Dharma for One" don't do much for me), I find the rest of them to be essential listening for this long-time fan, and thus give this release a four-star rating. My particular favourites include "Love Story," "Christmas Song," the indispensable title track, "Driving Song," "Witches Promise," "Life is a Long Song" and "Nursie." There, that's at least eight really good Jethro Tull songs that I wouldn't otherwise have!

A must-have for fans of the older Jethro Tull (the band, that is, not the 19th Century agriculturalist!)