LIVE - BURSTING OUT

"Bursting Out" was a very very long awaited release, 10 years to release a proper live album.. Though there were the two 10 minute tracks from Carnegie Hall on "Living in the Past", it was definitely appreciated! I always though Tull were a great and charismatic live band, their best years in my opinion for touring were '69-'70, but the late seventies period shows were incredible too, and this album really shows that.

As I observed from a recording of a 1977 Japanese TV broadcast, this lineup is extremely tight, and Anderson especially energetic. Constantly moving, accentuating dramatic points to great effect, tossing twirling flutes and tambourines around the stage and singing with passion. The rest of the band plays their lines a little lower profile but with the same talent and compassion. Glascock and Barre are especially admirable on this LP.

The choice of songs is well distributed, with an obvious bias to the newly released folk masterpiece "Songs from the Wood". All are played with various deviations and improvisations which make them fresh and exciting. The flute solo and the condensed but invaluable Brick are the big highlights.

Essential live album!