LIVING WITH THE PAST

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It's rather impressive that Ian ANDERSON have recorded and toured with JETHRO TULL for more than 30 years. The main part of this live album is taken from a live performance at Hammersmith Apollo, November 25th 2001. Two months earlier I saw JETHRO TULL playing at Idunteatern in Ume�, Sweden. I was impressed to see that Ian is still vital and played the songs with much joy, although he must've played them a thousand times before. The line-up has changed some times since their first album in 1968, but Ian ANDERSON has been in the band since the start. There are 21 songs on this live-CD, but only 11 of the songs are from the "Hammersmith Apollo" gig. The rest of the songs are taken from acoustic-and TV sessions and a "class of '68 reunion", whatever that is? I would've preferred that all the songs were from the same concert, considering that the show I attended at Idunteatern had a set-list containing 22 songs. Although my scepticism about not releasing a proper full-concert album I still have the Ume� concert in fresh mind, and the Hammersmith Apollo songs are performed so very good so I can't resist this live-CD anyway. Highly recommended to every JETHRO TULL fan around the world.

It's almost a decade ago since Jethro Tull released their official live album 'A little light music'�. A very blues(y), acoustic orientated and unbelievable good piece of work. 10 Years later they come up with 'Living with the past'�, yet another very strong live album. The title is very well chosen, because Jethro Tull knows more than any other band how to live with it's past. Anyone, who follows the band for several years, knows that each gig is a party and that the band pays a lot of attention to the older songs. That's why every fan gets a good feeling after each concert of Tull. Night after night they get trough a very strong powerful and professional set list. We witnessed it ourselves, last year at the AB at Brussels. All concerts have been taped, mostly in order to prevent little errors, but sometimes these tapes are used for live albums such as this one. The biggest part of the album is recorded at the Hammersmith Apollo on the 25th November 2001. What makes the album so interesting is the fact that Jethro Tull doesn't play each note exactly the same as in the original song. They always add some different styles, moods and arrangements in their songs. Sometimes you hear more blues or classics, sometimes they play (jazzier ?) or heavier but always in a way it's nice to hear. And the album is so strongly played and it radiates power, you just can feel it. The sound quality is super. On top of that, after 34 years the band plays one song (Some day the sun won't shine for you) with the original members. Isn't that sensational! I probably don't have to tell you (what)(how) the music of JT sounds like, so I'll just give you a list of the songs on this album and on which album the song appeared for the first time.

My Sunday Feeling from This Was 1968

Roots to branches from Roots to Branches 1995

Jack-in-the-green from Songs from the wood 1977

The habanero reel from The secret language of birds 2000 (Ian Anderson solo)

Sweet dream from Living in the past 1969

In the grip of the stronger stuff from Divinities: Twelve dances with God (Ian Anderson solo)

Aqualung from Aqualung 1971

Locomotive Breath from Aqualung 1971

Living in the past from Living in the past 1969

Protect and survive from A 1980

Nothing is easy from Stand up 1969

Wondering aloud from Living in the past 1969

Life's a long song from Living in the past 1969

A Christmas song from Living in the past 1969

Cheap day return from Aqualung 1971

Mother goose from Aqualung 1971

Dot com from Dot com 1999

Fat man from Stand up 1969

Some day the sun won�??t shine for you from This was 1968 (Original line up)

Cheerio from Broadsword and the beast 1982

You see they are all great songs from Tull's past. The lot of them (and I can't emphasise it enough) played in a magnificent way. If you have never been to a Jethro Tull�??s concert before and you want to know what it's like, just buy this record and next time Tull is on tour again, you�??ll be the first in the row. I will, cause I don't want to miss a concert like this, by no means.

JETHRO TULL isn't nearly done after more than thirty years of solid groundbreaking albums; it seems as though Ian ANDERSON and his group have yet hit another creative stride and continue to improvise upon their back catalog with exciting and colorful adaptations of the songs that are intrinsically linked to the group and their sound. With the infusion of the younger band members Andy Giddings (keyboards) and Glen Cornick (bass), the court jester ANDERSON and seasoned lead guitar man Martin Barre have a good mixture of talent and experience that lends to the group's new found energy.

There are 21 tracks of vintage Tull on this CD spanning their entire career. A haunting version of "Roots To Branches" puts the spotlight on ANDERSON's mystical and magical vocal style that no one could ever duplicate. I can attest to the magnetic personality of ANDERSON on stage, as I witnessed it myself. I found the version of "Living In The Past" one of the most interesting tracks on the CD. It's a wonderful use of the all-around talent in this group. The keyboards change the entire mood of the number, and ANDERSON as always is up for the challenge, and he does a fine job of shaping his vocals around the music of the ever changing classic tune. "Fat Man" is a great tune as well; ANDERSON plays his miniature guitar wistfully and sings as if he means every word right from the heart, in his very own whimsical dry British humor kind of way. These are but a few of the highlights on a disc that is literally full of them. For long time fans a special treat is offered, the 1968 original lineup reunite on the close of the CD with "Some Day The Sun Won't Shine For You" and "Cherrio." It harkens back to their roots when they were a blues based band.

There have been a lot of "Best Of" and repackaged JETHRO TULL CDs issued, this is one that stands on its own for originality. It offers old and new fans alike a unique blend of different versions of their songs over the course of TULL's amazing run of successful albums. A DVD with the same name and cover is available for those that enjoy the visual experience to accompany the music.

".sit back, relax, put your feet up, close your eyes and listen to the music."

The 2002 Jethro Tull live album represents the perfect EQUILIBRIUM between the two other important releases Bursting Out (1978) and A Little Light Music (1992). Living With The Past is the squaring of the circle! both extrovert and introvert, electric and acoustic, with, as always, a great contribution from all the musicians: Martin Barre, in addition to his mythic guitar riffs returns to play flute very well in the beautiful Fat Man, historic folky song from the 1969 Stand Up album, now taken from the 2 Meter TV session (Holland), October 19th 1999. From this session you can listen also to Dot Com (from the J-Tull's 1999 omonimous album).sadly there's no Najma Akhtar singing!

The SURPRISE in Living With The Past is the 1968 line-up REUNION! The song is Some Day The Sun Won't Shine For You, from the 1968 This Was album, with vocal duo by Mick Abrahams, the first JT guitarist, and Ian Anderson, bass by Glenn Cornick and drums by the great "old" Clive (Bunker)! The first half of the album is from the Hammersmith Apollo concert of November 25th 2001: good Intro that fades into an excellent My Sunday Feeling, the best live version and one of my fav JT live tracks ever! Then Roots To Branches, the stunning opener from their 1995 album (peaked at n� 20 in the UK charts). The Habanero Reel is a wonderful "Caribbean" song from the marvellous 2000 Ian Anderson' solo album The Secret Language Of Birds, with that nice joyful lyrics: ".cool in the corner Tom Cat sitting.". After this, another classic one: Sweet Dream, in all its great pompous vein! In The Grip Of Stronger Stuff is an interesting classical instrumental track taken from the 1995 Ian' solo album Divinities. The first part of the live album finishes with an unespected medley Living With The Past/Protect And Survive, this last from the album A (1980). sadly with no vocals! After a great live Paris's exhibition of Nothing Is Easy it's the turn of the acoustic sessions: Wond'rin Aloud and Life Is A Long Song recorded both in January 2002 with a nice string quartet. A Christmas Song, Cheap Day Return and Mother Goose recorded in Zurich in the (nowadays) far 1989, featuring Dave Pegg on mandolin and bass guitar.

At last, an excellent live album! Great musicianship!

I must admit I enjoyed this live CD more than the DVD that bears the same title. When you cannot SEE the funny face Ian Anderson pulls whenever he fails to reach any of those crucial high notes, the music sounds less irritating. LIVING WITH THE PAST introduced me to the superb 'Roots to Branches', one of the best JT songs from the past twenty years, and encouraged me to buy the studio album it came from. While no-one will expect revelatory performances of 'Aqualung' or 'Locomotive Breath', it sure is fun to hear some vintage performances by the re-constituted "Jethro Tull Mk. 1".

Despite Ian Anderson's diminishing vocal range, this version of the band was fantastic in concert, primarily because of Any Giddings' exceptional keyboards. The guy could fill in for an entire orchestra at times, it seemed.

The recordings here are from different venues, played between 1999 and 2002, with a short interlude from 1989, with Anderson, Martin Barre and David Pegg playing in a dressing room. There is also one track from a 2002 reunion of the This Was band. I'd like to here more from that concert.

The songs are extremely well performed, and Anderson has rearranged and transposed some of the songs to make it easier on his tired voice. While the songs are taken from all different periods of Tull's history, going all the way back to the first album, and including Anderson's solo albums, they mostly shy away from the more difficult (and more prog) material.

For fans of the folkier side of Tull, this is a must. If I were rating it for my own personal pleasure, 4 stars. As a prog album, only 3.

The title of Jethro Tull's 2001 live album carries a hint of resignation, almost as if Ian Anderson was admitting defeat by embracing the horror of playing "Aqualung" and "Locomotive Breath" at every concert appearance for the rest of his life. Some fans apparently don't want or need anything else: after all, why tinker with success? But in truth that's exactly when a musician ought to change the formula, before it becomes repetitive.

There's an eclectic (and generous) selection of material here. The track list draws not only from the usual Tull standards ("Aqualung", et al) but also on some unexpected rarities ("My Sunday Feeling", off the very first Jethro Tull album) and a few Ian Anderson solo cuts, nice to hear in a full band format.

But it's an unbalanced collection, to say the least, resembling a Frankenstein hybrid of songs compiled from several unrelated and very different live projects which (sadly) aren't available separately. The first half of the CD is from a then recent '01 gig at London's Hammersmith Apollo (with an encore from Paris), all of it played with admirable but almost lifeless professionalism. Compare the running time of some of these live versions against their studio counterparts: in many cases they vary by only a few seconds, proof that not only the same notes but also the tempos of each song were being reproduced verbatim on stage.

Next is a pair of unplugged Tull classics, played alongside a string quartet in the comfort of Anderson's country estate. All very nice, but why choose to re-interpret two songs ("Wond'ring Aloud" and "Life Is a Long Song") that in their original form already featured acoustic arrangements with a string section? Why not try something a little more radical, like a completely unplugged "Minstrel in the Gallery" or "My God"? (I will say that this section works better visually: see the companion DVD)

After that are several (likewise acoustic) dressing room 'rehearsals' and a few TV performances, including the token contemporary Tull song: there's always one or two in every set, in this case the title track of the band's then-current studio album "Dot Com". Arguably these are the best selections here, being more relaxed and informal. But I think it's fair to say that "A Christmas Song" is fast becoming another of those overplayed Tull chestnuts, although in this setting it benefits from the lack of all those sappy studio strings.

And finally there's the only real surprise in the entire package: a reunion of the original 1968 Jethro Tull line-up, with Anderson joined by old stalwarts Mick Abrahams, Clive Bunker, and Glenn Cornick. The quartet was reformed to play a one-night stand for old time's sake in a small London pub, which sounds like a great idea until you realize the entire event (a total of three songs) was staged for the camera, with a small audience of extras pretending to be a background crowd of 1968 bar hoppers.

Only one excerpt (a very blue "Some Day the Sun Won't Shine For You") is included here, and once again it seems a missed opportunity. Why not stage a genuine reunion gig, and record the result? Like the rest of the album (the Hammersmith Apollo show; the Zurich dressing room stuff; the string quartet material) it could have been expanded and released on its own considerable merits, instead of having its impact diluted by cramming one sample into an already schizophrenic disc.

Maybe a better title for the CD, and its DVD cousin, would have been "Stuck in the Past". In the immortal words of George Santayana (clearly a big fan of Jethro Tull): "Those who can't learn from the past are doomed to repeat it..."