20 YEARS OF JETHRO TULL (THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION)

I found this going through a huge collection of used vinyl in a 2nd hand store, and just had to have it especially since it is somewhat rare nowadays and because the shop had it priced rather cheap even though it was in excellent shape. This collection is a treasure trove of great, yet mostly rare, Tull tracks that were recorded through the years, from their humble beginnings when they were mistakenly credited as "Jethro Toe" on their first single (both the A side and B side are here), to BBC and live sessions, to non-album b-sides and EP tracks, collected all together in one amazing collection. The set is not ordered in chronological order, but a bit randomly, but the music seems to flow quite well from one track to another.

The LP version of this box set it set up a little different than the CD version, though all of the tracks are there (65 in total), mostly in the same order, but with some interesting track order changes. With the CD version, there are 3 loaded discs, but on the LP version there are 5 discs, named (categorized) in this manner:

Disc 1: The Radio Archives Disc 2: The Rare Tracks (Released But Only Just) Disc 3: Flawed Gems (Dusted Down) Disc 4: The Other Sides of Tull Disc 5: The Essential Tull

This all comes together with a 24-page book that has some excellent photos, artwork, a write up from Ian Anderson, details on a track-by-track basis, and a lot of commentary and history.

For a Tull fan, this box set is a definite treasure as it is also for a vinyl collector. But, I think even casual Tull fans will find plenty to love here. But it does require a bit of knowledge about the history of the band to make the best sense out of some of these tracks, and the book provides this. The sound is excellent, even on the earliest and also the live tracks. All around, this is an excellent collection, to be sure. Once you hear these tracks and become familiar with them, many will become classic and essential tracks for you. It's true a few might be throw aways, but for the most part, this is worth searching for, whether it's on CD or LP.