A LITTLE LIGHT MUSIC

This was where Ian Anderson and Jethro Tull truly started toning down the music. And it was a good thing. Watching Anderson struggle to sing some of the harder rocking tunes at that time was getting painful to watch. And if he had kept it up, he might not have had the voice that allows the band to continue to this day 18 years later (and he talks about how old they are on this album, what about now?)

The album contains toned down versions of songs from throughout the band's history, few of them obvious. The only times the band gets any heaviness at all are on New Day yesterday, This Is Not Love, and Locomotive Breath, all of which are not as heavy as the originals.

The rest of the album has nice blues, jazz, folk, even some classical, sometime mixed together. And all of it works well.

Some standout tracks are the instumental Living In The Past, John Barleycorn and an amazing version of Bouree. And without a keyboard player, Anderson, Barre and Dave Pegg share the inroduction to Locomotive Breath.

4.5 stars. And a highlight of my collection.