A start for Tull?

I have never heard a single Jethro Tull album (not a single song, for that matter) and would love to get some suggestions for a good starter.
I would also like to say that although I've never heard Tull, I am NOT new to prog and have for some reason just have thus far missed this supposedly great band. So no one sends me too many non-Tull suggestions, my favorite bands are: VdGG, Magma, KC, GY!BE, Camel, Gentle Giant, Genesis, KLaus Schulze, Yes, Opeth, Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Tool, Rush, and Voivod to name a few.
Thank-You

Thick as a brick is a masterpiece of Prog. Get it you won't be disappointed. It heavily influenced Gentle Giants music for one, its just such a great album, i'm not that into JTull but this album is one incredible exception for me.

____VdGG____ wrote: Yeah, TAAB was what I was eyeing last time I was at the store. I'm going to go buy it then...

You won't be dissapointed one bit!

"Songs From The Wood", a good point to start. Believe me.... I like similar music from yours and I started with it and now I love this band. 

Ultaigh wrote: ____VdGG____ wrote: Yeah, TAAB was what I was eyeing last time I was at the store. I'm going to go buy it then... You won't be dissapointed one bit!

Don't know. I was. A solid normal album, but nothing special to my ears.

Aqualung might be a better place to start, as it has more variation.

Go to my site and get all the best possible songs belong to each album session. Alot of these songs are bonus songs and some are not even available on the remasters. You will love the new sound of the last four 80s albums. New improved sound engineered songs ;)

http://www.raylomus.com/Jethro_Tull.html

Edited by gentletull

Jethro Tull went through several periods during their career...there may well be more than one "starting point".

Let's see...

Blues-influenced (1968-1970)
Stand Up and Benefit are both strong and good (I prefer the latter personally)...I would take a little more care with This Was, since it's slightly more difficult to assimilate.
The singles released in this period are also worth more than one listen (especially Love Story, Sweet Dream, Living in the Past): you can find them altogether in the compilation Living in the Past (which is another good starting point)

Hard rock/prog rock (1971-1976? I'm a little dubious about TOTRR:TOTD)
Aqualung is one of their most convincing outputs, and definitely should represent the perfect starting point in exploring the second phase of their career!
Thick as a brick and A Passion Play are definitely beautiful efforts, but IMHO they require to be listened to after you have gotten into their sound by means of shorter songs...

Folk prog (1975-1979)
The most peculiar "Tull sound" comes from this phase (the one I love most).
I recommend Songs from the Wood straight from the heart! It contains some of the finest compositions by the band (The Whistler, Velvet Green and naturally the title track).
Then go for Heavy horses with its majestic title track and then Stormwatch.

(the second and third phase IMHO overlap...in Minstrel in the Gallery you can find several folkish elements - for instance in the title track)

Electronic-influenced (1980-1984)
Come the eighties, the sound of Tull becomes heavily different from the one they used to deliver in the previous decade, using synthesizers galore (courtesy of Eddie Jobson and Peter-John Vettese) and electronically treated rhythm sections (cum grano salis, luckily!)
The Broadsword and the Beast is their most consistent output from this phase, containing valuable melodies and arrangements. A is not bad at all, while I think Under wraps is a lesser effort, containing way too much filler and exceeding electronic devices contamination.

Hard rock II (1987-1991)
Tull returns to the conventional standards of rock (a high quality one, however!) with the release of Crest of a Knave, where most of the heavy layers of synth that characterized the previous albums have disappeared, bringing Martin Barre's precious guitar work to the fore!
The electronic treatments tend to become rarer and rarer with the following Rock Island and Catfish Rising...all of them are outstanding, however I slightly prefer the middle one.
The only thing that lets me down in this phase is that at times they tend to sound too much like Dire Straits!!!

New influences (1995-now)
With Roots to branches, Tull becomes closer to asian influences, and with Dot.com they approach also southamerican flavours, resulting in two very good albums!
I would rather suggest Roots to branches, in which the songwriting is definitely stronger than in the following effort.

To summarize, I would suggest you go for the following releases:

• Benefit (1970)
• Aqualung (1971)
• Songs from the Wood (1977)
• The Broadsword and the Beast (1982)
• Rock Island (1989)
• Roots to Branches (1995)

Other valuable sources are the compilations Living in the Past and 20 Years of Jethro Tull

Enjoy the ride!

gentletull wrote: Roots is solid and consistent, but it doesn't have songs that match Awol, Wicked windows, Far Alaska imo. The songs from Roots sound lesss intersesting and not as well written, but they have good passages

Well, RtB struck me like lightning the first time I heard it
When I first listenend to Dot.com, instead, it was a bit of a letdown: it surely took more time to grow on me!

Pretty much agree with BIGi's post. The first three eras are the most interesting IMO.

I would recommend Benefit, Thick as A Brick or Aqualung and either Songs from the Wood or Stormwatch, from each of these eras. There's no such thing as a "bad" JT album as far as I'm concerned; they're all good, it's just some are better than others.

VdGG, I can't believe you have so much 70's prog and have never heard any Jethro Tull!

All suggestions so far are good but I would get 'Aqualung' and 'Thick As A Brick' as a starting point - you will enjoy the journey.

'Songs From The Wood' and 'Minstrel In The Gallery' are also excellent introductions, there is a reason why all four are in the top 100.