THIS WAS

This first album by Jethro Tull really shows the differences in musical direction that Ian Anderson and Mick Abrahams had for the band and which by the time the recording of the album was finished led Abrahams to leave the band. Anderson wanted a musical style more influenced by Folk, Jazz and Rock, while Abrahams wanted a musical style more influenced by Blues. So, both musical directions are shown in this first album. But despite this, the very original musical style of Jethro Tull (more inlfuenced by Anderson than by Abrahams) is very present in this album. So, maybe the best songs in this album are the songs which were composed by Anderson. "Dharma for One" was composed by Anderson and drummer Clive Bunker, and in this song there are some influences from Jazz, including a very good drums solo by Bunker. In contrast, "Move On Alone" (sung by Abrahams) and "Cat`s Squirrel" show Abrahams` Blues influences. Even with all these Blues influences (with even Anderson playing some Harmonica) this album was a very good debut album by this band. Anderson`s flute playing (and his humour while playing it and singing in some parts) in a Rock band really defined the musical style for the band better than the Blues influences. The recording and mixing are not very good for my taste. It seems that the album was recorded using a low budget, so maybe that is the reason this album doesn`t sound verry well for my taste. With a new guitarist for their next albums (Martin Barre) who was more compatible with Anderson`s musical vision, the band was going to record better albums than this first album.