THIS WAS

This Was, Jethro Tull's first studio release, chronicles the story of the early Jethro Tull before it finds its progressive rock voice and while it was essentially a blues rock band. Though it is a first album release, and the band was still in its infancy, it serves to highlight the creative power struggle that already existed between Ian Anderson and Mick Abrahams. The high quality of Abraham's play on this recording and on his subsequent work as the founder of Blodwyn Pig cannot be reasonably disputed. Anderson, however, was a bit more forward thinking in terms of musical direction. I guess we all know who won the argument. This Was is an excellent album of blues rock, and, taken for what it is (ie. not a progressive rock album) it more than stands the test of time. It is a blues rock record being evaluated on a progressive rock site, so it is likely to suffer negative reviews as a result. In the context of its true genre, however, it rates as a 4 star recording, but in the context of progressive rock history, it is a good but nonessential album.