THIS WAS

Jethro Tull started out in about the same place as most of their contemporaries. A blues-rock band like a lot of bands of their time. Not as artsy sounding as Pete Brown & Piblokto!, rarely as heavy and psychedelic as Cream, band's work of this period could be put alongside Steamhammer (who's singer, Kieran White had a similar voice to Ian Anderson and which also featured a flute by a future Tangerine Dream member Steve Jolliffe), Fleetwood Mac, and sometimes even John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. This is Jethro Tull's only album with a legendary guitarist Mick Abrahams, who would go on to create a fascinating jazz/blues-rock act called Blodwyn Pig.

"This Was" could be considered as Progressive Blues Rock. Having strains of what would be to come in later years (and what we came to know as prog rock), it still is far behind some of the more say "advanced" bands of the same time. However, this is not a con at all. Many enjoyable blues tunes with nice bluesy guitar, harmonica and Ian Anderson's legendary vocals and flute playing. Worth mentioning, Jethro Tull didn't have a keyboardist at that time. "A Song For Jeffery" is definitely the best tune from the album as well as its highlihgt. Other than that, this album is very repetative and doesn't bring anything new to the game. However, it deserves good 3.5 star rating for its entertaining value. The music flows peacefully and is not demanding at all.

Not an admirable progressive rock album and not progressive in any significant way, but this is a fun listen.