MINSTREL IN THE GALLERY

I cannot recommend this album highly enough. The whole feel of the album is beautifully introspective, considered and thoughtful - even the heavy passages of the title track and "Black Satin Dancer" seem to have a slightly disconnected, Autumnal feel. It is this air of ... sadness almost ... that makes the album unique in the Tull canon. The LP has more in common with the best LPs by Roy Harper, Richard Thompson and Steeleye Span et al than with contemporary releases by Zeppelin and Yes.

It is delightfully British in flavour with some of the most subtle string quartet arrangements ever to grace a rock record. Indeed, the quantity (and quality) of acoustic material on "Minstrel" marks it out as one of the finest "folk rock" LPs of the 1970s.

The expanded edition collects fails to add any contemporary live electric tracks, which is something of a missed opportunity. Anderson himself is known to be cool towards this LP, for the reasons that make it so unique - the album's sense detachment and introspection - which is a shame as it contains some of his finest material, inparticular the superb "One White Duck / 0/10=Nothing At All".

More of a rainy afternoon record than a Saturday night record and all the better for it!