AQUALUNG

Aqualung is Jethro Tull´s fourth album. It´s one of their most famous albums and rightly so. Stand Up was my introduction to Jethro Tull´s wonderful music, but Aqualung was one of the albums that led me into the world of progessive rock. It´s not a very progressive album though but there are tendencies here and there that caught my attention and led me on to more progressive music.

Aqualung is actually a pretty diverse album. There are several hard rocking tracks like Aqualung ( which is also slightly progressive), Cross-Eyed Mary, Hymn 43 and Locomotive Breath, but there are also folky acoustic songs like Cheap Day Return, Mother Goose and Slipstream. Up to Me is the only song that reminds me of the mood on Benefit. My God is the only song here with what I would call progressive parts. The middle part of that song could have been part of a Gentle Giant song. Really beautiful.

There are lots of flute in almost every song and Aqualung is probably Jethro Tull´s most flute heavy effort which says a lot when you know their discography. One other thing I really enjoy on Aqualung is the acoustic guitar parts that I find beautiful. The blues rock guitar parts in some of the more rocking tracks are also very good and intense. Ian Anderson´s singing is also a great pleasure to listen to. He sounds very sarcastic at times and angry or emotional in other parts of the album. He has never sounded better IMO.

The lineup from Benefit remains the same except that Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond has replaced Glenn Cornick on bass and John Evans has become a full time member of the group. The musicianship is astonishing on Aqualung. The playing is just so good.

The production isn´t the most clear production you could wish, but it suits the music perfectly and doesn´t distract you from the music.

Even though Aqualung isn´t a very progressive rock album IMO it´s still a classic rock album and an all- time favorite of mine and it´s one of those few albums I feel deserves the 5 star rating. This one is highly recommendable, but don´t expect endless noodling or complex instrumental runs, this is first and foremost a great rock album.