JETHRO TULL

"Jethro Tull" is a compilation of Jethro Tull and was released in 1970. This is a compilation album that comprises tracks from the beginning of the career of Jethro Tull, which means that it comprises only tracks from 1968 to 1970 that belong to their first three studio album, "This Was" from 1968, "Stand Up" from 1969 and "Benefit" from 1970. However, not all those tracks were initially released on those albums. Two of them were initially released only on the format of singles.

"Jethro TullI" has eleven tracks. The first track "Sweet Dream" was never released on any of their studio albums. It was originally released as a single. It was originally recorded during the sessions of their second album "Stand Up". It later appeared on the 1972 compilation album "Living In The Past". "Sweet Dream" is a heavy and somewhat experimental tune, a dizzying blend of a hard rock track, a bit pompous on the brass part, but I like it quite a lot. The second track "Jeffrey Goes To Leicester Square" is from "Stand Up". It's a fantastic and nice song on "Stand Up". The use of a mandolin gives to the song a more folk style and because of that it would became the first song of the group more oriented to the folk. This is also the shortest song on that album. The third track "Bouree" is from "Stand Up". It's one of the most recognisable Jethro Tull's tracks and it's based on a piece of music of J. S. Bach. This is a very interesting instrumental piece with some jazz influences, with a great solo of flute and a fantastic bass line. This Jethro Tull's adaptation of the classical Bach's piece perhaps became one of the most popular adaptations of classical pieces for the masses. The fourth track "Fat Man" is from "Stand Up". It's a happy and fast song where the use of the balalaika gives to it a very special atmosphere. It's great and fun with tempo changes and fabulous rhythms. It has a different sound than most of anything else they has done since. This is a typical classic Jethro Tull's track with an own sound. Maybe you know this is one you love, but you don't know why. The fifth track "My Sunday Feeling" is from "This Was". This is clearly a song with some influences of blues and clear influences of jazz. It's a song with good and energetic drumming very well followed by the flute and also by the voice of Ian Anderson used in a very unique style. The sixth track "Reasons For Waiting" is from "Stand Up". It's a beautiful and calm ballad performed more in the acoustic style. The flute and the vocals on the song are nice and the addition of the strings and the beautiful arrangement of David Palmer are absolutely delightful and give to the song a perfect musical balance and ambience. The seventh track "The Witch's Promise" was never realeased on any of their studio albums. It was originally released as a single. It was originally recorded during the sessions of their third album "Benefit". It later appeared on the 1972 compilation album "Living In The Past". It's a ghostly orchestral folk number with fantastic build and a creepy flute that comes from everywhere and that could have easily fit on "Benefit". The eighth track "A New Day Yesterday" is from "Stand Up". It's a classic song of the band with a heavy blues influence. It isn't a song with a very complex arrangement, but it results so well that it became a great track. It has a fantastic instrumental performance, especially the Glen Cornick's aggressive bass line work. The ninth track "A Song For Jeffrey" is from "This Was". It's one of the best known tracks of "This Was". This is a very good song and represents one of the best musical moments on that album. We may say this is one of the first standard songs from the group that better represents the first musical period of Jethro Tull. The tenth track "Look Into The Sun" is from "Stand Up". It's very simple, but it's also, at the same time, a very beautiful song. The performance of Ian Anderson's acoustic guitar and Martin Barre's electric guitar is perfect and the interplay between both is fantastic and results beautifully. It also should still be noticed the soft flute and the sweet vocals on the song. The eleventh track "Nothing Is Easy" is from "Stand Up". It's another classic Jethro Tull's song. This is a fantastic rock track with several musical sections and with incredible musical performances. It has fine drumming and the interaction between the flute and the guitar is perfect. So, the final result, the balance between the power and the elegance is absolutely ececellent.

Conclusion: "Jethro Tull" is a very nice compilation of Jethro Tull and is very representative of the band in the beginning of their musical career. It covers perfectly well the first musical phase of the group, the phase that preceded the greatest masterpieces of Jethro Tull, the phase that preceeded their most progressive phase too. Here we are dealing with the trilogy of the Jethro Tull's albums, released precisely before some of their most acclaimed works, "Aqualung" from 1971, "Thick As A Brick" from 1972 and "A Passion Play" from 1973. All those albums belong to their best, most prolific and most inventive and creative era, despite the unsuspected quality of some other of their other late creations. If their debut studio album "This Was" isn't really an amazing album, despite be a good album for a former album, "Stand Up" and "Benefit" are two excellent albums, especially "Stand Up". So, definetelly, we may say that we are in presence of a good compilation album very representative of those days. So, 3 stars is the right rating to it, really.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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