MINSTREL IN THE GALLERY

Almost every Jethro Tull album from 'Benefit' to 'Heavy Horses' is excellent. However, most of them aren't essential to the casual Tull fan. As long as you have 'Aqualung', 'Thick as a Brick' and 'Passion Play' (and on a personal note you should own 'Living in the Past') you have the basics covered. However, 'Minstrel in the Gallery' is essentail to the collection of any Tull fan. At once one of their most rock oriented albums and their most reflective, there is someting here for everyone. The title track kicks things off with plenty of vim and vigor. It's not a standout but sets up the rest of the album. Following is 'Cold Wind to Valhalla', a hard rocker that manages to not sound like anything other than Jethro Tull and a Tull at it's most dramatic. The middle of the album marks a distinct shift from the preceeding songs. 'Black Satin Dancer' & 'Requiem' are both decent songs and are far from filler, but they don't really grip you the way Tull does at it's best. "One White Duck', however, is one of the all time best Tull songs. Or should I really say Ian Anderson songs? The song is pure Anderson from start to finish, a wonderfully insular and reflective piece of acoustic melencholia. All these horrible, whiney Indie Rock groups should listen to this song to hear how to bare your soul without sounding like a 13 year old girl or a histrionic mope. And not for nothing, but they amazing backing sounds, the mid-way change of pace and stunning melodies (there are several) make this just a flat out great song. Then there's 'Baker Street Muse'. A good extended piece, but maybe too long for it's own good. The unifying factor of all great extended prog rock pieces is that they never feel long. Or if they do it is with a carefully orchestrated sence of an epic. I feel that this song could have been easily trimmed down to Ten minutes without losing much. The opening section and it's reprise later in the song doesn't rank as one of the better moments in the early Tull catalouge. In general, though this is a good little suite, I don't find myself listening to it much. That's not to say that when i listen to it i don't enjoy it, it just doesn't have that bracing effect that other Tull works do. Though I must say, the 'Pygmy and the Whore' movement is one of my favorite moments of any album and has some of the best lyrics, both poignant and funny.

All in all, this is a good album from a Tull standpoint. Not the masterpiece that 'Thick as a Brick' is nor the stinker that "To Old to Rock and Roll' is either. For any other band it would be a masterpiece, but for Tull it's an enjoyable but non-essential album.