THIS WAS

The debut album from Jethro Tull This Was is basically a collection of blues rock songs and the trademark sound of Jethro Tull was only hinted at on this release. Songs like Some Day The Sun Won´t Shine and It´s Breaking Me up is even real blues songs.

There are more exciting things on display though, like the flute solo track Serenade to a Cuckoo and the song Beggar´s Farm which could have been on Benefit a few years later. It has the same mood as that album. Move on Alone is pretty special too with a trumpet arrangement and a mellow mood. The most known song from This Was is A Song for Jeffrey, but this one is really nothing special in my book. Blues rock like most of the songs on This Was. There is a drum solo in Dharma for One which should also be noted as it is pretty cool.

The sound quality is ok for 1968 but nothing special.

This is a decent debut album from this legendary band, but don´t expect too much, and if I was new to the band I´d skip this one and go straight for Jethro Tull´s second album Stand Up which is much more exciting and groundbreaking. This is pretty average but still good album. 3 stars.