Jethro Tull - Aqualung
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Free Music Notes for Aqualung
Free Music Review: A true album...
Hit: 5 Stars
No hits-and-filler here. When I listen to this one, I listen from beginning to end. No skips.
Those who say it's not a "concept" album in the ugly sense of the term are correct. You have the themes of religion and street people. But you won't be bored by the excesses which characterized lot of "concept" albums of that era.
I was introduced to JT through FM radio and a greatest-hits album. When I bought Aqualung in order to have one of their real albums, I was more than pleasantly surprised. It became one of my favorites.
What you'll get is a nice balance between JT's folk and hard rock sides.
You've probably heard the title track, "Locomotive Breath", "Cross-Eyed Mary", and "Hymn 43" on the radio. But you'll also get "My God" and "Wind Up", which not only rock musically, but are excellent takes on disillusionment and religion. In-between are acoustic, folky, but catchy tunes like "Mother Goose" and "Up To Me" to balance things out.
Radio-friendly and accessible, yet edgy, intelligent, and high-quality, a combination you'll find with very few bands and very few albums.
Songwriting: 10/10
Musicianship: 10/10
Sound Quality: 8/10
Originality: 10/10
Lyrics: 10/10
Free Music Review: an itch you can't scratch
Hit: 5 Stars
in high school one of my friends said you have to hear this album by some guy named jethro tull. very off the wall, but something you could listen to. then i got into the lyrics. and found out the truth about that guy jethro. ian anderson had his mojo going. quirky in some places, downright indignant in others, the album was absolutely great for someone in high school in those days. moving forward a few years. mungle in the jungle is out (not a fav of mine). i tried to get tickets to see led zepplin and the guy at the ticket counter laughed at me. who else was touring? jethro tull. aqualung. let me have two tickets. the day of the concert i was fighting a field fire for over eight hours (volunteered in my youth) and was exhausted, but was able to make the show. all i wanted to hear was "locomotive breath" and i would have considered it a worthwhile venture. the band played the entire "aqualung" album. i was blown away. it was great. i couldn't have asked for any more. to this day, that concert (and album) is one of my favorites. here is my kicker. the album came out in 1972. the concert was in, what, 1975-76? and i still love it. hell, i insist i sing lead on rock band when locomotive breath is playing. yeah, i'm 54 years old. sue me.Free Music Review: Bristling With the Anger of Youth
Hit: 5 Stars
In retrospect, the masses are right. This is Jethro Tull's finest moment. The music has a real sense of immediacy and even urgency to it. At a point in his life that Ian Anderson was writing his best songs, he took on a giant-sized and very unusual topic - the asinine nature of the religious beliefs that most humans have and persist in.
It's a BIG album. And most of the songs on it are really quite great. My kudos to Mr. Anderson for his level of ambition. Glad it paid off.
I read complaints below about the fidelity on this issue, but it sounds just like the vinyl did back in the day - I suspect it's not possible to improve the sound, that's all there is. Anderson's liner notes refer to them having a heck of a time getting clarity and cleanliness at the studio they recorded this in.
"Wind Up" is a great, underheard song. "My God" is another great one. "Hymn 43" I sing in the shower all the time, it's a great blues screamer guaranteed to get a reaction from others. "Locomotive Breath" and "Cross-Eyed Mary" and the title track are fine stuff. Youthful anger and questioning here were focused here into something timeless.
Free Music Review: The Word "Album" Really Fits ...
Hit: 5 Stars
I sure have mixed feelings here. This is an album in a not very kind spirit toward the 'villain' protestant movement in Europe. Are they witchy? I don't know (they ARE from western Europe). But golly this is a great album, hard to turn away from. It's just sooooo good.It has been years since I've listened to this album. But the word "album" really fits here. This is one of those that plays through with tonal integrity (phrase?) like a single work, and not a mere collection of songs gathered to fill album space. An album with a concept; this is one of the greats, and Tull is one of the great classic rock artists (with some definite jazz in the mix - and classical, baroque? - not sure of the correct class, but would certainly play alright at a 'renaissance fair', if you get my drift). The music and songs are strong classics, and it's solid art that transcends the genres in which it exists. I first bought this album, when I was 10 years old, and had seen it in the collection of the older brother of a friend in Waxahachie, Texas. Now, 30 years later, I can enjoy it every bit as much, I have no doubt.
**This review does not include the bonus tracks.
Free Music Review: A Classic Rock Album
Hit: 5 Stars
One of the great rock albums.
Must be listened to from a really good CD remaster (or get the original vinyl), because some remastered versions (including this one) have not been good.
Also good with a copy of the original gatefold vinyl LP to read the lyrics and view the interesting artwork.
A pity the old great coat that was given to Ian Anderson by his dad when he left home (to keep him warm on those cold English nights as a poor struggling musician) was eventually stolen. It was an icon, as was the image of a down-and-out, ie. the wheezing Aqualung.
The music is of course, classic Tull, progressive rock, flute, rapid changes of cadence, acoustic guitar, rock guitar and vocals, at once loud and happy and mischievous, then soft with a threatening undercurrent. I bought this in 1972 on release, and never tire of listening to it.
Purchase the limited "25th Anniversary Special Edition Aqualung" featuring a 20-bit remastered sound, five additional tracks (including "Lick Your Fingers Clean," the famed quad version of "Wind Up," and excerpts from an Anderson interview).