NEW Jethro Tull - Original Masters (CD)

In spite of my grumbling, this CD is Jethro Tull, and I could listen to just about any combination of Tull. Naturally I had to have this one. On the plus side, if you are looking for a sampler of Jethro Tull music, this CD is perfect. This CD even includes a three minute excerpt from the epic "Thick as a Brick". While the excerpt is way too short to do any real justice to that particular CD, it does give you a small flavor of the song.

Four of the songs on this CD are from "Aqualung" and "Warchild". Some Jethro Tull fans revile "Warchild" as a sellout or a lowering of Jethro Tull standards; unfortunate because "Warchild" included some of the most deeply satirical and anti-establishment lyrics of any Tull CD.

A listener to this CD will also detect humor in Jethro Tull's classification as a hard rock or metal group. As a song like "Songs from the Wood" indicates, Tull was what Tull wanted to be, when they wanted to be it. Tull has always drifted from English folk to rock to their own brand of progressive rock. In its own way "Songs from the Wood" incorporates a bit of every style that Tull has ever done. The lead guitars have rocking riffs. The keyboards throw in a flavor of medieval church music, particularly in association with that flute. I am unable to describe the flavor the other instruments provide on that particular album, which include mandolin, whistles, lute (nothing like a rocking lute, I say), organ, marimba, glockenspiel, bells, tabor, portative organ, piano and synthesizers, which doesn't even list all the instruments used. The range of instruments is like what The Moody Blues used on their second album, "In Search of the Lost Chord".

Jethro Tull has always defied conventional description. Their sound over their history has been eclectic. They are one of the few groups that seem to have been able to use musical styles as appropriate to their mood, and still keep their fan's attentions. This CD certainly samples that range. While I can decry the repetition mentioned earlier, the fact remains that for casual fans this sampler is an excellent introduction to the group; 5 stars for being great Tull music. However, if you like what you hear, please go buy the albums from which this music was taken; they are better than any possible greatest hits collection from Tull.