Jethro Tull - Aqualung (1971)

I'm skipping ahead a bit because I don't really feel like doing the next album on my list right now, it being a dance music album. Since I was going online to find a cleaner copy of Jethro Tull's epic "Aqualung" and the Aqualung album was on my big list, I decided to just acquire a copy of the full album and do my review.

First off, the version of "Aqualung" on the album of the same name is very different from the version I've been listening to on classic rock radio for the last 30 years. The vocals are very low in the mix throughout the song, and in the acoustic mid-section it sounds like a completely different take. I don't like it nearly as much as I like the version I'm used to. I wonder if all this time I've been listening to a remastered version of the classic.

That's the end of the material I know off this album. Jethro Tull is one of those bands that I'm told I should respect but really know almost nothing about.

Except for pictures like this.

"Cross-Eyed Mary" comes next and leads off with what Jethro Tull is most famous for- flute rock. Ian Anderson is one hell of a floutist, but any song with a flute leading in I was expecting the song to be a bit soft. "Cross-Eyed Mary" turns out to be a heavy rock song with a hard hitting bassline and pretty sweet groove. I'm told that even though the titular Aqualung is referenced in "Cross-Eyed Mary" this will not be a concept album.

"Cheap Store Return" and "Mother Goose" are lighter English folk-rock songs that are lovely enough, but I was hoping each would turn into something harder and less sugary. There's a tease of an electric guitar towards the end of "Mother Goose" but alas, it was just a tease.

"Up To Me" and "My God" are slightly more sinister. Both are beautiful mixtures of dark folk and bluesy rock. One section of "My God" features an extended flute solo, parts of which are ferociously played- it's weird to say, but Ian Anderson can fucking shred on the flute.

Oh, this song is called "Hymn 43"? I never knew it's name before now. Other than "Aqualung" it was the only song I definitely knew by Jethro Tull. You probably know it too. It features lyrics such as "Jesus saves, but he better save himself..." and a decent guitar riff that goes, "Dut dut duttut duh duh DUH!" Does it ever help you recognize the song when I alliterate the riffs like that? You probably also know "Locomotive Breath" which I've heard before and always assumed was Jethro Tull, but now I'm completely sure.

Aqualung is an excellent mix of acoustic and hard rock with plenty of English folk and progressive rock flare. If you don't like flute you should probably listen to Aqualung and let Ian Anderson change your mind. 4 stars.