Jethro Tull recent Remasters vs Mobile Fidelity?


Howdy,

Curious if anyone has had the opportunity to compare the recently released remastered Tull CDs (all with "bonus tracks")with the Mobile Fidelity Gold disc offering. Thanks!
socrates
Why is Tull not in the Rock and Roll HOF? Why not Tull? They have endured, keeping their individuality and uniqueness. They are not in , but Janis Joplin is? Where's the justice?
Why not Tull? They have endured, keeping their individuality and uniqueness. They are not in , but Janis Joplin is? Where's the justice?
Anyone heard the Japanese Mini LP CD remasters compared to the above. The Japanese CD's regularly go for more on Ebay than the MFSL Ultradiscs. I'm looking to pick up the best available CD examples of "Thick as a Brick", "Stand Up", and "Passion Play". Any opinions on the Ultimate Examples of those titles?
I agree Linkster. Steve Howe, Chris Squire and Wakeman are all virtuosos on their respective instruments. I saw them twice during this year's tour and they are still incredible and TIGHT. Now, one might not like their style, and I have no problem with that, to each his or her own, but they are among preeminent musicians in the field and should, I think, be in the R&R Hall of Fame.
Bouree is almost all flute, how could you like that??? Are you changing your mind about the virtues of this beautiful instrument? There may be room yet!
Found Living IN The Past, web site Collecting Tull.com. The Mobile Fidelity release is like their early/midlife greatest hits, cool tunes such as Song For jeffrey, Love Story, Living In The Past, Teacher, Fat Man, Bouree, A Christmas Song.
Those lyrics are in the opening verse of Thick as a Brick. Tull is, in places, composed of much nore decendant lyrics than THAT, though. Get past the flute. It doesn't appear throughout, or even on every song, though I presonally don't mind when it does.
what JT album has those lyrics?...maybe I can be converted...still not a fan of flutes...but hey...there is room for everything...cant we all get along?
Well, your final sentence said, and given a number of rather gratuitous references elsewhere on this site regarding TRex, kinky sex, etc., I'm surprised the Tull lyrics "your sperm's in the gutter - your love's in the sink" don't otherwise appeal to you.

BTW, it is Tuesday, not Monday, at least in my world
LIghtin' up folks...dont take this stuff too seriously...I was just stirring up the pot a bit...but my opinion still remains...enjoy! Im sure my collection has selections that would raise an eyebrow or 2...also...i dont have a musical bone in my body...well...my girlfriend might disagree!
Phasecorrect why are you here. You obviously know little or nothing about good music. Isn't there an outlet nearby that you can check to see if the phase is correct. If your fingers are too big, try a fork:^) It's a joke!
Just because you don't like something doesn't make it bad. I'm not sure what you are trying to add to improve this thread.
I'm sorry I didn't hear your last album. What was it called again? A consumate musician like you must have some good recordings out there for the lesser of us to buy.
Using a flute with Rock music was one of the best thing to happen in all of the seventies. It was a great break from all of the overblown guitar solos we suffered through.
Just my opinion!
Gee, how could I have known how quickly I would once again call upon my earlier "Thick as a Brick" reference? Oy Vey...
Sigh..Im so misunderstood...and cant find my Morrisey 12"s...or my valium...looks like somebody has a case of the "mondays"...
Oh..you mean yourself..I was going to mention it...but thought it was rude and not in good taste...
Tull,Styx,REO,Yes...we need to rid society of these cancerous atrocities...maybe ship em to Irag...with a buttload of BOse radios...they would surrender with ease...
Tull had their ups and downs, but "Thick as a Brick" always takes me back to high school days!

After reading this thread a couple of days ago, I was scrounging through several hundred older LP's that are in queue to be cleaned and came across a rather obscure copy of "Supercharged" which contains a live LA performance of Tull. On the cover is a particularly maniacal picture of IA in the throes of performing. My wife and I were talking about "Jethro Tull" and various and sundry memories. My eight year-old nephew, upon spotting the LP cover says, "Wow. That Jethro is a wild looking dude".

Wild, indeed.
Anyone care to second my concern that one of the best Jethro Tull albums is out of print, Living In The Past, and their disgust at the release of Living With The Past??? Yes Anderson has a nice sound to his flute playing. Got to hear him on Living In The Past album!!! They put on a real great show circa 1970-1974.
Blasphemy! Ian Anderson is an absolute Musical Genius! Right up there with the likes of a Beethoven, Dylan or Billy Corgan. I actually think he is one of the best acoustic guitar players ever, but few give him the recognition he deserves. Was anyone else really, really disturbed to see Tull not make VH1's list of the top 100 all time Rock artists. Sad state of affairs!

I thoroughly enjoy most every Tull album from "This Was" up to "Songs From the Wood," after that things got really bad, up until "Divinities", which is an amazing instrumental work. "Roots to Branches" was pretty good too, but "Secret Language of Birds" didn't do anything for me. www.j-tull.com had info about another instrumental release, hopefully coming soon. Divinities is really something special, everyone that I've let hear the album always buys it, even if not a Tull or instrumental fan.
Hate to be a buzzkill...but incorporating flute in rock...even progressive rock...is just plain wrong...remastered or not...JT will always give me a migraine...next! I second the DOug Sax Floyd remasters...amazing sonics...for 1/10 the price of MFSL...
I agree with the "Aqualung" assessment. I have over thirty Tull LPs plus assorted CDs and I consider Aqualung to be among the poorest of their releases.

I can't speak for Ian and the boys, but if you'd been playing the same song for over thirty years now (in many cases) don't you think you'd want to do something different.

Sorry Tweekerman but I'd put "Living in the Past" in the same catagory as Aqualung; not one of their better outings. Everyone has their preferences though.

I bought a used copy of "This Was" in great shape on Ebay last year for only a few bucks. I also got an original release of "Living in the Past" with the book and everything for under twenty dollars. A lot of this stuff can still be found without too much work.

Again, happy hunting!
Sorry folks Living In The Past is out of print, one of, if not the best album Tull ever put out. They have a CD named Living WITH The Past, a collection of "greastest Hits" (like we really need another greatest hits, ..vol 5!!!) and get this the song Living In The Past is on it , but is a horrible semblence to the orginal which is a great composition. ??? Why would Tull even alow this crummy version to be on print is beyond me??? These modern times we live in!
Madisonears has a very good point, I could never take hearing Teacher at the end of the music, How, and why do these Execs screw things up???....One Jethro Tull album that never really got much attention but has some good songs that I like even better than the "worn out" Aqualung, is Living In The Past. Check it out.
The jt remastered Benefit sounds great, but they screwed-up the song sequence, and I can't say I prefer the new version. Sonics are much improved, with vastly more presence to vocals and guitar, and the piano emerges from the muddy depths of the original mix with pristine beauty. Bass and highs are also better, with more slam and definition, and smoother with more air. However, someone thought it was necessary to mess with song sequence, and use crappy UK mix of "Teacher" tacked on at end of disc instead of the original, placed where it belongs. One pretty useless new track is inserted early on, and it totally threw me off enjoying the rest of this otherwise fine disc. We finally get to hear great, old Tull, and they mess up the whole album!
I have seen "This Was, Benefit, and Stand Up" remastered on vinyl, but I'm not sure about the availability anymore. "Aqualung might have been available in that group, but not being a fan of that LP I did not pay any attention. I have most of the originals including the yearly rerelease of a "greatest hits" (with all the same tracks as last years) LP and a few MFSL but given the choice I would rather have a Doug Sax remaster. On vinyl of course! The Acoustic Sounds catalog had some reissues of the early stuff. Happy hunting (girl)
The Tull remasters are in any good record store which most likely includes Borders & Barnes and Noble.
The JT remastered Stand Up is very nice. They did everything good to it and nothing bad. The highs are smoother yet more open. The bass is better defined but not bloated. The mids are vastly improved, with lots more definition of instruments and somewhat better images. Sorry, I can't compare to MFSL. I've had quite a few over the years, LP's and CD's, and it was always a crapshoot whether you'd get true sonic improvement (better music) or just more hi-fi sonics (screeching, tinny highs and boomy bass). Never got any JT.
Thanks for the replies, that is really great to hear! The MoFi albums I'm missing in my collection are selling for stupifiying prices on idiot-bay, this is so good to hear! I'm going to pickup a couple now to compare myself, thanks again!
I just spent last night listining to the Tull remasters, Benefit, and Aqualung. I have to agree with Bjack the remasters are excellant! i prefer the new remasters to the Mofi. i agree with Tom, some Mofi issues(both CD and LP) seem to have a dark and closed in sound.
Sorry, I agree with Bjack. MoFi's issues have always sounded slightly dark and closed in. Check out the Sony/Legacy reissue of Byrd's "Untitled" vs. MoFi to see what I mean. Could have something to do with the equipment we all have, but I've listened to them with a lot of different stuff - same slight heaviness and slightly closed in.
I happen to disagree with Bjack70jr. The JT remasters have a thin quality when A/B'd against the MoFi's. The Floyd remasters are better but the stereo image is closed-down a little bit. On the other hand, it's great to have JT's "This Was" and "Benefit" sounding so much better. If I couldn't have MoFi's I'm sure the remasters would be thrilling.
Yes, the remasters are much better. They are much clearer than the Mobile Fidelity although you will hear the inherent distortion in the recording. Some of the bonus tracks are well known, mostly from Living in the Past. By the way, IMHO the Pink Floyd remasters by Doug Sax are outstanding and far far superior to any of the Mobile Fidelity versions. Highly recommended!