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Ian Anderson and Jethro Tull

I've been a serious Tull fan since 1970, owning almost all of their music and much of Ian Anderson's solo material.  I've had the privilege of attending 4 of their concerts including a small venue where everyone stood but only about 150 in attendance.

I'm intrigued by the style and subject of the music, not your typical love songs or ballads.  The musicality is also some of the best from what is considered a rock band or some would say, progressive rock band.  This is especially shown in some of the early "theme" albums like "Thick as a Brick" or "Passion Play".

I will have to say my favorites however are the solo albums by Ian Anderson.  The album "Divinities" being my all time favorite.  When I want to test the dynamics of a system, Divinities is one I typically use.  The quality of the recording to me is second to none.  Take a listen to "The Pay of Spain" as an example.

Curious to hear if anyone else shares my enthusiasm for this group/soloist.

Tom

bipestuff
sealegs
53 posts
 

Like everybody here, I have been a JT fan.  My first concert was TAAB.  I lost track at about 15 concerts.  I loved the early albums, but my interest started to wane around the time of Heavy Horses.  For later albums, I really like Roots to Branches.  The last concert I saw was TAAB2 at The Beacon, IIRC.  The other patrons were my age or older and many looked like they could have been the model for the cover of Aqualung. 
 

I’m really disappointed how poorly Aqualung recordings sound.  It’s my favorite album of theirs and it stands out how bad it sounds.  

freediver
1,451 posts
 

Another lifelong Tull/Anderson fan with a half dozen shows in my over 1000 concerts in the past 56 years..As I've mellowed a lot in my old age,"Ian Anderson Plays the Orchestral Jethro Tull" has become a Sunday mourning ritual at my place..

stuartk
4,012 posts
 

Stand Up has always been my favorite. It's the ideal blend of stylistic influences for my taste. I wish they'd stuck with that approach. 

wolf_garcia
6,892 posts
 

Ian’s singing may have deteriorated recently but I’ve been a fan since a 1969 mind blowing concert in Honolulu (where I lived). Nobody had seen ’em yet so we simply weren’t prepared...whew...I met Clive Bunker at an after party and enjoyed our little talk. Flash forward to recent years seeing the Martin Barre Band and note that these guys absolutely cop the mojo playing Tull stuff brilliantly in smaller (obtainable) venues. Check these guys out! Also, heavy metal is a ridiculous category for this music as although it can be powerful (as can Beethoven or Miles), it seems to me to be high octane British folk...or something...

flash56
49 posts
 

I saw the Aqualung tour, the Thick as a Brick tour ,and the Passion Play tour. Here in Salt Lake City at the Salt Palace Arena. They were one of the few bands that made it a point to always play Salt Lake City when they toured. They had an interesting format in which they would perform their previous two albums in their entirety, before playing an extended version of their new release. For example. With the Aqualung tour, they performed, their Standup and Benefit albums before performing Aqualung. The same held true for the other two tours. I always found it to be an interesting concept for a song lineup.

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