JETHRO TULL: Aqualung Live

Cover	Release	Style
	2005-09	Progressive folk rock
	Label
	R&M / Roadrunner
	Website
	Jethro Tull
	Contact
	-
	Playing Time	Cat. N°
	59:30	RR 8100-2
	Review by	Rating
	Edwin	-
nederlands	Review
Jethro Tull’s “Aqualung” is without doubt one of my very favourite albums ever. I could listen to classics like the title track, “Cross-Eyed Mary”, “My God” and “Locomotive Breath” forever, but I’m equally fond of lesser-known songs like “Mother Goose”, “Wind-Up” and “Hymn 43”. The perfect mix of hard rocking songs, folk and progressive rock, which makes Tull so unique. Last year in November, Jethro Tull went into the XM Radio studios to participate in the ‘Then… Again’ sessions, in which classic rock albums are re-recorded. They played the “Aqualung” album in full in front of a small audience. The recording of this ‘concert’ was a free bonus for those who attended the US tour this summer; it is now available commercially. As Ian Anderson didn’t think it was fair to cash in on this release, it was decided to donate all royalties to various charities for the homeless. Can’t think of a more appropriate cause. This is not a note-perfect reproduction (face it, that would be a bit ridiculous). After all, the original was recorded nearly 35 years ago, and 3/5 of the band are different musicians. Anderson’s voice has changed quite a lot over the years, and Barre’s electrical guitar sounds less edgy. Overall, the performance sounds less aggressive. Still, this is a fairly accurate reproduction of the original, with only minor new arrangements here and there. One of the joys of listening to this kind of re-recordings is trying to find those little differences in close-listening sessions. Oh well, a Jethro Tull fan needs something to get him exciting, now they don’t seem to be willing to release new material anymore… J. “Hymn 43” is the only song that gets a completely altered treatment, as it sounds a lot less hard rock and more folky here. To guarantee a better flow of the album, most in-between-song banter was removed. Some of it, along with some snippets of an interview, was put at the end of the album, so nobody would miss out on Anderson’s unique sense of humour. Nice, but it makes for a bit of a strange listening experience. I’d recommend the original any time over this one, but for the die-hard fans, this is of course a nice little item to add to their collections.
Musicians
Ian Anderson: Flute, vocals, acoustic guitar Martin Barre: Electric guitar Doane Perry: Drums, percussion Andrew Giddings: Piano, organ, keyboards Jonathan Noyce: Bass guitar
Tracklist
Aqualung Crosseyed Mary Cheap Day Return Mother Goose Wond’ring Aloud Up To Me My God Hymn 43 Slipstream Locomotive Breath Wind-Up Riffs-another monkey Recording the original Choosing my words with care Hummmmmm 43 A different kettle of very different fish But is it any good?


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