In Ten Tracks is not a best of or greatest hits or even necessarily a list of favorites. They're songs by an artist that stuck with me for various reasons through the years. Mix tape/playlist staples
Surprised there's nothing at all from the first two albums. I remember some amazing gigs at The Marquee with the Mick Abrahams lineup when This Was came out.
Agreed with 'Stand Up,' as this was when the band broke away from the white boy blues that, in all honesty, Abrahams wanted to be (Blodwyn Pig and Mick Abrahams Band are evidence of this). But ''A Song For Jeffrey" is the only song on 'This Was' that hinted at the new direction Anderson was going in. Even the album's title reflected their move away from the bluesy earlier period of the band. I bet those early gigs must have been stellar, though!
For me, 1968-1971 Tull is their absolute peak. Especially Stand Up, Benefit, and Aqualung + singles/B-sides from these years (e.g. Witches Promise!). They rocked as hard as Zeppelin but were far deeper thinkers, and their music had an intellect that LZ lacked. Why do I even bring up LZ when talking about Tull? Because at the time the music rags and critics often compared and placed the two bands in direct competition (similar to the manufactured competition of the Beatles/Stones and Blur/Oasis). Before Anderson and Tull went a bit too prog, pretentious, and let's face it, a bit wanky, tbh, they were a truly killer band whose live shows must have been nothing short of outstanding. Their lyrics tackled difficult subject matter and critiqued religion, education, the British class system, and their own dysfunctional families, and Anderson rarely held back. If I chose ten JT tracks, I'd have to include 'My God,' 'Reasons for Waiting,' and 'Look into the Sun' in the mix.
The Steven Wilson remixes of Stand Up, Benefit, and Aqualung are well and truly worth investing in. Aqualung, in particular, absolutely shines compared to the original muddy mixes.
At their peak, they were a remarkably colorful band with a chameleon-like ability to change their style but not their spots. Also: they were one of the few bands outside of jazz to be fronted by a flautist, and the only one named after an 18th century English agricultural scientist.
I really don’t mind if you sit this one out.
Thick as a brick. 👍🏻
Surprised there's nothing at all from the first two albums. I remember some amazing gigs at The Marquee with the Mick Abrahams lineup when This Was came out.
Agreed with 'Stand Up,' as this was when the band broke away from the white boy blues that, in all honesty, Abrahams wanted to be (Blodwyn Pig and Mick Abrahams Band are evidence of this). But ''A Song For Jeffrey" is the only song on 'This Was' that hinted at the new direction Anderson was going in. Even the album's title reflected their move away from the bluesy earlier period of the band. I bet those early gigs must have been stellar, though!
For me, 1968-1971 Tull is their absolute peak. Especially Stand Up, Benefit, and Aqualung + singles/B-sides from these years (e.g. Witches Promise!). They rocked as hard as Zeppelin but were far deeper thinkers, and their music had an intellect that LZ lacked. Why do I even bring up LZ when talking about Tull? Because at the time the music rags and critics often compared and placed the two bands in direct competition (similar to the manufactured competition of the Beatles/Stones and Blur/Oasis). Before Anderson and Tull went a bit too prog, pretentious, and let's face it, a bit wanky, tbh, they were a truly killer band whose live shows must have been nothing short of outstanding. Their lyrics tackled difficult subject matter and critiqued religion, education, the British class system, and their own dysfunctional families, and Anderson rarely held back. If I chose ten JT tracks, I'd have to include 'My God,' 'Reasons for Waiting,' and 'Look into the Sun' in the mix.
The Steven Wilson remixes of Stand Up, Benefit, and Aqualung are well and truly worth investing in. Aqualung, in particular, absolutely shines compared to the original muddy mixes.
Side note: I wrote about my love for '68-71 Tull several months ago: https://substack.com/@michaelfell/p-141329911
At their peak, they were a remarkably colorful band with a chameleon-like ability to change their style but not their spots. Also: they were one of the few bands outside of jazz to be fronted by a flautist, and the only one named after an 18th century English agricultural scientist.
The song Under Wraps is definitely worth more than a few listens for anyone who gave up on Tull after the seventies. It’s a great tune.