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
Nice selection-maybe not a "greatest hits," but could be good enough to serve as one to a new fan. Funny enough, "Under Wraps 2" is my least favorite song from that album. I grew up in the synth-pop era, and didn't discover Tull until the late 80s, so I enjoy that album perfectly well. (Although I do still consider the '69-'78 era their peak.)
Hey, Matt, thanks for reading and commenting. Interestingly, I listened to virtually no Tull before 1980. When ‘A’ came out, I thought it was great and went to see them live with a friend who hated the new sound. I like a lot of synth pop as well…I just didn’t connect with Tull’s take on it that well. Perhaps I’ll give it another go.
Although the synths/drum machine are of the synth-pop scene, I think the driving bass and Martin's guitar give it a strong hard-rock element. And then there's Ian's vocals, where he throws in a lot of vocalises (non-word sounds he makes vocally). Overall, it's actually very "progressive" and innovative album, even if it doesn't sound "Prog." It's one of their most energetic albums - like "A," I think it has more vigor and excitement than most of their more "Tullish" soundling later career.
Also, Ian's solo album "Walk Into Light" from the year before is a much lighter sounding take on the drum machine/synth sound. It's very melodic and I love it.
The main drawback of Under Wraps (although, curiously not Walk Into Light) is a certain constriction or stiffness, maybe caused by the rigid drum machine instead of a living drummer. A lot of modern rock/metal bands record these days to click tracks and add the drums later, and I think this does give a certain sterility to the overall groove.
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.
The Zep/Tull comparisons are a great example of the difficulty writing about music. On paper, the bands sound very similar-blues roots, mixing folky acoustic with heavy riffage, world music, epics and catchy 4-min songs, excellent musicianship without veering into ELP/Yes virtuosity, lyrics covering olde-world evocation, sex, and more spiritual matters . . . Yet, once you listen to the bands, they're very different.
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.
Interesting selection. Maybe not my favorite tracks but I certainly can’t argue with any of them. Thanks for doing this. Tull is not a group that gets much attention. It’s too bad really.
Nice selection-maybe not a "greatest hits," but could be good enough to serve as one to a new fan. Funny enough, "Under Wraps 2" is my least favorite song from that album. I grew up in the synth-pop era, and didn't discover Tull until the late 80s, so I enjoy that album perfectly well. (Although I do still consider the '69-'78 era their peak.)
Hey, Matt, thanks for reading and commenting. Interestingly, I listened to virtually no Tull before 1980. When ‘A’ came out, I thought it was great and went to see them live with a friend who hated the new sound. I like a lot of synth pop as well…I just didn’t connect with Tull’s take on it that well. Perhaps I’ll give it another go.
Although the synths/drum machine are of the synth-pop scene, I think the driving bass and Martin's guitar give it a strong hard-rock element. And then there's Ian's vocals, where he throws in a lot of vocalises (non-word sounds he makes vocally). Overall, it's actually very "progressive" and innovative album, even if it doesn't sound "Prog." It's one of their most energetic albums - like "A," I think it has more vigor and excitement than most of their more "Tullish" soundling later career.
Also, Ian's solo album "Walk Into Light" from the year before is a much lighter sounding take on the drum machine/synth sound. It's very melodic and I love it.
The main drawback of Under Wraps (although, curiously not Walk Into Light) is a certain constriction or stiffness, maybe caused by the rigid drum machine instead of a living drummer. A lot of modern rock/metal bands record these days to click tracks and add the drums later, and I think this does give a certain sterility to the overall groove.
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
The Zep/Tull comparisons are a great example of the difficulty writing about music. On paper, the bands sound very similar-blues roots, mixing folky acoustic with heavy riffage, world music, epics and catchy 4-min songs, excellent musicianship without veering into ELP/Yes virtuosity, lyrics covering olde-world evocation, sex, and more spiritual matters . . . Yet, once you listen to the bands, they're very different.
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.
Interesting selection. Maybe not my favorite tracks but I certainly can’t argue with any of them. Thanks for doing this. Tull is not a group that gets much attention. It’s too bad really.
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.