Customer Reviews

Best of Acoustic

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Being a devoted Jethro Tull fan for 30 ++ years, I have always been partial to acoustic Tull, and I believe in his pre-golden years, Ian is too!! The set list could not be better. I highly recommend this collection to anyone who knows there is more to Jethro Tull then Aqualung and Locomotive Breath!

If you're looking for just the greatest hits, i.e. the most popular Tull songs on Classic Rock radio, you wouldn't go for this one first. But the acoustic side of Tull is an essential part of the Tull canon, and this collection represents an idea that has been decades overdue. The acoustic format allows for a combination of genuine expressiveness and Tull's patented eccentric creativity. That said, some of these great acoustic pieces are latter-day re-workings, and they tend to be inferior to the originals, interesting primarily to collectors. But many of these songs are the original tracks, beautifully remastered. So there's a lot here for the afficionados, and it's not a bad place to start for the curious.

Some bands, older bands that have been around a while and have an actual catalog to pick and choose from, often find themselves with material that suddenly comes into mainstream light. Not that JT is commercial, but the style of UNPLUGGED is and has been popular for quite some time...

I bought this CD due to a college roomate being such a JT fan, and thought it might be nice to get a JT for my collection.

This is a fantastic CD. The recordings are touched up and sound fantastic as they would be - due to Ian Anderson being as picky as Frank Zappa used to be... and they sound so crisp.

The flute, the masterful acoustic (and occasionally electric) playing of Martin Barre is fantastic, and the language I am using doesn't do it justice. I really feel that anyone could put this CD in and immediatly get the attention of anyone in the room. This is enjoyable, talent laden and worth every freakin penny.

Have fun,

When I heard that Jethro Tull was coming out with an all acoustic CD, I could hardly wait. I was hoping for a nice flow of some re-mixed and/or updated acoustic material. But alas, the quality is as if the songs were taken right off the "older" albums and put directly on the CD. It's nice to have a lot of my favorites on one CD, but I just can't get past the fact that I was "hoping for more crispness" in the guitar strings.

Where is "Bouree"?

Why are there two tracks from Ian Anderson's solo albums? I thought the whole point of his solo career is that he's not Jethro Tull. Did Owen Wilson risk his credibility--nay, his reputation!--on the silver screen when he declared that Jethro Tull was a band, not a person?

And of the two previously unreleased tracks, "Pastime with Good Company" has been done better by Blackmore's Night (studio and live). I would have preferred several tracks, any number of acoustic tracks, from Tull's catalogue (especially 'Songs from the Wood') to those three.

Also, as wonderful as this album sounds, the songs are even better in the context of their original albums.

Still, this is a welcome and useful album to me. When I bought it at my favorite music store--Forever Young, Texas (huge, with enough vinyl, CDs, and intelligent management to satisfy any music lover)--both clerks remarked that they too wanted to get it. They're my age, late 40s, with a lot of musical history and knowledge between them. My wife commented that she liked the music. That's recommendation enough for me.

Thanks as always to Ian Anderson for his forthright, courteous, and charming liner notes.

Track origins are as follows:

1-13, 15: original studio albums
14: '20th Anniversary' box
16-17: '25th Anniversary' box
18: 'Night Cap'
19: 'The Secret Language of Birds'
20: 'Rupi's Dance'
21-22: 'The Jethro Tull Christmas Album'
23: previously unreleased
24: (live in Denmark) previously unreleased

Being an avid Tull fan, my review is biased. I can tell you though, that being a Tull afficianado, I was very pleased with this CD. Not a commercial song on it! Accoustical it is, pleasant it is, but for those of you wanting to hear Aqualung...too bad. I personnally enjoyed each song chosen by Ian Anderson for this type of CD, however, some of the songs were mere snippetts of the real time version...I felt a little short changed on those. Overall...I cannot listen enough, great songs, great lyrics, and well over an hour of pure Tull acoustical enjoyment.

By focusing on the acoustic stuff by Jethro Tull you need to listen also to the best unplugged material by Ian Anderson in his fine solo albums...here a couple of songs from his solo works are well represented - and of course it could be the controversial aspect of such a self-tribute album concerning J.T. only, talking about their long career ...actually the most orginal song is not a typical J.T. tune, because for me the track dedicated to the famous Isle of Sky in Scotland, entitled "Dun Ringill", was written for the "Stormwatch" album in 1979 (not their most known album) usually not performed live! Moreover the track performed live in Denmark, entitled "Pastime With Good Company", has been already executed by Blackmore's Night in a better manner and such a controversial consideration prevents me to give this "The Best of Acoustic J.T" an high score..nevertheless I like to mention the "poor" tribute to their important folk prog/classic rock album such as "Songs from the wood" and "Minstrel in the Gallery", here represented by a couple of songs only!!

Anyway you can add another half star at least

After 40 years, we are not getting much in the way of new music anymore from Jethro Tull. (Maybe it's for the best.) So, I am left to pick up a remaster or compilation of some sort here or there. Like most of us in our 50's now, Ian Anderson and Jethro Tull's glory days are in the past. But, what a rich legacy of fine music they created!

This album is not a cheap, repackaged piece of tripe thrown hastily together by a record company to make a couple of bucks. Say what you might about Ian lying back and cashing in on rehashed stuff, but I think he does a masterful job on the reworkings of his music. In listening to this recording, you can feel his love and respect for, and pride in, his creations.

It might be weird, but I think what drew me into Jethro Tull back when I was a kid of 14, was Ian's quiet side. I was more interested in Sossity than Cross-Eyed Mary. Ian had a great gift of melody. I loved his acoustic guitar and all of the other strange and wonderful acoustic instruments he worked into his music. There was really no other band quite like them.

So, there are no real surprises here. I think most ardent fans have heard everything in one form or another. Highlights for me include Mother Goose, Skating Away..., Dun Ringill and Weathercock. To me though, musically, Velvet Green is at or near the top. It combines everything I love about acoustic Tull. It is a few moments of sheer beauty and brilliance. (Much like Rush's Limelight for me.)

This is very well done and the sound is superb. Highly recommended music from an extremely underrated musician and composer. Again, well done Ian and thanks for the memories.

Having been a long time fan going on 40 years, this CD was a special treat. All great songs. Anderson's Celtic theme is obvious. Haunting music, deep and complex lyrics but in a "soft and low" style. The guitar playing is one-of-a-kind. Quality written. For those who love Zappa, you now have your A(nderson) to Z. All the rest in the middle, just isn't the same.

The first 17 tracks on this album are great snippets of Tull, and after that things get a little random. I would rather have had him include the full song of some of the older numbers and omit some of the newer, weaker ones.