quote:

Originally posted by stephenjohn:
Has anyone recommended Warchild - it is partly made from Passion Play out takes. Good though

Yes

Jethro Tull was my first ever live concert - with opening acts of Rory Gallagher and Robin Trover. At Shea Stadium in NYC. (If I could go back in time to that day I would want to see RG again more than the other 2,,,I was too young to appreciate what I was seeing at the time.)

Aqualung is thir masterpiece. No one has mentioned "Too Old to Rock and Roll Too Young to Die" - it's got some good cuts on it too, although not in the class of the other albums already mentioned here.

Jethro Tull made lots of great records - Aqualung is superb, but any of their records is worth giving a spin. It's sometimes good to forget modern life and just stand up and enjoy the benefits of living in the past because on the inside, outside's so far away.

ATB Rotf

Start with "Thick as a Brick".

If you "get" that - you will get the rest of their work.

"Minstrel in the Gallery" is good too

I was a teenager in the early 70s and adored all JT albums until Too Old To Rock and Roll - but never did get Thick as a Brick, so don't be put off if you don't. I also like Passion Play, which many Tull fans hate - so again don't be put off. Minstrel in the Gallery is brilliant

Well, you seem to have been recommended every album that JT have made which I think shows that although their style has changed a few times over the decades their quality has been remarkably consistent. The album that got me hooked was "Benefit" so that is where I would recommend starting. The hardest one to get into was "Thick As A Brick", but worthwhile. The ones I listen to most now are:

Minstrel In The Gallery
Warchild
Aqualung

Although I have not heard every album they have released (i.e. Stormwatch and Broadsword) the only one I do not really enjoy is "Too Old To Rock 'n' Roll".

Pete L.

I own every JT album. many as remasters (which are generally excellent)

I think 'Best Of' compilations are not the way to go. The albums are often quite thematically and musically different, although individual tracks are fine you do lose the context with a compilation.

My own picks would be;

Early period. Stand Up and Aqualung

Mid period. Thick As A Brick or Minstrel plus Songs from The Wood or Heavy Horses.

Late period. Stormwatch and Broadsword

(Terminal period-Crest Of A Knave. Badly downhill after that IMHO.)

Bruce