Jethro Tull remasters

Sorry not heard the re-masters. Couldn't resist responding tho' because your post took me down memory lane. The three you asked about, together with Warchild, were albums I enjoyed 30 years ago as a teenager. I don't have copies now but just might get off the lane and go onto the memory motorway and buy them. Even if it's just to find out whatever happened to my adloescent tastes. Maybe I'll buy some bags with patch pockets too
stephen john
{PS sorry if I'm rambling off topic my wife and I have just spent our third night with our new born!]

Congrats!

Ask me nicely, and make a donation to a charity of your choice and I'll send the the un-remastered originals if you like.

Bruce

Are we talking LP or CD? I’ve got a few CDs. My first dip into the Tull remasters was Benefit, remastered Japanese import in the cardboard sleeve. A wonderful job. Nicely cleaned up compared to what went before and with the tracks in the original running order – at last. Aqualung next. Again well worth it, although there’s no getting away from the fact that it was recorded in a space that sounds like a hanger. Next up was Living In The Past which has great sentimental value for me. This was interesting because the recording quality started out rough and got more polished as the tracks progressed down the years. Whilst an established feature of the collection, the remastered CD highlights this more and IMO makes it rather charming. It came out better than my dubious vinyl copy and again sounded much cleaner and clear that the previously available CD. On to War Child, which was so shit that I couldn’t believe it. One of the worst remasters I’ve heard to date (and I’ve heard a few duffers). Compressed, muddled and with a volume level change half way through “Two Fingers”. My quest ground to a halt at that point. I’ve heard that Thick and Songs are very good remastered. I’m not inclined to go there after Warchild.

Cheers

Harry

CD's not vinyl. Thanks for the tip, I put Warchild very low on my list of albums in which to 're-invest'!

If you like 'Stand Up' then do go for the re-master, it is a belter.

Bruce

I've got all the 70's remastered albums. Thick A A Brick and Passion Play sound V.good. Warchild and Minstrell, to me, sound a bit too bright and light but not what I'd call awful. Too Old to Rock and Roll is way better than the old CD (my old copy has really low levels for some reason) but I don't rate that album much anyway. Songs from the Wood, Heavey Horses and Stormwatch are well worth getting. I think they sound better, but again, a bit'crisp' here and there.

Simon - have you got Warchild remastered on CD? My remastered Jap inport is truely pants - I'd be interested to hear where you sourced yours from - if you're referring to the CD.

Bruce et al - if you get to spin Songs From The Wood or Thick As A Brick on on remastered CD I'd be keen to hear the verdict.

Not a big fan of Stad Up but still listen now and them. I might have a punt when I'm feeling carefree.

Thanks

Harry

Where did you get the re-mastered "Thick as a Brick" from? I have the album on old second-hand vinyl and love it despite the sound quality - I have heard it countless times!

Thanks,

Jon

Harry - Yes -Warchild I have on remastered CD (2003-4?) Just from your average record shop. Jon asked about Thick as a Brick - this was released as a re-master on CD a year or two before the others were all remastered. At the time it came in a boxed case with a miniture replica newspaper within. It also was re-released on remastered Vinyl for a short period.

Thanks Simon. I might risk anothr go. I can safely assume that "Two Fingers" doesn't have the volume level change on your copy because it really is a sledgehammer effect - maybe I got one of a duff batch.

Jon. Not the cheapest and watch out for the duty - but CD Universe usually comes up trumps (although they did sell me that distorted Warchild). There's a carboard sleeved remastered Thick on there for around thirty bucks - not sure if it contains the newspaper - probably not.

Cheers

Harry

My personal expierience with Tull is that all the re-masters are bad except for Thick as a Brick. As far as I have found, Aqualung on Mobile Fidelity LP is good ( one of the few Mobiles I have heard that are worthwhile) and so is Minstrel on std. LP. Hope this helps. BTW it is really hard finding Aqua on MFSL.

Charles

My knowledge of JT is very out of date. Never heard anything post Heavy Horses. What is their later stuff like?

quote:

Originally posted by stephenjohn:
My knowledge of JT is very out of date. Never heard anything post Heavy Horses. What is their later stuff like?

In my opinion they suffered the fate of a lot of bands and fell apart as time went on. Definitly their earlier stuff is better before Heavy Horses. Just my opinion though.

Charles

Benefit is my favourite Tull album with Inside from that album my favourite track, but I really like the first five - the single Love Story was the first Tull track I ever heard back in my youth and I remember thinking then they were a bit special. I'm not sure about the later albums though.

two remarks:thick as a brick is in my ears and eyes the ultimate album in rock history. ihave two on vinyl and one on cd.
the other thing is:i bought an ultra thick new remastered aqualungon vinyl and it sounded bad.
better idea:look at the second hand market for
one in good condition,buy it and listen,if its not in top condition,go and sell it and buy another one.old tull albums are often on second hand market
O.J.

quote:

My knowledge of JT is very out of date. Never heard anything post Heavy Horses. What is their later stuff like?

To be polite, variable. They retreated from the folky 'Heavy Horses' and 'Songs From The Wood' and became more 'celtic rock' with mixed success. Most fans like 'Broadsword And The Beast' which is slick and a bit bombastic for my tastes. I'd definitely suggest 'Stormwatch' as the best of the later stuff though, and 'Crest of A Knave' is alright.

In general they lost the eccentricity and humour that underpinned the early stuff. One reason is probably that Ian Anderson never seems to keep the same line up for 2 weeks running, let alone 2 albums.

I read that Ian Anderson remains one of the highest ever total earners in UK music. I believe now he is a spokesperson for the Scottish salmon industry-he owns land on Skye too.

Bruce

I still have a number of their albums on Vinyl somewhere.

Anyone old enough to remember IA standing impishly on one foot on T of T P playing his flute with his eyes sparkling like a madman's? Can't quite remember the number now...

I vagualy remember a TV programme about IA involving fish farming, lovely old buildings and music.

Witch's Promice I believe Nime.

I kept buying them after Stormwatch but for me that was pretty much where the development stopped. Still a brilliant live act to this day though.

Cheers

Harry

Oh - apart from Under Wraps which was IMO a test of fan loyality (like A Passion Play). I thought it was very good for what it was but a bloody awful recording.

Cheers

Harry

I have This Was and all else up through Stormwatch on vinyl. These are US Reprise and later Chrysalis LPs.

I bought Aqualung when it was reissued on 180 gram vinyl by DCC, the quality audiophile vinyl reissue company. I see that other DCC titles are very expensive now. By the way the DCC Aqualung sounds fine, though I have not compared it to other editions of this LP.

Have any of you compared the Aqualung MFSL vinyl issue to the Aqualung DCC vinyl issue? I'd be interested about how they compare.

Scott

IA treated his band members like shit apparently. Some one saw him recently at Fareham Folk festival and he was really rude to them during the soundcheck. If he was doing that earlier then maybe it would have been difficult to keep them?

Howard

I've heard this sort of thing before about him. It's a shame that none of the members from the 70's line up (apart from Martin Barre) have been invited back at any point. I last them back in 1993 at Croydon but they have not toured much in the UK in recent years. They really should get some live archive releases going on. There is an entire BBC concert (Sight and Sound)on film from 1977 that would be great if given an officla release. Also I think there is a filmed concert from 1975 in Paris which only clip of has been released but for some reason, I.A has not sorted this yet. The '77 concert is on Ebay all the time but I do not know what the quality is like.( Not that I would buy these sort of things from ebay, you understand.) Anyone else seen it?

I've had another punt on Warchild remastered. Fingers crossed it's not as duff as the one I now have.

Cheers

Harry

I've just received Minstrel and Aqualung and had them on the Naim. Minstrel sounds good, Aqualung poor.

I remember the last time I bought Minstrel, I was a schoolboy in 1975, it cost £2.20 from Woolworths, the new one was £4.20 from Amazon marketplace. In 1975 I played it on a portable record player with a BSR turntable that I was given: 2006 on best part of 15K worth of Naim kit. Proportional to my income the 1975 album would've cost in the region of a thousand pounds in todays money. I could not have enjoyed it more!

Today was a nice trip down memory lane

The remastered Warchild just delivered from Amazon UK has the same volume level lift half way through "Two Fingers" as the Japanese import. A quick compare with the "standard" CD confirms that this is a remastering artefact. So Warchild remastered stays in the reject bin and my advice to avoid it stands.

Cheers

Harry

Very sorry to hear that Harry, I ordered it from Amazon earlier today, ah well.

Passion Play arrived today, must be 30 years since last heard it. I enjoyed it, sounded a bit more in my face than I remembered but that might be the p.r.t. of the Naim I guess.

Aqualung sounded a bit flat and dull. But on close inspection it is the 25th anniversary edition. It says it has been remastered, but are there different remasterd versions of Aqualung out there?