This Was
Benefit
Aqualung
TAAB
Stand up
Benefit
Aqualung
TAAB
Stand up
Jethro Tull--List Your Top 5
- Thread starter Clement
- Start date
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Benefit
A
Aqualung
Songs from the Wood
Broadsword
A
Aqualung
Songs from the Wood
Broadsword
Really appreciated Benefit after the Steven Wilson remix. For Michael Collins Jeffrey and Me melts my brain in 5.1. Fantastic.
It's cool that some people have posted multiple lists in this thread. There was a pretty long gap from a lot of activity when the thread was started in 2020, to when it picked up again just recently. Same for the Top 5 Yes thread. So some folks posted back then, and again recently, and usually their lists are different! Goes to show that ranking music is somewhat arbitrary, and can change over time. But it's a fun exercise.
My post in this thread (above) was one of my first posts after joining QQ. I guess I would still stick with the list I posted then, but really I love all Tull albums from the 60s and 70s, to the point that it's very difficult to rank them.
Great point.
June 2020:
Thick as a Brick
Aqualung
Benefit
Minstrel in the Gallery
Warchild
Today:
Stand Up
Aqualung
Benefit
Minstrel In The Gallery
Songs From The Wood
June 2020:
Thick as a Brick
Aqualung
Benefit
Minstrel in the Gallery
Warchild
Today:
Stand Up
Aqualung
Benefit
Minstrel In The Gallery
Songs From The Wood
Fan Poll: The 5 best Jethro Tull albums
5. This Was (Originally released 1968)4. Benefit (Originally released 1970)
3. Thick as a Brick (Originally released in 1972)
2. Aqualung (Originally released 1971)
1. Stand Up (Originally released 1969)
https://www.goldminemag.com/features/fan-poll-the-5-best-jethro-tull-albums
My Top 5...
1. Stand Up
2. This Was
3. Aqualung
4. Thick As A Brick
5. Warchild.
I don't know the newer stuff, so it's possible they will crack my ranks...
As of today, I'd probably rate mine...
1. Stand Up
2. This Was
3. Aqualung
4. Thick As A Brick
5. Warchild.
I don't know the newer stuff, so it's possible they will crack my ranks...
I can't believe Clement's the only other one who would put Christmas album in their top five. I'm young and grew up on Tull in the 2000s, so I would hear it every Christmas, so for that reason alone it definitely has a really sweet spot in my heart, with lots of sweet memories and warm feelings around it.
1. Christmas Album
2. Benefit
3. Stand Up
4. Too Old to Rock n' Roll (This one is by far the most drastic change with Steven Wilson's remix. I never cared much for this album before outside of the title track, but he opened it up so much I love it)
5. Songs From the Wood
Although they're all so good it's really hard to pick!
1. Christmas Album
2. Benefit
3. Stand Up
4. Too Old to Rock n' Roll (This one is by far the most drastic change with Steven Wilson's remix. I never cared much for this album before outside of the title track, but he opened it up so much I love it)
5. Songs From the Wood
Although they're all so good it's really hard to pick!
I agree about Too Old...; my enjoyment level of that album took a quantum leap with the book/box release. But I think it's more than just Steven's great mix: because the multitracks couldn't be found for half the album, they used a re-recorded version that was done for a TV special. The re-recordings are very close to the originals, but to me sound a bit more energetic, and produced with a more direct, natural sound. This is borne out by comparing the remixed versions of the five original songs for which the multitracks were found, to the same five songs as re-recorded for the TV show, all of which benefit from SW's remixes (both stereo and 5.1), but for me the TV versions are preferable.
To be clear, my enjoyment of all the Tull albums increased with the releases of the Steven Wilson surround versions, just as any really good surround mix lets you listen to an album you've heard hundreds of times before in an all new way. It renewed my appreciation of later albums like Stormwatch and A especially, and the earliest album This Was, all of which I had pretty much stopped listening to. But no Tull album jumped so far ahead in my esteem as Too Old, which had always been my least favorite 70s Tull album... and maybe it still is, but I like it a lot more!
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1. Songs From the Wood
2. Aqualung
3. Live - Bursting Out
4. Benefit
5. Stand Up
And gotta say M.U. Such a solid, tight compilation.
2. Aqualung
3. Live - Bursting Out
4. Benefit
5. Stand Up
And gotta say M.U. Such a solid, tight compilation.
MU - I like the transition into Bungle in the Jungle.
DAC1961
Member
As a long time Jethro Tull listener since Too Old came out, many concerts at the PHL Spectrum, I am thrilled about the Wilson releases. I have never, however owned This Was in any form, and I'm surprised by the recent love for that in some of these Top 5's. Is that the result of SW remix, packaging or other. The 50th This Was can be had for $30 or so, so it seems to be a no-brainer, eh?
Does the boxset contain mono? Maybe I need to open mine. lmao
Great album way before Stevie Wilson, just saying.
Maybe you had to be there.
Some of us were big fans of Cream, etc. when this originally came out, so it got our attention.
Both bands covered Cat's Squirrel.
The next four albums showed a progression of creativity and abandoned the British blues origins when Martin Barre replaced Mick Abrahams.
So yeah, $30 is not much to risk if you have any interest in the historical origins of the band that became the one you grew up with.
The impressive feat of Wilson was pulling together a good mix from primitive multi-tracks, but if the material isn't one's cup of tea why bother?
I loved M.U., it was the first Tull album I heard, bought from the Columbia House record club (if anyone is really bored, you can check out my earlier post about it here). I have a playlist on my phone that recreates it, but uses the SW stereo remixes - same thing for Living In The Past, which I also had on vinyl early on and loved a lot. And cheers to your vote for Bursting Out, which I couldn't get enough of when it first came out, and still play when I'm in a nostalgic mood (if you're still bored, see my earlier posts about that here and here; the second one mentions how the undoctored origin concert for some of Bursting Out is available in 5.1 on the Heavy Horses book/box).
