Search - Jethro Tull :: Best of Acoustic

My favorite side of Tull

Ashton | New York State, USA | 05/08/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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!"

Genuine and eccentric

haregrog | Wilmington, NC United States | 05/09/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you're looking for just the greatest hits, 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."

Was Owen wrong?

eurocrank | Ketchikan, Alaska | 05/19/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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"