Jethro Tull: 'Aqualung' The Most Un-Prog of Prog Albums Ever!

[@frankshailes3205]

I remember being bored on a long journey, buying an R.E.M cassette from a motorway services and there was something wrong with it, wouldn't play so I took it back and they offered a free choice of another tape from the shelf so I randomly took Aqualung. What a life changing day that was! Great to revisit this album and group, through your excellently researched and presented video - thank you!

[@justgivemethetruth]

Cool.

[@gerardmclernon8149]

Mother Goose has to be my favourite Tull song. Always brings back memories of being 14 and on holiday.

[@faeembrugh]

My former brother-in-law was a big fan of this album and used to play it almost every time we went to visit him and my elder sister in their groovy hippy pad. It absolutely brings back the early 1970s for me as soon as I hear any of the tracks played - well, that and The Wombles.

[@eddiemethot8925]

I bought Benefit in early 1971 and remains one of my favorite Tull albums.

[@awesomedallastours]

And the flowers bloomed like madness in the spring.

[@rightchordleadership]

I challenge anyone to find a single less-than-stellar moment on Aqualung. It's literally perfect.

[@MohsinWadee]

Actually I can find one less than stellar moment - Mother Goose. It's a third rate Simon And Garfunkel ripoff. Embarrassing.

[@rightchordleadership]

@@MohsinWadee Nah. Mother Goose is terrific and a fan favorite for a reason.

[@MohsinWadee]

@@rightchordleadership I hate it.

[@rightchordleadership]

@@MohsinWadee that's cool. Nobody is obligated to like everything. 👍

[@stuartriefe1740]

I think Mother Goose is a masterpiece of London life, set to an catchy tune that can live in your head for weeks…

[@mountzod]

Just got it on vinyl, along with Thick as a Brick, Minstrel in the Gallery, A Passion Play, and Songs from the Wood... their work is amazing.

[@GeoffCB]

Steven Wilson remixes? Aqualung album is much sonically improved.

[@MultiPetercool]

You need a segment on the lovely Annie Haslam and Renaissance. Maybe a series on the of Women of Prog?

[@ducasteve]

Brilliant review. Aqualung and Quadrophenia were my coming-of-age albums in my late teens. At age 17, Aqualung with its “Windup” and “Hymn 43” had me deeply question what I had been taught at Sunday school. Hugely influential on my life!

[@mr.milehi9883]

I need to tell you that your thumbnails for your videos are very good. Since my eyesight's so poor, I invert everything so the text is wide in the background is black not despite that it's easy to pick out videos from your channel. That's a really good thing. So thanks for that.

[@allanforrester2612]

Wond'ring Aloud is one of the most exquisite songs, lyrically and musically, to be found on any rock album, in my opinion.

[@jersey65]

I have always believed that Ian Anderson is one of the most underrated songwriters in rock, Prog or whatever history. While I love this album and think it’s as close to perfect as possible, I actually find, “A Passion Play” to be their best work. I know, I know, I pissed off most Tull fans but, this is just my opinion.

[@uncleambient]

You are correct about APP being their best album

[@Stonecutter334]

Hey for once we agree! Great lp. I first saw Tull in 76. I was 16 and like most people this was the lp that got me into them. Its aged extremely well and its one I still play.

[@gumbycat5226]

Loved this album since the day it came out. There isn't a moment that feels weak or misplaced. Anderson's voice is unique, vitriolic and amazing.

[@terryzobeck3978]

I'm regularly impressed with your articulateness and insightfulness. You obviously put a great deal of thought and energy into each of these videos. This is one of your best. I was introduced to Jethro Tull by Stand Up, which remains, perhaps, my favorite Tull album, but when Aqualung came out I realized its greatness. Tull had taken their music to another level. I think it is their best album. There is not a weak track on it. Your analysis has given me a new appreciation of several of the songs, even after more than 50 years. I think I'll give it a spin tonight. Thank you.

[@justgivemethetruth]

As a kid when Aqualung came out I liked it immediately, and at that time in a kid's life where one gets their first music making device - a Radio Shack Realistic Modulaire booksshelf component stereo system. Loved that thing, and Aqualung was my first LP purchase. Then I worked backwards to Benefit, Stand Up, and This Was - and forwards until today. Great music, great groups.

[@johnnythefox9830]

There aren't many albums one can call a masterpiece, but this one one of them. Thanks for all you do.

[@philippelahaussedelalouvie6107]

What an excellent and insightful review or rather analysis of a classic album. I have every Tull and IA album and listen to them daily. What is a sustained feature of JT/IA albums is the careful structure of the album. The mix of hard rock with bluesy then acoustic folk, creates moods and atmospheres, akin to many great classical musical pieces. Anderson really starts this in Aqualung. An album is not just a series of songs..it is a complete 45 minute entirety, together with the artwork of the LP cover (which we used to be able to contemplate whilst listening), and enter a whole imagined world.

[@nyrocks5580]

I have a framed and autographed by Ian lithograph of the Aqualung cover in my home office. I bought it around 25 years ago or so. My first exposure to Tull was when I got the MU Best of album for my 13th birthday. I then worked backward through the catalog. I'm still astonished by how phenomenal they were for a 10-year period, starting with the Stand Up album and then various musical sparks afterward for another 20 years.

[@thomasfahey8763]

I was in a prog fog from '69 onward and this album featured prominently. Always maintained I saw them on the same bill as ELP but recently realized the concert dates were months apart. I blame it on all the smoke in the auditorium.

[@justgivemethetruth]

Ah, "conceptual rock of Aqualung" ... that's what I wanted to hear. Great essay, thanks!

[@jimalaimo8467]

Easily in my top ten albums of all time!! I listen to it as much now as I have for the last 5+ decades. Thanks for a fine overview. 😊

[@classicalbum]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@foreverpinkf.7603]

My first Tull album and the most loved.

[@arthurfarrow]

The train crops in TAAB 2, where an adult Gerald Bostock plays with model trains

[@tullfan2560]

Aqualung is a truly iconic album in so many ways. If you take Anderson's definition of prog as being any and all types of non-standard music, then Aqualung is definitely prog. Unusual feel and atmosphere; unique blending of instruments; lots of variation in light and shade, tempo speed and volume; great intellectual and poetic depth; sonic topography.

[@MrButtonpresser]

I used to love coding at work while Aqualung was blaring in my headphones! A real escape!

[@rmgibsontx]

I was lucky enough to be a teenager when "Aqualung" arrived - it was fantastic, and still is!

[@robertkimber822]

One of the albums that changed my life.

[@ianemery4355]

First Tull album I ever bought way way back in the 70's 2nd album was the double album Living in the past! 👍

[@robison5396]

Excellent review of one of my top 3 Tull albums. I particularly love Ians' acoustic playing at this period of the bands' career, none more so than on songs like Cheap Day Return and Mother Goose..and yes, you can absolutely hear the influences of Roy Harper and Bert Jansch.

[@geofftottenperthcoys9944]

My older cousin got me into Tull in '84, been a fan since, mainly the early stuff.

[@normanhunter7]

Great review of my favorite Tull album!

[@classicalbum]

Thanks

[@markwhitaker3673]

Super review Barry-as usual. This has always been my favorite Tull album and the first one I bought. My teen age friends, and I were big Sabbath, Purple, and Who fans but we rounded that collection off with Tull and this album in particular to satisfy our intellectual and poetic leanings, calling it our egghead music. I still feel it is a brilliant album even with later Tull contributions to music. To me Tull were more accessible and required minimal work to enjoy unlike ELP and Zappa. Thanks as always-cheers.

[@CasperLCat]

Cross-Eyed Mary is an underrated hard rock gem, with John Evan’s wonderfully grimy organ sound, adding to the weight of the groove. And than there’s Evan’s oh-so-bluesy piano intro that sets up Locomotive Breath. John Evan was essential to the sound of some of Tull’s best songs, IMO, especially on Aqualung.

[@jasonbone7033]

This album, dare I say it is one of the most PUNK records I have ever listened to.

[@douglasstruthers8307]

AQUALUNG was my first Jethro Tull album but albums like THICK AS A BRICK and STAND UP are my favourite Tull albums these days. Yeah, I would say other Jethro Tull albums like THE PASSION PLAY and the aforementioned THICK AS A BRICK are much more "progressive" than is AQUALUNG. Interesting video - thanks for posting!

[@NelsonMontana1234]

I was a prog fan since 1970 with ELP, King Crimson, YES and Gentle Giant. And I never thought of Aqualung, or Tull , as prog. If anything, it was a more mellow version of Anderson's earlier work. That's what made Thick As a Brick such a surprise. Is it their finest? I actually rate it behind the first three. Then again, those are really good albums.

[@charlesnolan7602]

In 1971 I was in my IV form ( Sophmore) at boarding school. A new student had purchassrd Aqualung at a Heathrow airport shop, and introduced me to it- OCTOBER 1971. 53 years later the line: " He's not the kind of god you have to wind up, on Sunday!

[@kw19193]

Very, very well done mate. Not a big Tull fan myself but that does not stop me from recognizing the lyrical depth that the band possessed. All praise unto you for highlighting that. Such a good job that I'm going to refrain from pestering you about Fever Tree's first album. Cheers!

[@johncollier9280]

Thank you for highlightin' Fever Tree's first album. I'm from Texas (Fever Tree were from Houston) 'n this album is one o' the best debuts in all albumdom. Another personal favorite that doesn't get the attention it surely deserves: the self titled first album by It's A Beautiful Day. A perfect record first note to last.

[@robertjewell9727]

Particularly descript overview. I agree with all your insights. Best wishes.

[@classicalbum]

Thank you kindly!

[@pachucocadaver66]

Great Review mate . Cheers 🍻

[@sciwiz57]

Aqualung, Thick as a Brick, Songs From the Wood, Heavy Horses- best lineup, best work IMO

[@TheAlbumReviewchannel]

Extremely provoking and apt assessment of a wonderfully prog progressive rock album. The standard has been set

[@GorgeousRoddyChrome]

The most compelling review of Aqualung I have read or heard. So good! 🙏

[@greatgable1]

I/we use to practice some of these songs with early ' it bites' members when we were kids in a council house parlour .Great songs for learning the craft

[@kennethwofford4489]

I saw It Bites open for Tull in 1989.

[@terrywilliams7827]

Only Tull album I own, love it. Steven Wilson remix fixed alot of the sonic problems and 5.1

[@jerrypotente872]

A wonderful critique of a brilliant masterpiece by Ian and Jethro Tull!

[@claychaney-m5m]

8 times out of ten, when you here Tull on Classic Rock radio...it comes off this album.

[@BillyDane76]

This time of year, you can’t beat a bit of SFTW or Heavy Horses. Love an autumnal album - Van the Man’s Moondance and Hard Nose the Highway also spring to mind..

[@kenetto7659]

Quality review my friend, thank you. I agree, it's a superb piece of work, and the title track is a rock masterpiece - I love the lyrics and the theme. Regarding Locomotive Breath, I see this as an analogy of life, of someone losing a grip on life as things collapse around them - running headlong to his death with no way to slow down. Keep up the great work.

[@ohsoedgy6888]

Thank you for Jethro Tull for making flutes rock!

[@lemming9984]

I'm glad someone else has said what I've always known - Aqualung isn't Prog! It's a great album, but Tull didn't Prog until TaaB.

[@shanocles]

A fantastic album!! Thanks again for your time and effort and honest review ... gets better each year 😊

[@markcastillo2757]

Jethro Tull forever

[@gerryrafferty7500]

My god that was good analysis , I have a PhD in a Jungian analysis of early Genesis lyrics and the use of archetypes

[@tlpowell51]

Love this guys videos👍

[@danschreffler1280]

Under Lysergic Influence, I once believed this album was created just for me to hear at that specific time. Funny to learn later that he didn't imbibe in the stuff. How did he know I would, though?

[@kingkillah101]

Another gem video Barry! I find Aqualung to be similar to a rich dessert, a pure perfect image of all that we love about Tull condensed. Is it a concept album? Of course it is. It just doesn't have a streaming character narrative, instead it's a brilliant pastiche of all things grubby to us rebels, who never get to walk the ancient cobbles of your great city. I love this album and it stands up easily amongst the best of rock. I often wonder what would have sounded if Barry played on it? I caution to say Clive seems to somewhat dial it in on this one. (Barry live 78 rendition puts it all to rest!)

[@kingkillah101]

And the wind up omission is as legendary as missing IT as metaphor as the doctored dik! We're onto you, CAR!

[@TajBlues]

Well done, Barry! Love your content.

[@gerryrafferty7500]

I love Tull inspite of not being English , Aqualung my second favourite after Thick as a brick and love busting out and minstrels gallery . Top class enjoyable and informative analysis

[@rightchordleadership]

Bursting Out Minstrel in the Gallery

[@storymansworldofdiscovery1831]

Thank you for the best reviews and the education!!

[@classicalbum]

Thanks for watching!

[@peterdixon7734]

Listened to it yesterday (an old day now) - the greatness is undiminished, although there were also some mighty live performances of the material. I noticed that, even in the early days, there seemed to be a lot of pressure on the voice. I wonder what vocal coaches would make of it. I recall a vocal coach hearing Ozzy's early voice and wondering if that would be pushed over the limit within ten years or so. Anderson had difficulties after about 1984/85.

[@peteberry3826]

Another great video. Very informative.

[@ducasteve]

Thanks!

[@classicalbum]

Thank you so much

[@PeterMayer]

Whether it's prog or not, this is a solid album.

[@andrewgoss9013]

Nooooo!! I was so looking forward to Wind Up. God (pun intended), I love that song 😆

[@neilwest1814]

A masterpiece!

[@ElaineJones-w5e]

The new jethro Tull Christmas album is out 6/12 not 2/12 as I said before certainly having a look at it

[@rikkiportner8482]

Really upping your game with the archival over the past months. Looks better and better as you go. Nicely done. Maybe 5 second cue snippets like Trash Theory?

[@IvanIvanov-pc5cr]

Forgotten Wind Up is beautiful, driving, energizing song :))

[@mk-dr4pv]

Don't forget Tull was up for a Heavy Metal award at one time 😂

[@bennyscomin]

A few years later, it would seem he wasn't quite finished with his observations on the plight of the downtrodden with the more musically sophisticated "Baker St. Muse" on Minstrel in the Gallery.........a brilliant mind who would, at the end of the 70's, put his money where his mouth was by employing many in a remote region of Scotland to run his salmon farm

[@c.a.t.732]

Anderson's displeasure at the Aqualung character resembling him on the album art must have been made worse by his portrayal in the group portrait, as shown at 6:32, where he looks very much like the same character as shown on the front and back of the album. (I just realized it's interesting that Clive Bunker is shown sort of in the background, as he was to leave the band shortly thereafter.)

[@bobparr4723]

I think Songs from the wood is more of a traditional folk album. Still brilliant though

[@spiritualarchitect4276]

I never considered Aqualung a prog album. A concept album, yes, but prog, no. Still my favorite and best Tull album. March ~ Aqualung April ~ Sticky Fingers August ~ Who's Next September ~ Electric Warrior November ~ Led Zeppelin IV, Fragile, The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys 1971, what a time, seven of the Greatest albums ever made.

[@TheDavidtk240]

Great record, but I'm still a bigger fan of Benefit. The earliest song I can think of to mention "snot". This, from the man that gave us the sublime Reasons for Waiting.

[@PhilBaird1]

That's my take on it too. I felt more of a connection with Benefit and the beautiful Reasons for Waiting off Stand Up.

[@tullphantom]

This song was co-written by Ian and his (then) wife, Jenny, and it was she who wrote that "snot running down his nose" part....Ian has said so himself :)

[@BillyDane76]

Love - Forever Changes: ‘Live and Let Live’ (1967): Oh, the snot has caked against my pants, It has turned into crystal… 🎶

[@R2Zmedia]

It's a great album, but my favourite Tull albums are SFTW and Heavy Horses.

[@sciwiz57]

Absolutely agree

[@kennethwofford4489]

Yep, my favorites too along with Stormwatch and Bursting Out Live.

[@bonecanoe86]

Here's an idea: Prog songs by non-prog bands.

[@gerryrafferty7500]

Love it , Bohemian rhapsody, she so heavy to start with

[@garethallen4191]

Terrapin Station

[@jeroenwarner4834]

Tte ninth wave

[@simonevans343]

My first album.

[@fredranger7385]

Interviews with musicians like Thijs van Leer or any musician you like and respect would be really cool.

[@classicalbum]

I've done loads of interviews... check the 'interviews' play list

[@majwilsonlion]

Nice review. Thanks! Wanted to ask something unrelated. In many of your vids, there are canvases in the background. Maybe I missed prior mentions, but are you or your partner an artist? And is there an online gallery or available works? Curiously,

[@pattardn]

Whoever thinks that prog is all just about otherworldly fantasy has never listened to Tull. Instead of starting off sky-high and (mostly) staying up there inhaling vacuum (or, in some cases, laughing gas), Tull start from the very seedy bottom and go up to God. Then, they bring you back to safety with a warning: life can never be the same after touching the bloodied wound that is life. Master tunesmiths and wordsmiths the whole bunch!

[@nyrocks5580]

Right. Those other themes and more in prog are something I have zero interest in, which is why a lot of it falls flat for me. Tull are in so many genres that they are their own.

[@justgivemethetruth]

I think Jethro Tull & Ian Anderson owes everything to the art on that Aqualung album - period. Not everything legal is just or fitting, and if after hearing that song on the radio that cover art of that album, and the concept of the verse from the Ian Bible I doubt I would have bought the album and become the Jethro Tull enthusiast I am today. It only reflects negatively about Ian Anderson that he would not recognize that contribution and instead stand on the law. It's not like he could not afford it, or the request was outlandish at all ... at all. It's an FU to the audience/consumers that puts artists in a bad light.

[@opinion3742]

A critique of organized religion. Not an attack on Christianity.

[@andybetts6584]

Eloquent dissection of a supreme record

[@RoyalDavid]

Quite poetic and persistent analysis of Tull's both creative and commercial coming of age and financial out of the red albums. However, hardly the pinnacle of creativity after which only dwarf albums ensue as applicable to many other bands. Tull voyaged forward to issue several more creative masterpieces over the decades and even beyond 1979 that looking back show Aqualung as more dated than timeless.

[@stevecarroll8256]

Anderson never learned to drive, hence the references to trains.

[@JoyDivision88]

I saw Jethro Tull in 1970 when they toured with Procol Harum. Still like those classic albums, but live I found Ian Anderson's prancing and gesticulating quite distracting so I ended up listening with my eyes shut for most of the concert. I cannot listen to the more recent stuff as Ian's voice naturally has lost its edge and power that comes with age and I prefer not to listen as I find it slightly depressing.

[@ctmdoh6542]

Digging your Miles shirt

[@rumblehat4357]

I believe Ian Anderson had throat surgery a while back and this is why his voice is as it is now.

[@user-mad7max11dystopia]

How right they were. I grew up in the Bible Belt in a valley in the shadow of the Appalachian mountains and had just begun to piece together the questions of how could the Bible be true when Santa Claus was revealed to me as a hoax. My older sister shared the album with me and the lyrics and music truly blew my young mind. Proud to say that with future assistance from disparate sources ranging from Christopher Higgins to George Carlin I arrived firmly in the camp of no longer believing in the invisible man who they claim lives in the sky. Alas for the religious fanatics they were a bit too late with their album burning in my case. But hooray for me. Life is difficult enough without worrying about ridiculous imaginary fire, brimstones and streets of gold. Do you need cars in the afterlife? What value is there in gold? Do they charge rent? Anyway, Aqualung was a fantastic album and Locomotive Breath is in the same league as Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon as a depiction of life if approached in typical socioreligious fashion. Did I invent a word there?

[@rightchordleadership]

Hitchens?

[@user-mad7max11dystopia]

@@rightchordleadership yes. My bad for not proofreading. Thanks.

[@ElaineJones-w5e]

The Jethro Tull Christmas album is £39.99 hmv

[@eximusic]

If you have a list of the attributes of prog that consensus agreed upon, you could say it's un-prog. Listen to Yes Fragile, King Crimson Red, and Van Dere Graaf Pawn Hearts and tell me what in the world they have in common. Anyway we can agree it's a great album.

[@eyeofamon]

I've never seen a first printing of the vinyl, I'm curious if Jennie Anderson got co-writing credits from the beginning. My hunch is she only got credit on what was [conveniently] Tull's biggest hit as a divorce settlement.

[@kennethwofford4489]

She got credit at the time but it is now credited to Ian Anderson only. I always thought he got the rights from the divorce.

[@jumpinjimmyjazz950]

I own a first pressing and yes I'm pleased to say that Jennie has credit for the words to the title track. Anderson is being disingenuous recently.

[@paulbush8881]

As always super review I really enjoy your take on all things musical will you be doing a review from Santana ? 'Caravanserai' (1972) · 4. 'Borboletta' (1974) etc my favorites , i look forward to hearing seeing from you cheers from Austria not really prog but rock jazz fusion ??? well worth a review

[@classicalbum]

Possibly!

[@trippknotic]

I was sitting on a park bench recently when someone yelled out “ Oi Aqualung! “ wtf?

[@63mckenzie]

I wonder if side two's religious themes (particularly Wind Up) were influenced by Lindsay Anderson's 1968 movie IF which parodied the public school system, the C of E and Army.

[@NormanStansfield1]

Ha ha. Jack Knife Barber looks like Buster Bloodvessel of the 80's UK ska group Bad Manners. Martin Barre's guitar playing and John Evan's keyboard playing were outstanding in Tull. Sadly, when punk hit, Ian Anderson panicked and fired most of the band which was the end of Jethro Tull.

[@dirtyflute]

The front cover was actually Burton Silverman's self portrait, not Anderson.

[@eyeofamon]

If you've ever seen a photograph of Burton Silverman, it's very clear that Aqualung is him, not Ian Anderson.

[@frankpentangeli7945]

I'm not sure Wond'ring Aloud is "the closest Anderson comes to writing a love song" when Reasons for Waiting exists on Stand Up. Nevertheless, Wond'ring Aloud is stunningly beautiful in its own right.

[@Stratocus]

It wasn't until I began living in the UK in the mid 70s that I became fully aware of Jethro Tull. I'd heard the odd track, here and there, but it wasn't until Songs From the Wood that I became a true fan and that remains, to this day, my favourite Tull album. I subsequently came to appreciate Aqualung as one of the most important albums of that era. And the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame loses all value and credibility by it's exclusion of Jethro Tull.

[@rightchordleadership]

Agree with all of that

[@papalaz4444244]

"..and what is the concept of this album, Ian?" "Well, it's mainly about a filthy prostitute, the death of a cocaine addict and a pedo."

[@Ferretbomber]

which is the attitude of the outsider Ian was trying to illuminate, people with no mercy or compassion.

[@GeoffCB]

A rather superficial analysis of the characters, Ian's message was a little deeper than that!

[@papalaz4444244]

@@GeoffCB It's called "humour", mate.