Search - Jethro Tull :: 25th Anniversary Box Set

Discs from the Wood

Prog Nerd | Southern California | 08/30/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I haven't been a Jethro Tull fan for more than a couple years, although it was probably inevitable that I eventually delve into their music at some point. I got into prog-rock via Rush while in high school in the mid-90's, and the older brother of my good friend was a Jethro Tull fan. Eventually one Christmas, said friend burns me a hodgepodge collection of Tull tunes from the 20th anniversary boxed set, thereby familiarizing myself with more than just the radio staples "Aqualung", "Thick As A Brick", "Living In The Past", and "Bungle In The Jungle." The music subconciously reminded me of our younger years, which a lot of time was spent in a nearby riverbottom in my scenic southern California valley town, talking about Dungeons & Dragons, smoking joints, and going on hikes through the various wooded trails. To this day, this is the imagery that comes to mind when hearing Tull's eclectic mix of prog, classical, folk, jazz, blues, and Eastern music.



The 25th Anniversary boxed set is a wonderful collection of material, both for the diehard fan, or a Tull newbie. Disc 1 is a set of "remixed" tracks, which almost sounds like a complete re-engineering of their classic material. Vocals have reverb added, instrumentation is added or removed, and the overall bass and warmth is punched up. (This may be sacriligeous to some, although I enjoy any new take on an old chestnut.) Disc 2 is a complete show recorded across a few nights at New York's Carnegie Hall in 1970, during the time of Benefit. Two of these tracks were sampled on the '72 Living In The Past compilation, although some splicing and editing appears to have been done on John Evan's piano solo, or so I hear. Disc 3 is various songs recorded live in-studio in 1992, featuring some reimagined and reworked arrangements. I particularly enjoy these versions of "With You There To Help Me" and the abbreviated "Thick As A Brick." Disc 4 is a collection of various live material spanning from '69 radio sessions to live songs from the '91-'92 Catfish Rising tour. What I like about this is that some of these songs are often overlooked, or in some cases, hard to find in live version (see: "A Passion Play", "Seal Driver", "Nobody's Car.") Also, there's not terribly too much overlap with the live songs on the 20th anniversary boxed set, which is quite nice.



The booklet is wonderful and informative, and the old used cigar box to hold everything is a nice touch. A nice companion release to this is the 25th anniversary DVD (A New Day Yesterday), which has various old promo and live clips interspersed with reunion interview footage at an English pub of (most of) Tull's past and present members.



So sit back with this set, dim the lights, crack open some wine, and have some fun "living in the past." As for me, I'll be listening on the dusty old riverbottom trail, watching the sunset while having a smoke with my lady Jane..."

Interesting collection if you can find it reasonably priced

JESSE R. MC Glown | Enterprise, AL | 09/23/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A couple of minor points. The first CD is indeed all remixed versions of classic tracks. I'm not sure whether any actual overdubbing was done here; rather, they seem to have gone back to the original multi-track tapes ( from which master tapes are made ). The second CD, though, is the Carnegie Hall concert...or rather most of it. If there's a rip-off inherent in this package, it's here: two pieces, By Kind Permission Of ( John Evan's piano solo ) and Dharma For One ( Clive Bunker's drum solo ) are seemingly deliberately omitted, even though there was enough space on the CD for them. A marketing ploy, I'm sure, designed to entice you to go buy the classic Living in the Past album, which has contained those two pieces all along. If you listen very carefully, Evan's piano solo was edited out of With You There to Help Me from the disc in this newer set, along with Dharma for One. It's hard to splice it in ( I've tried! ), because of the difference in EQ between the original piano solo and what little bit of it made it onto this new disc. CD three is some new versions of old tunes, and CD four is a hodge-podge of random live tracks from over the years. All in all, a good set."

Rounds out Tull collection

Murph the Surf | Albany, N.Y. | 05/08/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This makes my Tull collection complete. The live recordings, from 1970 and across the world & through the years, are fantastic. Was fortunate to get this in good shape and at a good price. I will never forget the first time I heard Tull. It was Christmas 1970 and my older brother had recieved "Living in tne Past" on 8-track from my parents. I don't think they knew what they were buying him, he had just asked for it. He would sit in his room and play it over and over again. I was twelve at the time and could not help being drawn to the music. The music and lyrics are so unique and catchy with Tull, it's impossible to not enjoy. This is one of the few bands where I have collected everything possible. In fact, I also have everything put out by Mick Abrahams, the first guitarist for Tull. Check him out for some excellent tunes (Blodwyn Pig in particular)."