Two-Disk Japanese Version of the Hard-Rocking Live Album
Lonnie E. Holder | Columbus, Indiana, United States | 10/31/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I am not a big fan of live albums. Often the songs are poorly recorded live versions of what is already available on studio albums. Even when the music is recorded well, why have a live version when the studio version is better? However, there are a few live albums that present recordings better than those from a studio, or show a different side to a performer or group than the studio albums. This recording falls into the second category.
Jethro Tull has presented many stylistic faces during their lengthy career. There has been blues/English folk music, jazz-flavored music, and the rock that has gotten Tull classified as a hard rock group. The wonderful feature of this recording is that Martin Barre's lead guitar put a harder edge on many of these songs, making them sound harder than the original studio recordings. Often there are extra riffs that flavor more staid recordings; other times there are extended instrumental portions where the lead guitar screams hard rock. As an example, while "Locomotive Breath" was never a pop song, the enhanced guitar work and extended intro change the character of this song significantly from the studio version. This version is better.
A classic already considered hard rock, "Aqualung," clocks in at over eight minutes, adding substantial length to the original. Much of that additional length is in an extended bridge and a lengthened ending that features pounding piano, drums and guitar. It is songs such as these that threw Jethro Tull into the hard rock/metal category, though Jethro Tull has a range far beyond this category.
This remaster of the 1978 release is a very good cross-section of Tull's first ten years, better than the numerous compilations that are purported to be "best of" or "greatest" hits. This remaster improves significantly on previous releases of "Bursting Out." Not only are all the songs from the original vinyl release available, but the first disk is introduced by Claude Nobs and the second disk is introduced by Ian Anderson.
Jethro Tull and Ian Anderson continue to fill concert halls more than 35 years after the creation of Jethro Tull; an incredible testimony to the musical power of Ian Anderson and a group that has become nearly timeless. This album celebrates that group near the peak of their popularity and creativity; a worthy addition to any collection of classic rock and worthy of a 5-star rating.
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Track Listings (9) - Disc #1