More of the Music of Jethro Tull
More Records with Specific Advice on What to Listen For
Space is critical to the success of the dense mixes employed in the proggy parts of the recording. The best copies have room for all the instruments to separate themselves out. Just to take one example: the drums are everywhere: higher, lower, in the front, in the back; in short, all over the place, and there’s no doubt in our minds that they were meant to be heard that way, not congested, blurred and smeared together on a single plane as they were on many of the copies we played.
And not thinned out either, which is not so much about space but sure is important on a rock record.
Want to find your own top quality copy?
Consider taking our moderately helpful advice concerning the pressings that tend to win our shootouts.
In our experience, this record sounds best this way:
Side One
Minstrel in the Gallery
Cold Wind to Valhalla
Black Satin Dancer
Requiem
Side Two
One White Duck/0=Nothing at All
Baker St. Muse
Grace
AMG Review
Minstrel in the Gallery was Tull’s most artistically successful and elaborately produced album since Thick As a Brick and harkened back to that album with the inclusion of a 17-minute extended piece (“Baker Street Muse”). Although English folk elements abound, this is really a hard rock showcase on a par with — and perhaps even more aggressive than — anything on Aqualung.
Wikipedia
In 1975, the band released Minstrel in the Gallery, an album which resembled Aqualung in that it contrasted softer, acoustic-guitar-based pieces with lengthier, more bombastic works headlined by Barre’s electric guitar. Written and recorded during Anderson’s divorce from his first wife Jennie Franks, the album is characterised by introspective, cynical, and sometimes bitter lyrics. Critics gave it mixed reviews, but the album came to be acknowledged as one of the band’s best by longtime Jethro Tull fans,[citation needed] even as it generally fell under the radar to listeners familiar only with Aqualung.
Discography
This Was (1968)
Stand Up (1969)
Benefit (1970)
Aqualung (1971) (Top 100)
Thick as a Brick (1972) (Top 100)
A Passion Play (1973)
War Child (1974)
Minstrel in the Gallery (1975)
Too Old to Rock ‘n’ Roll: Too Young to Die! (1976)
Songs from the Wood (1977)