Jethro Tull – All The Best

While audiophile editions of Thick as a Brick, Aqualung, Living in the Past, and A Passion Play are easily obtainable, Tull's very earliest albums have languished in substandard editions on CD for ten years. This triple-CD box from England, part of EMI's 100th Anniversary reissue series, rectifies the problem, featuring newly remastered versions of This Was, Stand Up, and Benefit, each packaged in a miniature re-creation of the original LP sleeve…

To some, Jethro Tull will always be associated with Ian Anderson's flute playing and more rocking, arena-worthy moments. But like Led Zeppelin, Tull was all about balancing their sonic mood swings; they could effortlessly transform between being loud & proud rock & rollers to more tranquil folksmen in the blink of an eye. The 2007 compilation, The Best of Acoustic Jethro Tull is self-explanatory, since the 24-track set focuses solely on the "unplugged" side of Tull. But some of Tull's finest moments were acoustic guitar-based, including such early classics as "Mother Goose," "Skating Away (On the Thin Ice of the New Day)," and "Fat Man" (here's a fun game to play: the next time you watch the movie Boogie Nights, try to spot the scene that uses the latter song)…

For a time, Repeat: The Best of Jethro Tull, Vol. 2 held the distinction of being the band's lowest-charting album (and by a wide margin, at that). This little tidbit of information usually engenders an internal dialogue along the lines of one of two things: the album must have little merit or the timing of its release was inopportune…

5 Album Set (Digital Remaster): Aqualung/A Passion Play/Minstrel In The Gallery/Too Old To Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young To Die!/Songs From The Wood