Jethro Tull War Child (the 40th Anniversary Edition) 2cd (2025)]

War Child was Jethro Tull's first album after two chart-toppers, Thick as a Brick and A Passion Play, and was one of those records that was a hit the day it was announced (it was certified platinum based on pre-orders, the last Tull album to earn platinum record status). It never made the impression of its predecessors, however, as it was a return to standard-length songs following two epic-length pieces. It was inevitable that the material would lack power, if only because the opportunity for development that gave Thick as a Brick and A Passion Play some of their power. Additionally, the music was no longer quite able to cover for the obscurity of Tull's lyrics ("Two Fingers" being the best example). The title track is reasonably successful, but "Queen and Country" seems repetitive and pointless…

War Child was Jethro Tull's first album after two chart-toppers, Thick as a Brick and A Passion Play, and was one of those records that was a hit the day it was announced (it was certified platinum based on pre-orders, the last Tull album to earn platinum record status). It never made the impression of its predecessors, however, as it was a return to standard-length songs following two epic-length pieces. It was inevitable that the material would lack power, if only because the opportunity for development that gave Thick as a Brick and A Passion Play some of their power.

The 40th Anniversary edition of Jethro Tull’s Minstrel In The Gallery. Original album plus seven bonus tracks (six previously unreleased) and all to stereo by Steven Wilson. The album has been expanded to include the b-side Summerday Sands, several studio outtakes, and alternate session material recorded for a BBC broadcast. The second disc features a live recording of Jethro Tull performing at the Olympia in Paris on July 5, 1975, a few months prior to the release of Minstrel In The Gallery. During the show, the band played songs from several of its albums, including War Child and Aqualung, as well as an early performance of Minstrel In The Gallery.
Minstrel in the Gallery was Tull's most artistically successful and elaborately produced album since Thick as a Brick and harked back to that album with the inclusion of a 17-minute extended piece ("Baker Street Muse")…

The 40th Anniversary edition of Jethro Tull’s Minstrel In The Gallery. Original album plus seven bonus tracks (six previously unreleased) and all to stereo by Steven Wilson. The album has been expanded to include the b-side Summerday Sands, several studio outtakes, and alternate session material recorded for a BBC broadcast. The second disc features a live recording of Jethro Tull performing at the Olympia in Paris on July 5, 1975, a few months prior to the release of Minstrel In The Gallery. During the show, the band played songs from several of its albums, including War Child and Aqualung, as well as an early performance of Minstrel In The Gallery.
Minstrel in the Gallery was Tull's most artistically successful and elaborately produced album since Thick as a Brick and harked back to that album with the inclusion of a 17-minute extended piece ("Baker Street Muse")…

This celebration of Jethro Tull’s tenth album follows a similar pattern to previous reissues, with the first disc containing a Steven Wilson remix followed by some ‘associated recordings’ including the previously unreleased Old Aces Die Hard and Working John, Working Joe. CDs two and three offer 22 track live tracks, recorded on the Songs From The Wood Tour across two American dates, (Boston on 6 December 1977 and Maryland on 21 November 1977). These unheard tracks have been remixed to stereo by Jakko Jakszyk and are completely unheard. There are two DVDs in this set. The first contains a 5.1 surround sound mix (DTS and Dolby 5.1) and 96/24 LPCM stereo versions of the both the original and Steven Wilson remixed version of Songs From The Wood. This DVD also features selected associated tracks, as well as various quad mixes and flat transfers. The other DVD contains video footage from that Maryland gig of 21 November 1977. The audio has been mixed to stereo and 5.1.

This celebration of Jethro Tull’s tenth album follows a similar pattern to previous reissues, with the first disc containing a Steven Wilson remix followed by some ‘associated recordings’ including the previously unreleased Old Aces Die Hard and Working John, Working Joe. CDs two and three offer 22 track live tracks, recorded on the Songs From The Wood Tour across two American dates, (Boston on 6 December 1977 and Maryland on 21 November 1977). These unheard tracks have been remixed to stereo by Jakko Jakszyk and are completely unheard. There are two DVDs in this set. The first contains a 5.1 surround sound mix (DTS and Dolby 5.1) and 96/24 LPCM stereo versions of the both the original and Steven Wilson remixed version of Songs From The Wood. This DVD also features selected associated tracks, as well as various quad mixes and flat transfers. The other DVD contains video footage from that Maryland gig of 21 November 1977. The audio has been mixed to stereo and 5.1.

The leap from 1970's Benefit to the following year's Aqualung is one of the most astonishing progressions in rock history. In the space of one album, Tull went from relatively unassuming electrified folk-rock to larger-than-life conceptual rock full of sophisticated compositions and complex, intellectual, lyrical constructs. While the leap to full-blown prog rock wouldn't be taken until a year later on Thick as a Brick, the degree to which Tull upped the ante here is remarkable. The lyrical concept – the hypocrisy of Christianity in England – is stronger than on most other '70s conceptual efforts, but it's ultimately the music that makes it worthy of praise. Tull's winning way with a riff was never so arresting as on the chugging "Locomotive Breath," or on the character studies "Cross Eyed Mary" and "Aqualung," which portray believably seedy participants in Ian Anderson's story.

3CD/3DVD Anniversary Collection Expands The Group’s 1980 Album With Steven Wilson’s Newly Remixed Version Of The Original, Plus Unreleased Studio And Live Recordings, And A Remixed Version Of The Slipstream Video Collection. After completing its acclaimed folk-rock trilogy in 1979, Jethro Tull returned a year later with A, an album that introduced a different sound and a new line-up. Originally intended as a solo record by the band’s founder Ian Anderson, the album’s single-letter title refers to the studio tapes, which were marked “A” for Anderson. When the album was finished, the group’s label Chrysalis insisted that it be credited to Jethro Tull, even though only two members from the band’s previous incarnation were featured: Anderson and guitarist Martin Barre. Despite that, the album and subsequent tour were well-received by fans around the world. To mark the album’s anniversary, Rhino will release A: THE 40th ANNIVERSARY EDITION. This new 3CD/3DVD set will be available on April 16.

Jethro Tull's 11th studio album, Heavy Horses, is one of their prettier records, a veritable celebration of English folk music chock-full of gorgeous melodies, briskly played acoustic guitars and mandolins, and Ian Anderson's lilting flute backed by the group in top form. This record is a fairly close cousin to 1977's Songs from the Wood – and was ultimately the hinge-piece and first of an ecologically themed trilogy which concluded with 1979's Stormwatch – except that its songs are decidedly more passionate, delivered with a rough, robust energy that much of Tull's work since Thick as a Brick had been missing. In its lustiness it arguably surpasses even Aqualung. "No Lullaby" is the signature heavy riff song, a concert version of which opened Bursting Out: Jethro Tull Live recorded that same year. Anderson sings it – and everything else here – with tremendous intensity, as though these might be the last lines he ever gets to voice.