Jethro Tull

Nothing Is Easy: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970 is a live album by Jethro Tull, released on 2 November 2004. It was recorded on the fifth and last day of the Isle of Wight Festival 1970, where Jethro Tull were second on the bill between The Moody Blues and Jimi Hendrix.

Listen to this collection, put together to capitalize on the explosive growth in the group's audience after Aqualung, and it's easy to understand just how fine a group Jethro Tull was in the early '70s. Most of the songs, apart from a few heavily played album tracks ("Song for Jeffrey," etc.) and a pair of live tracks from a 1970 Carnegie Hall show, came off of singles and EPs that, apart from the title song, were scarcely known in America, and it's all so solid that it needs no apology or explanation…

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…

The Zealot Gene is the 22nd studio album by the British rock band Jethro Tull, released on 28 January 2022 by Inside Out Music. Nearly five years in production, it is their first studio album since The Jethro Tull Christmas Album (2003), and their first of all original material since J-Tull Dot Com (1999), marking the longest gap between the band's studio albums. The album entered the UK Albums Chart at number 9, becoming Jethro Tull's first UK top ten album since 1972. Blu-ray contains 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and 96/24 5.1 LPCM surround sound mixes and 96/24 Stereo LPCM mix.

Jethro Tull - A (1980) {Japan Mini LP Edition 2004, TOCP-67288} [CD + DVD]
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC+CUE+LOG -> 275 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 103 Mb | Artwork (web)
DVD5 | ISO -> 3.93 Gb | All Regions | 00:57:31 | NTSC 4:3 VBR | Audio: LinearPCM, 2 ch
© 2004 Toshiba-EMI / Chrysalis | TOCP-67288
Rock / Prog Rock / Art Rock

This CD/DVD combination pack, in a jewel case, features the digitally remastered CD "A" and the bonus DVD "Slipstream", which features 60 minutes of classic, live footage from the 1980 concert in Los Angeles, along with 2+ music videos.
By the end of the 1970s, the golden age of progressive rock was over, and Jethro Tull, former rulers of the prog-rock roost, entered the '80s sporting a radical change in both personnel and sound. Some of the change was a result of circumstance–longtime piano player John Evans and keyboardist/arranger David Palmer departed after '79's STORMWATCH, and bassist John Glascock had recently died, leaving only Ian Anderson and guitarist Martin Barre. Anderson enlisted Dave Pegg, the rock-solid former Fairport Convention bass player; prog-rock veteran Eddie Jobson on electric violin and keyboards, and Mark Craney, the first of several Tull drummers in the '80s.

Gone are the longtime Anderson images of the vagabond/sage (the group is clad in white jumpsuits on the cover) – also gone are the historical immersion of their music and anything resembling Dickensian, much less Elizabethan sensibilities. And nearly gone was Jethro Tull itself, for A started life as an Ian Anderson solo project but ended up as a Jethro Tull release, probably for commercial reasons. The difference is probably too subtle for most people to comprehend anyway.

Jethro Tull - Bursting Out (Live!) (1978) [2CD] {Japan Mini LP Edition 2004}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC+CUE+LOG -> 627 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 225 Mb | Artwork (web)
© 2004 Toshiba-EMI / Chrysalis | TOCP-67367/68
Rock / Prog Rock / Art Rock

Throughout the '70s, Jethro Tull was one of the world's premier live acts, regularly playing to sold-out audiences in huge arenas all over the world. With his inimitable theatrics and manic flute improvisations, Ian Anderson was always the consummate showman, and he peppers these performances with the relaxed, cheeky stage patter of a seasoned veteran. Recorded live in Europe in 1978.