Martin+barre

Promotional album, in a limited edition run of 500 copies. A couple of years before the release of "A Trick Of Memory" (the first Martin Barre solo work wich includes his own material and was properly distributed), this CD was released and distributed through the Jethro Tull fanzine "A New Day", in a limited edition of 1000 copies on CD and Cassette (500 copies of each format). Martin Barre was the guitarist of Jethro Tull for over 43 years, his sound and playing was a major factor in their success. Album sales have exceeded 60 million units and they continue to be played worldwide, representing an important part of classic rock history. Martin’s guitar playing has earned him a high level of respect and recognition; he was voted 25th best solo ever in the USA and 20th best solo ever in the UK for his playing on ‘Aqualung’. His playing on the album ‘Crest of a Knave’ earned him a Grammy award in 1989.

Martin Barre is an English rock musician best known for his work with progressive rock band Jethro Tull, with whom he recorded and toured from their second album in 1969 to the band's initial dissolution in 2012. In the early 1990s he went solo, and has recorded four studio albums and made several guest appearances.

A decent debut album, featuring a lively mix of hard-rock and r&b with progressive rock, folk, and blues sources. Ex-King Crimson alumnus Mel Collins blows the sax, and Fairport Convention's Martin Allcock and Ric Sanders turn up on a couple of tracks, but the dominant sound is Barre's guitars, soaring, crunching, grinding, or noodling gently, either blues or English folk tunes–he's not as focused here as he is on Tull's records, and his sense of melody isn't as strong as Ian Anderson's, but his playing can be entertaining and diverting. The folk-like title track is practically a lost Tull number, with a great beat and Barre singing like Anderson while playing a sweet mix of acoustic and electric guitars and mandolin. But most of the rest here is blues, r&b, and hard rock–Maggie Reeday provides the soulful lead vocals on "A Blues For All Reasons," sharing the spotlight with Barre's stinging solos and acoustic blues noodlings, and Andy Giddings' pumping Hammond organ. Some of the lyrics are dispensible, and the material doen't hold up for 50 minutes, but any fan looking for something between Tull tours may enjoy it.

Benefit was the album on which the Jethro Tull sound solidified around folk music, abandoning blues entirely. Beginning with the opening number, "With You There to Help Me," Anderson adopts his now-familiar, slightly mournful folksinger/sage persona, with a rather sardonic outlook on life and the world; his acoustic guitar carries the melody, joined by Martin Barre's electric instrument for the crescendos. This would be the model for much of the material on Aqualung and especially Thick as a Brick, although the acoustic/electric pairing would be executed more effectively on those albums.

Alan Simon is a French folk-rock musician and composer, best known for his rock operas performed with noted rock musicians guesting. Simon is associated with Breton Celticism, and his most ambitious works are typically on themes linked to Celtic myth and history. Simon achieved fame with his rock opera Excalibur, La Légende des Celtes (Excalibur, The Legend of the Celts) (Sony) in 1999, of which he was both songwriter and producer. The final part of the trilogy, Excalibur III The Origins (Excalibur III: The Origins), was released in 2012 with contributions from John Helliwell (Supertramp), Mick Fleetwood, Jeremy Spencer (Fleetwood Mac), Martin Barre (Jethro Tull), John Wetton (King Crimson, UK, Asia), Les Holroyd (Barclay James Harvest), Bruce Guthro (Runrig), Moya Brennan (Clannad), Geoffrey Downes.

This double CD is a true gift to hardcore fans, offering previously unseen glimpses of Jethro Tull when the group was at its absolute peak. Anyone else, however, may find the album rough going, for while the group was never tighter or more productive, the material isn't even second-rate. Essentially, Nightcap is Jethro Tull's version of the Beatles' Anthology releases. The first disc consists of tracks that the band started to record during 1973 – the best parts of this material ended up being rewritten and incorporated into what became A Passion Play. These outtakes are pretty at times, but also unformed and distinctly unfinished – Anderson takes a gorgeous classical guitar solo on "First Post," but then the song drifts off, and "Tiger Toon" is an early version of the principal theme from "A Passion Play," not altered too much except in tempo.

Benefit was the album on which the Jethro Tull sound solidified around folk music, abandoning blues entirely. Beginning with the opening number, "With You There to Help Me," Anderson adopts his now-familiar, slightly mournful folksinger/sage persona, with a rather sardonic outlook on life and the world; his acoustic guitar carries the melody, joined by Martin Barre's electric instrument for the crescendos. This would be the model for much of the material on Aqualung and especially Thick as a Brick, although the acoustic/electric pairing would be executed more effectively on those albums. Here the acoustic and electric instruments are merged somewhat better than they were on Stand Up (on which it sometimes seemed like Barre's solos were being played in a wholly different venue), and as needed, the electric guitars carry the melodies better than on previous albums.

Benefit was the album on which the Jethro Tull sound solidified around folk music, abandoning blues entirely. Beginning with the opening number, "With You There to Help Me," Anderson adopts his now-familiar, slightly mournful folksinger/sage persona, with a rather sardonic outlook on life and the world; his acoustic guitar carries the melody, joined by Martin Barre's electric instrument for the crescendos. This would be the model for much of the material on Aqualung and especially Thick as a Brick, although the acoustic/electric pairing would be executed more effectively on those albums. Here the acoustic and electric instruments are merged somewhat better than they were on Stand Up (on which it sometimes seemed like Barre's solos were being played in a wholly different venue), and as needed, the electric guitars carry the melodies better than on previous albums.