I'm about to piss off a lot of Tull fans, which is ironic really seeing as I'm a dyed-in-the-wool Tuller and have been for twenty-nine years. Here's my opinion: I don't think Aqualung is anywhere near the best Tull album. In fact, Aqualung would rank pretty near the bottom if I were to make a list of Tull albums from favorite to least-favorite. The only ones to rank below it would be Too Old to Rock and Roll Too Young to Die, Under Wraps, Catfish Rising, and Dot com. Nor do I think Aqualung is representative of the band's music as a whole. In fact, I regard it as being somewhat atypical in regard to their total output. Furthermore - and this complaint has a lot to do with my previous statement - I think the sound quality, at least on the album's original release, was pretty lousy. As far as I'm concerned, the albums on both sides of Aqualung suffer from a similar problem: Benefit is only slightly better than Aqualung, although it's dismal on certain tracks (Play in Time, Teacher), and Thick as a Brick is only a marginal improvement on the previous disks. I don't know how or why it happened, but A Passion Play, though scarcely a year later than TAAB, marked a return to the excellent sound engineering found on Stand Up, which had practically gone missing for three years. Before I continue, I know these are unusual statements to make, but I've been saying them for a long time and I stand by them. Also, Ian Anderson himself has said that he was not happy with how Aqualung sounded, and he has also intimated (particularly on the interview contained on the CD reviewed here) that he doesn't regard Aqualung as his strongest work and often seems as mystified as I am over the fact that Aqualung became so much more famous than any other Tull album, at least in certain parts of the world.
I love Ian Anderson and his band as much as anyone. In fact, I can say without reservation that Tull is my favorite band. My admiration for Anderson is very profound. But that being said, there seems to be a struggle going on inside the man, a struggle between creative genius and genuine humility, between fierce individualism and a "collective soul", to steal a phrase. Despite the obvious talent and the will to succeed, there was a man who was slightly unsure of himself. This insecurity manifested itself quite frequently in Jethro Tull's music, and I think Aqualung might be a good example of it. In the late sixties and early seventies there was a harder edge coming to pop music, a more menacing and troubling approach: the infancy of heavy metal. I have little doubt that Anderson was aware that groups like Zeppelin and Sabbath were at the forefront of this metamorphosis from the placid naivete of flower-power to the industrial angst of metal, and I can't kick the feeling that Aqualung was Tull's first, and perhaps only, real foray into the darker side of rock music. If there was ever a riff that could be considered a classic template for heavy metal, it was the opening riff of Aqualung's title track. There was nothing remotely similar to it on Benefit from one year before, and the heavy tracks on Stand Up were indeed heavy but still firmly rooted in blues. There was nothing bluesy about the song Aqualung, nor in much of anything on the rest of the Aqualung LP; but there is plenty of music that is dark and heavy: Aqualung, My God, with its sinister riff, Cross-Eyed Mary, Hymn 43, Locomotive Breath, and the better part of Wind Up. Note that in these songs there is a lot of single-note riffing as opposed to chordal, which was something Zeppelin and Sabbath did a great deal (Dazed and Confused, Heartbreaker, Immigrant Song, Black Dog, Black Sabbath [song], Wicked World, Behind the Wall of Sleep, Electric Funeral, Faeries Wear Boots). Needless to say I wasn't the least bit surprised to read an interview where, when asked what would have happened if Tony Iommi had stayed with Jethro Tull (the Sabbath guitarist had "joined" Tull very briefly, couldn't stand it, and quit), Ian answered: "Then every Tull album would have sounded like Aqualung." This statement is of particular interest since Iommi, of course, never played on Aqualung and had nothing whatsoever to do with that album, or any Tull album.
Ian was uncomfortable with the studio where Aqualung was recorded and in my opinion this is more than evident on the end result of those sessions. I find the sound on Aqualung to be quite shallow and thin, and maybe this was because of a lack of confidence in Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond's playing, who, according to Anderson, was a fledgling on the instrument? Also consider, this was Clive Bunker's last outing with Tull. According to what I've read, he was becoming uncertain about the musical direction in which the band was heading, and I feel that this uncertainty could have somehow been transfered into the recording process. Not that the drumming is mechanically sub-par, just that Bunker is far less present on Aqualung (and Benefit, now that I think about it) than he was on the first two Tull albums. Listen to Dharma for One, Cat's Squirrel, New Day Yesterday, and Nothing is Easy. Bunker is absolutely up front and bristling on those tracks. As an example of what I mean when I refer to the bleak sound quality from this particular period, compare the versions of Teacher offered on Benefit, where it originally appeared, and on Living in the Past, where it re-surfaced on that early compilation. The version that appears on the latter album was re-engineered and is far superior to the original version. You don't have to be an audiophile to hear the difference. In my opinion, it would have been nice if the same set of ears that produced that better version of Teacher (it might have been Ian, I don't know) could have worked the same magic over the Benefit, Aqualung, and Thick as a Brick albums in their entirety (not that TAAB is all that bad, but it wasn't as good as it could have been).
This re-casting of Aqualung is an improvement on the original, and I have to admit that I warmed to the songs a fair bit more than I usually do (of course that could have been the Rumplemintz), but it could be that there is too much deficiency in the original tapes to ensure a top-end sound no matter what magical wand is waved over them. The bass lacks punch and presence (Oh for Mr. Cornick a la New Day Yesterday!), the drums are not immediate or forceful, the voice lacks resonance and depth, I feel in large part to Ian's wanting to sound snide, sarcastic, and rebellious: it's higher-pitched and somewhat hollow. This snide, sneering tone is present on certain parts of TAAB, but is almost altogether gone on A Passion Play. I am referring to the aural, emotive quality of Ian's voice here, not lyrical content, though obviously the latter effects the former.
To hearken back to what I was saying about Ian Anderson's essential humility (in a healthy, not religious, self-loathing, sense) and what appears to me a small degree of uncertainty in regard to his muse: I think Aqualung was by and large an experiment in a musical genre from which Jethro Tull was subsequently to depart completely and in which I doubt they ever felt completely comfortable or honest. TAAB has none of Aqualung's metallic tone insofar as the music itself is concerned, and APP is miles away from it, so far in fact that it's not even hard rock let alone tentatively heavy metal; but while this is true there are quite a few times through the years when Ian seemed to be more persuaded by the fact that he was a pop icon, a position to which he might have felt duty-bound to stay at least ostensibly true, than by his own purely musical instincts. The Album "A" comes to mind, which seems like a response to the flimsy, keyboard-saturated music of New Wave; as does Under Wraps, which has our beloved Ian creating still more technologically-oriented soundscapes in order, it seems, to escape the Celtic, folksy, bucolic image Tull engendered automatically in people's minds; then there was Crest of a Knave, where almost anyone can detect the influence of Dire Straits. I put Aqualung in the category of Tull albums which, though very good and even excellent in many respects, were in some significant ways more the result of external influences and trends than of true artistic inspiration. Of course all of this is merely conjecture based on impressions I get from the music and from things Ian Anderson has said over the years, and I could be completely wrong about all of it; but If I could name one album which I *believe* to be one-hundred percent sterling Ian Anderson/Jethro Tull, it would be Songs from the Wood.
Even in old interviews when he was a young man I get the feeling that Ian was far too humble to do himself justice. At one point he says something to the effect, "Why should people pay more to see me than to get a hamburger? I know I wouldn't." When he introduces his songs in concert (see Youtube) he often seems apologetic and reluctant to play them, and acts surprised when the audience cheers like crazy as the number begins. I saw one video of a live version of Minstrel in the Gallery where Ian appears to be hesitant to even utter the title of the song, and looks around shifty-eyed once the words come haltingly forth as if waiting for audience approval, or for some heckler to raise a stink. An artist as original, intelligent, and talented as Ian Anderson shouldn't need a nod from anyone. All the critics and hecklers will recede into oblivion where they rightly belong. This doesn't include me, of course, since I never stepped out of oblivion in the first place.
I love Ian Anderson and his band as much as anyone. In fact, I can say without reservation that Tull is my favorite band. My admiration for Anderson is very profound. But that being said, there seems to be a struggle going on inside the man, a struggle between creative genius and genuine humility, between fierce individualism and a "collective soul", to steal a phrase. Despite the obvious talent and the will to succeed, there was a man who was slightly unsure of himself. This insecurity manifested itself quite frequently in Jethro Tull's music, and I think Aqualung might be a good example of it. In the late sixties and early seventies there was a harder edge coming to pop music, a more menacing and troubling approach: the infancy of heavy metal. I have little doubt that Anderson was aware that groups like Zeppelin and Sabbath were at the forefront of this metamorphosis from the placid naivete of flower-power to the industrial angst of metal, and I can't kick the feeling that Aqualung was Tull's first, and perhaps only, real foray into the darker side of rock music. If there was ever a riff that could be considered a classic template for heavy metal, it was the opening riff of Aqualung's title track. There was nothing remotely similar to it on Benefit from one year before, and the heavy tracks on Stand Up were indeed heavy but still firmly rooted in blues. There was nothing bluesy about the song Aqualung, nor in much of anything on the rest of the Aqualung LP; but there is plenty of music that is dark and heavy: Aqualung, My God, with its sinister riff, Cross-Eyed Mary, Hymn 43, Locomotive Breath, and the better part of Wind Up. Note that in these songs there is a lot of single-note riffing as opposed to chordal, which was something Zeppelin and Sabbath did a great deal (Dazed and Confused, Heartbreaker, Immigrant Song, Black Dog, Black Sabbath [song], Wicked World, Behind the Wall of Sleep, Electric Funeral, Faeries Wear Boots). Needless to say I wasn't the least bit surprised to read an interview where, when asked what would have happened if Tony Iommi had stayed with Jethro Tull (the Sabbath guitarist had "joined" Tull very briefly, couldn't stand it, and quit), Ian answered: "Then every Tull album would have sounded like Aqualung." This statement is of particular interest since Iommi, of course, never played on Aqualung and had nothing whatsoever to do with that album, or any Tull album.
Ian was uncomfortable with the studio where Aqualung was recorded and in my opinion this is more than evident on the end result of those sessions. I find the sound on Aqualung to be quite shallow and thin, and maybe this was because of a lack of confidence in Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond's playing, who, according to Anderson, was a fledgling on the instrument? Also consider, this was Clive Bunker's last outing with Tull. According to what I've read, he was becoming uncertain about the musical direction in which the band was heading, and I feel that this uncertainty could have somehow been transfered into the recording process. Not that the drumming is mechanically sub-par, just that Bunker is far less present on Aqualung (and Benefit, now that I think about it) than he was on the first two Tull albums. Listen to Dharma for One, Cat's Squirrel, New Day Yesterday, and Nothing is Easy. Bunker is absolutely up front and bristling on those tracks. As an example of what I mean when I refer to the bleak sound quality from this particular period, compare the versions of Teacher offered on Benefit, where it originally appeared, and on Living in the Past, where it re-surfaced on that early compilation. The version that appears on the latter album was re-engineered and is far superior to the original version. You don't have to be an audiophile to hear the difference. In my opinion, it would have been nice if the same set of ears that produced that better version of Teacher (it might have been Ian, I don't know) could have worked the same magic over the Benefit, Aqualung, and Thick as a Brick albums in their entirety (not that TAAB is all that bad, but it wasn't as good as it could have been).
This re-casting of Aqualung is an improvement on the original, and I have to admit that I warmed to the songs a fair bit more than I usually do (of course that could have been the Rumplemintz), but it could be that there is too much deficiency in the original tapes to ensure a top-end sound no matter what magical wand is waved over them. The bass lacks punch and presence (Oh for Mr. Cornick a la New Day Yesterday!), the drums are not immediate or forceful, the voice lacks resonance and depth, I feel in large part to Ian's wanting to sound snide, sarcastic, and rebellious: it's higher-pitched and somewhat hollow. This snide, sneering tone is present on certain parts of TAAB, but is almost altogether gone on A Passion Play. I am referring to the aural, emotive quality of Ian's voice here, not lyrical content, though obviously the latter effects the former.
To hearken back to what I was saying about Ian Anderson's essential humility (in a healthy, not religious, self-loathing, sense) and what appears to me a small degree of uncertainty in regard to his muse: I think Aqualung was by and large an experiment in a musical genre from which Jethro Tull was subsequently to depart completely and in which I doubt they ever felt completely comfortable or honest. TAAB has none of Aqualung's metallic tone insofar as the music itself is concerned, and APP is miles away from it, so far in fact that it's not even hard rock let alone tentatively heavy metal; but while this is true there are quite a few times through the years when Ian seemed to be more persuaded by the fact that he was a pop icon, a position to which he might have felt duty-bound to stay at least ostensibly true, than by his own purely musical instincts. The Album "A" comes to mind, which seems like a response to the flimsy, keyboard-saturated music of New Wave; as does Under Wraps, which has our beloved Ian creating still more technologically-oriented soundscapes in order, it seems, to escape the Celtic, folksy, bucolic image Tull engendered automatically in people's minds; then there was Crest of a Knave, where almost anyone can detect the influence of Dire Straits. I put Aqualung in the category of Tull albums which, though very good and even excellent in many respects, were in some significant ways more the result of external influences and trends than of true artistic inspiration. Of course all of this is merely conjecture based on impressions I get from the music and from things Ian Anderson has said over the years, and I could be completely wrong about all of it; but If I could name one album which I *believe* to be one-hundred percent sterling Ian Anderson/Jethro Tull, it would be Songs from the Wood.
Even in old interviews when he was a young man I get the feeling that Ian was far too humble to do himself justice. At one point he says something to the effect, "Why should people pay more to see me than to get a hamburger? I know I wouldn't." When he introduces his songs in concert (see Youtube) he often seems apologetic and reluctant to play them, and acts surprised when the audience cheers like crazy as the number begins. I saw one video of a live version of Minstrel in the Gallery where Ian appears to be hesitant to even utter the title of the song, and looks around shifty-eyed once the words come haltingly forth as if waiting for audience approval, or for some heckler to raise a stink. An artist as original, intelligent, and talented as Ian Anderson shouldn't need a nod from anyone. All the critics and hecklers will recede into oblivion where they rightly belong. This doesn't include me, of course, since I never stepped out of oblivion in the first place.
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