Jethro Tull have definitely been one of the more progressive
\nacts throughout the decades. Known for their use of the flute,
\ntheir thought-provoking lyrics, and the stage antics of frontman
\nIan Anderson, they’ve become one of the more eccentric bands in the
\npantheon of rock. But before the 30-plus minute songs, before the
\nblending of progressive and folk elements, and even before the
\nfamous guitar licks of Martin Barre, there was this.<\/p>\n
It’s quite obvious that the group was a definitely a blues band
\nat this point in their career. And in being one, the flute wasn’t a
\nvery accepted instrument in the genre, and that’s why less of it is
\nheard when compared to other Tull albums (though it’s still
\nprominent throughout the album, on songs like “Beggar’s Farm” and
\nthe mostly all-flute instrumental”Serenade to a Cuckoo”).<\/p>\n
However, it is compensated by Mick Abrahams’ talent on the
\nguitar. This man is one of the best blues guitarists around, and
\nit’s unfortunate that he was only on this album (not to say that
\nBarre is a lesser guitarist, but that it would’ve been interesting
\nto hear how Abrahams would sound on later albums). His brilliant
\nriffs in “Dharma for One” and “Cat’s Squirrel” are some of the best
\nguitar lines ever written in rock and roll.<\/p>\n
“A Song for Jeffery” is the only track that most casual Tull
\nfans are able to remember from this album. It’s unfortunate that
\nother, better tracks are neglected, but the aforementioned song
\nstill sounds quite good, even after all these years.<\/p>\n
The crowning achievement (at least to me) is easily “Dharma for
\nOne,” which starts out with a powerful flute and guitar attack,
\nwhich then leads into a drum solo that bands like Led Zeppelin and
\nBlack Sabbath probably drew on for inspiration. It also showcases
\nClive Bunker’s talent behind a kit, and has a wicked little
\nAbrahams solo overlapping Bunker’s frantic skin-pounding right near
\nthe end.<\/p>\n
One thing that I just never cared for on this album is
\nAnderson’s harmonica. I know it was a very common instrument to
\naccompany the guitar in the blues genre, but after all these years,
\nit seems a little dated. The only time I can say I enjoy it is in
\nthe ultra-bluesy “It’s Breaking Me Up.”<\/p>\n
When looking at the whole of the Tull discography, this album
\ncertainly sticks out as being quite different from the rest. Much
\nmore raw and bluesy, it still however retains most of its desired
\npower from when it was first released. I still believe it to be one
\nof the better efforts by Anderson and co., and when one is finished
\nlistening to the album, it becomes clear that
\nThis Was<\/i> awesome.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":24594,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5643],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-38008","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-jethro-tull","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38008"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38008\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38008"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}