The Very Best of Jethro Tull

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
Another Best Of compilation? Presumably, serious Jethro Tull devotees will already own--several times over--every single note that the squire Ian Anderson has ever puffed and grunted on that omnifarious flute of his. And with at least five Best Ofs previously available, even the inquisitive novice has been handed a good few "point of entry" opportunities down the years. So why release another? Although the veteran prog-folk rockers have hardly churned out enough studio albums in the last few years (modernity has been a bit of a struggle) to warrant a complete rethink on what constitutes their greatest moments (thus the vintage likes of "Aqualung", "Thick As A Brick", "Witches Promise", "Bouree", etc. are all entirely non-contentious inclusions) this latest career overview, featuring tracks selected by Anderson himself, isn't entirely repetitious. After all, fresh bait is dangled in the "previously unavailable" shape of three judicious, single-length edits of Tull evergreens "Heavy Horses", "Too Old To Rock n Roll" and "Minstrel In The Gallery". --Kevin Maidment

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Customer reviews

review by: Bigmatt date: 2007-05-19 rating:
Try before you buy....
You rarely, if ever, find an album that pleases everybody, and perhaps because of this you may find reviews of this collection elsewhere saying "this is a weak song" "that's not up to standard" and so on. I prefer to take a slightly different view.
What you actually have here, (and I think Ian Anderson said as much in the sleeve notes), a kind of Jethro Tull "try before you buy" sales brochure introducing you to their back catalogue. The CD spans JT's illustrious career, starting with their single "Living in the Past" and progressing in a fairly non-chronological order through some classic Tull and some less obvious choices.
I think this gives Tull newcomers a chance to dip a toe tentatively into this unique band and get a feel for their various musical directions, prior to taking the plunge proper. Once you've found a track that grabs you, all you need do is a little research to find out what album it came from, then go get that album if you want to find out more.
For example, if folk rock is "your thang", you may find "Heavy Horses" or "Songs from the Wood" do it for you, and as luck would have it, these are title tracks from their respective albums. Aqualung, with it's changing time signatures, is more prog rock and the album it's from went in an entirely different musical direction.
That's not to say you may not grow to like either style, but with such a diverse back catalogue to choose from, why waste time trying to get into something that doesn't quite do it for you at first listen? In this respect, it's almost an ideal "first" Tull album.
The other way of viewing this album, is that it's almost like a live Jethro Tull gig in layout. I bought this album after seeing Tull live in 2001, and for me, it's like having a Tull gig in my living room everytime I put it on, with the added benefit I can sit in a comfortable seat and don't have to queue for the bar! I put it on when I'm in the mood for some Tull, but don't necessarily want to hear a whole CD of similar songs - much the same feel as when you go and see a gig.
If you're a long time Tull fan, and have all their previous albums, you might only want this CD if you feel you absolutely have to have everything they ever put out, in chronological order, for the sake of completing you collection. However, you might just want it to put in the car so you can have a bit of Tull without having to carry loads of CD's around with you.

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review by: date: 2001-05-16 rating:
Seen it all before
This CD is going to have a limited audience. Any Tull fan will already have these songs in both studio and live versions (albeit perhaps on good old vinyl) The track choices are not particularly good. 'Steel Monkey' was always poor, 'Roots to Branches' is one of the weakest tracks on the album, and 'Weathercock' knocks spots off 'Heavy Horses' - not even the Eddie Jobson live version is included. Tull's longevity is a source of personal delight, and I have great memories of 'Budapest' in 1991 and a certain young lady who was part of the stage show for that song, but this is not 'the Very Best' - except perhaps in the opinion of the compiler....oops!


review by: haasmic date: 2001-04-05 rating:
Tull Compilation Album Hits The Spot
Tull have been making records now for over 30 years. In all of that time, however, there has never been a single cd which fully represented their entire distinguished recording career. The long wait is finally over with the release of this disc. Featuring songs from their very early years, like "Song For Jeffrey," "Bouree" and "Living in the Past" up through their next to last studio album, "Roots to Branches," this cd constitutes an excellent sampler of the band's work. Long-time fans of the band will, of course, already have several copies of the songs on this disc, but the convenience of having them all together more than makes up for it. My only quibble with the album is that it nowhere mentions Ray Davies and I believe that the inclusion of a more complete informative booklet on the history of the band and the songs on the album would have been a plus for those fans who already have these songs. Still, this is definitely a must have cd for new fans and old. Hopefully, in ten years time, we'll be able to look back on this cd and say, like the band did on their first album, "This was how [Tull] were playing then--but things change....don't they."

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Aqualung: 25th Anniversary Edition
Songs from the Wood
Living in the Past
Thick As a Brick
The Best Of Acoustic Jethro Tull

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