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Living In the Past

Jethro Tull

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iTunes Review

Considering the massive success of Aqualung, the growing number of scattered non-LP tracks appearing on EPs and singles (and as UK imports to boot), and the fact that the band had a solid live recording from a 1970 Carnegie Hall performance, it was a logical move for Jethro Tull to issue this two-LP collection as further proof of their stature as the definitive progressive English folk rock group of its era. The band’s unusual combination of flute, keyboards and electric-acoustic guitars was rarely imitated and never duplicated. In three short years the group had transformed from an English blues band into one of the UK’s most conceptually ambitious groups. While certain key tracks in the band’s catalog established them as FM radio staples, Jethro Tull have a deep and varied catalog worth exploring. “Love Story,” “Living in the Past,” “Sweet Dream” and especially something as modest and swaying as “Singing All Day” are exemplary tracks that shouldn’t be overlooked.

Customer Reviews

Deeply loved

This was a double LP in the days of vinyl, and for a teenager growing his hair and entranced by the mighty Thick As A Brick (my other pick for indispensible Tull) all four sides were magical. Charting Tull's development from the early days of folk and Clive Bunker's powerful drums to TAAB-era polish, there are many truly great songs on here, and during the journey Tull never lose their sharp, wry edge. This was the most intelligent and observant of all the prog rock bands, with songs about real people, issues, dreams and musings, and in all of them Ian Anderson's warm, rich voice affectionately pointing out our absurdities. The level of musicianship never falters and the songwriting is just brilliant. Buy it!

Tull

Jethro Tull are a fantastic and unique band who have constantly evolved, defied genre expectations and classifications constantly and created some truly wonderful and interesting music. If you are thinking about getting into the band I would strongly recommend that you do.

If you are new to the band though, either picking up a greatest hits compilation (of which there are many) to get a broad overview of the band, or diving straight in to one of their classic albums like Aqualung, Thick As A Brick, Songs From The Wood or Broadsword’ may serve you as a better starting point than Living In The Past.

Jethro Tull’s early career before Aqualung, doesn’t sit as neatly for easy pick up as a prospective fan may want. While they released albums as normal for today’s artists, this was as well as singles that weren’t off the albums, an EP and even a separate single accidentally under the name ‘Jethro Toe,’ and so if you wanted to collect it all it would likely come in eight or nine individual purchases at a great expense.

If you are a fan or prospective fan today, the best way to acquire most of the non-album tracks in one simple solution is to get a hold of Living In The Past, which for today’s Tull buyers can serve as a compilation of all the rare pre-Aqualung material and that is so good it sounds almost like a fifth Jethro Tull studio album.

Sometimes this album is a bit of a headache to talk about, explain and file because the name ‘Living In The Past, with this artwork has actually been released many times, in different versions to serve slightly different purposes; be it in 19 track single disc rarities album form as it is on this particular version, or in 20, 21 and 23 track versions in different countries on cd or vinyl that sometimes they feature studio-album tracks to give it a more ‘greatest hits feel.’

Ignoring the history of the set and the various editions, Living In The Past is a very good album to listen to, containing a lot of varied and interesting Jethro Tull material in a range of styles, speeds and even band line ups. There are acoustic moments, hard rocking moments and live solo filled numbers with all the virtuosic musicianship you’d expect.

While the album has its share of rockers, laid back numbers and classic singles. There are also tracks like the odd and whimsical ode to British Seaside Resort, Black Pool, Lanashire, called `Up The `Pool,’, as well as `Wond’ring Again,’ which finds a full song in the style of the very brief Aqualung track `Wond’ring Aloud,’ that offer a different side to the band.

Popular and enduring tracks such as ‘Life Is A Long Song,’ ‘The Witch’s Promise,’ and ‘Sweet Dream,’ can be found here, the sort of songs that will be found on greatest hits shows and live albums and that the majority of Tull fans will love. They are also available as bonus tracks on certain editions of regular Tull studio-albums, so you may not want to buy the set only for their inclusion if you are considering taking your listening experience further.

If you are undecided as to whether or not this set is for you, take a quick look a the track listing, and see if there are enough tracks you don’t already own to justify buying it, all the songs are of a good quality and are all worth your time so its really down to if you already have most of them on other Tull cds.

Overall, This is a great collection of top quality music. It may not be the best starting point for new fans, and it may not be necessary for those who will buy all the remasters, but for everyone in between it is certainly a good purchase, one that people will often describe as their favourite Tull album as though it were an actual studio release, which is a pretty strong recommendation.

crazy awesomeness

Jethro tull, legendary...and im not even from the seventies!!! They are from then right? Witches promise is amazing

Biography

Formed: 1967 in Luton, Bedfordshire, England

Genre: Rock

Years Active: '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s, '00s, '10s

Jethro Tull was a unique phenomenon in popular music history. Their mix of hard rock; folk melodies; blues licks; surreal, impossibly dense lyrics; and overall profundity defied easy analysis, but that didn't dissuade fans from giving them 11 gold and five platinum albums. At the same time, critics rarely took them seriously, and they were off the cutting edge of popular music since the end of the 1970s. But no record store in the country would want to be without multiple copies of each of their...
Full bio

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