release date: Mar. 19, 1971
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5]
producer: Ian Anderson, Terry Ellis
label: Chrysalis - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 1. "Aqualung" (4 / 5) - 2. "Cross-Eyed Mary" - 3. "Cheap Day Return" - 4. "Mother Goose" (4 / 5) - 6. "Up to Me" - 8. "Hymn 43"
4th studio album by Jethro Tull. The album feature John Evan has official member on keyboard and a change of bassist as Glenn Cornick has been replaced by Jeffrey Hammond. Stylistically, the album continues from Benefit (1970) with a combo of progressive rock, hard rock, and folk, but it feels like an even more elaborated album with several strong compositions. It's regarded to be the band's first conceptual album, although, band members reject it as such; however, music critics point to a central theme of the distinction between religion and god.
The album peaked at number #4 on the UK albums chart list and it's enlisted on several best of albums of all time including the band's only entry in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die", and it's the band's best-selling album to date. My brother played the album a great deal back in the early and mid 70s, so I was familiar with it as a young teenager, and already found it interesting, although, not quite as intriguing as Deep Purple, back then.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]
