Aqualung: Jethro Tull - Extended Play Lounge (Episode 12)
Added 2022-01-16 20:54:56 +0000 UTCUnlisted Vimeo Link: https://vimeo.com/666507522/9733dac24d
Thanks for your voting! I really enjoyed listening to Aqualung by Jethro Tull. As you'll hear in the video, I had only heard Aqualung and Locomotive Breath prior to listening to the album. I found the music to be smart and unique...a great listen!
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Comments
I could never get past Stand Up, after which the porridge just became too gloopy.
George Davis-Stewart
2023-03-15 18:55:10 +0000 UTCHello Doug, nice work once again on your reaction to Aqualung. I really enjoyed it and I’m really enjoying being part of your Patreon group! I’ve been a long-standing, devoted fan of Tull and I consider Ian Anderson to be one the greatest, most prolific, and overlooked songwriters of his generation. He is also, of course, a supremely talented singer and multi-instrumentalist. I’m sure that you’ve realized that Aqualung is a concept album that indicts society and side two more specifically indicts organized religion, in this case, Christianity. A hallmark of Ian’s lyrics is to mix thoughtfulness and intelligence with profane irreverence! Lastly, thank you for sharing some of your background. I grew up going to at Catholic high school and Catholic college, and I was always the rebel! When you spoke about the Bible, I think you meant viewing it as an allegory, an opinion that I share with you. Thanks again for your fine work! Cheers!
Gerard Dion
2022-06-28 03:15:40 +0000 UTCNice to see some Tull on your channel...this is a terrific album, but I think you would find Songs from the Wood more interesting. Great meld of English folk music with rock and roll. I get the feeling you will be hooked from the first couple bars of the opening track. :)
Bill Oboczky
2022-06-02 13:55:00 +0000 UTCI was pleased with the personal material at the end of this video. Interestingly, it largely tracks with what I'd guessed...although the "clues" to that, I can't point to anything specific! And so it's unsurprising that Anderson's abhorrence of religious hypocrisy might strike a chord—he is not, as the faux-biblical verses from the album cover Bill Bolosky quotes above make clear, critical of the religious impulse or spirituality or the idea of God (see the last line!), but the abuses and hypocrisy of those who hide their sins behind a cross (or any other emblem). And also somehow manage to ignore the "sins" of society that allow us to ignore people like Aqualung. That's the sense in which this is a concept album: side one observes humanity, and sometimes our inhumanity, while side two looks at the way religion, despite allegedly being focused on saving humans and being humane, instead becomes a tool for self-dealing and self-justification.
Jeff Norman
2022-03-24 04:49:52 +0000 UTCYou should check out "Wond'ring Aloud, Again," available on Youtube. I was about 15 or 16 when I found a copy of Aqualung at a yard sale. Though it's not my favorite JT album, it was life-changing for me. Digesting this album caused me to question my Southern Baptist upbringing for the first time. You still need to give "A Passion Play" a listen, and give Zealot Gene (the album) a go. ZG's context is much like Aqualung--best to listen to the album as a whole. I know you were underwhelmed with the title track. Keep in mind that Ian, now in his 70s is dealing with COPD and blew out his voice years ago, so you won't find the lovely range of vocals from his younger years, but ZG also draws heavily from Biblical texts and has some powerful lyrics.
Gina Gustin
2022-02-06 00:06:39 +0000 UTCJohn Even ultimately reached the proficiency level in the UK to qualify for conservatory training. He did some great stuff live in the mid-70s with a string quartet the band toured with.
David Granger
2022-02-05 05:55:55 +0000 UTCI might just have to drop some single song recommendations on Discord for some more Tull stuff for you to listen to and analyse, Doug. Their music is so rich and changed so much over the years that basically every album would have something that would surprise and delight you. I'll get working on those! :D
Luciano Paciornick
2022-01-26 05:37:48 +0000 UTCReally fun video. I only rated it one heart... because there weren't options with more! ;)
Eusebio R-Z
2022-01-26 03:25:59 +0000 UTCDharma for One is a song of theirs that I am waiting for someone to react too. Includes a weird hybrid instrument they invented too. Weird song that is just amazing.
Noah Hallman
2022-01-25 23:06:18 +0000 UTCIMHO ... the most enjoyable song on Aqualung to play & sing is "Mother Goose".
Rick Morse
2022-01-21 16:06:54 +0000 UTCThanks Doug, that was good, I had never listened to Aqualung before, indeed the only JT album I had previously heard is Songs From The Wood.
FallingLeaf
2022-01-20 13:47:52 +0000 UTCYes, Cheap Day Return refers to the lowest cost train fare, and you have to travel and return off-peak, extremely challenging on the Blackpool to Preston Line
Itsfun2listen
2022-01-20 08:37:28 +0000 UTCIt's been suggested that the Charlie who stole the handle in Locomotive Breath might be thought of as Darwin, and thus the train to oblivion now can't be stopped.
David Granger
2022-01-20 06:18:05 +0000 UTCThe tile Cheap Day Return refers to the train.
David Granger
2022-01-20 06:13:57 +0000 UTCThe Jack Knife Barber performs abortions?
David Granger
2022-01-20 06:10:33 +0000 UTCI'm saving Passion Play for an Extended Play here.
R. Douglas Helvering
2022-01-20 03:38:27 +0000 UTCGreat idea! I'll give that a try.
R. Douglas Helvering
2022-01-20 03:31:25 +0000 UTCThank you.
R. Douglas Helvering
2022-01-20 03:29:41 +0000 UTCPerhaps the line which best summarizes Ian's commentary on religion and the social and caste-based abuses of God is this: "He's not the kind you have to wind up on Sunday."
Rick Morse
2022-01-20 01:31:26 +0000 UTCReally great episode Doug. This album has a lot of personal meaning to me as it was given to me in 1971 as a christmas present. I was 15 had just gone through the divorce of my catholic parents and the subsequent fallout of not wanting to attend church anymore while my parents who both stopped were still pressuring me. The song Wind Up, after attending 8 years of parochial school, was like a flashlight showing me the way out. Thanks for doing this one. Oh yeah, the songs rock!
Brian Pate
2022-01-20 00:26:44 +0000 UTCI really enjoyed this play lounge, Aqualung is not my favourite JT album and the Steve Wilson mix is impeccable. It’s interesting for me to hear the perspective of others who are not from the generation or area that JT originate from. I am a child of the 50’s, born in Lancashire and lived in both towns that JT reference, JT are from Blackpool in Lancashire in the North West of England. There reference points resonate squarely with me. Thanks for an enjoyable, now let’s get to Passion Play
Itsfun2listen
2022-01-18 19:35:49 +0000 UTCDoug, you indicated how much you loved "Wondering Aloud". Check out "Wondering Again", which takes the same melody and constructs an entirely different song around it. It, in turn, gets combined with Wondering Aloud in Wondering Aloud Again. Worth checking out.
Dave Cohen
2022-01-18 11:13:04 +0000 UTCThe homeless man who is feared vs. the homeless man who fears "us" and whom we might feel sorry for. The two sides of the album cover.
David Granger
2022-01-18 06:36:10 +0000 UTCOne piece you're missing by not having the physical album is the liner notes. They say: 1. In the beginning Man created God; And in the image of Man created he him. 2 And Man gave unto God a multitude of names, that he might be Lord over all the earth when it was suited to Man. 3 And on the seven millionth day Man rested and did lean heavily on his God and saw that it was good. 4 And Man formed Aqualung of the dust of the ground, and a host of others likened unto his kind. 5 And these lesser men Man did cast into the void. And some were burned; and some were put apart from their kind. 6 And Man became the God that he had created and with his miracles did rule over all the earth. 7 But as these things did come to pass, the Spirit that did cause Man to create his God lived on within all men: even within Aqualung. 8 And Man saw it not. 9 But for Christ’s sake he’d better start looking.
Bill Bolosky
2022-01-18 04:30:57 +0000 UTCWhile Aqualung wasn't my preference from a compositional standpoint, this turns out to be a excellent reaction video, which has generated deep, personal reflections from Doug, and reminded me that these are also some of Ian Anderson's most personally revealing lyrics. Also a reminder of how brilliant Ian's short acoustic pieces are. From Wond'ring Aloud, to Life is a Long Song, to One White Duck, Nursie, Salamander... This is also a chance for me to hope that someday Doug will do an album reaction to Renaissance (Prologue, Ashes Are Burning, Turn of the Cards). Or here's a more obscure wish: Gryphon! Either Red Queen to Gryphon Three, or Raindance.
Scot Poland
2022-01-18 00:08:12 +0000 UTCThe only song i've heard from this album was Aqualung and now hearing the full album is so nice, even better than i was expecting it would be! Thanks!
Renan
2022-01-17 22:48:16 +0000 UTChttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXVwFvkNTEg
Andrew Wingham
2022-01-17 22:44:05 +0000 UTCWond'ring Aloud is a beautiful song and I was gladly surprised when this new edition came out because it added a super extended version of it.
Juan Ignacio Quesada
2022-01-17 16:41:34 +0000 UTCI'm noticing that the audio sync at the beginning is somehow off by a second or two. When I have a chance, I'll re-render the video and update the link.
R. Douglas Helvering
2022-01-17 15:32:56 +0000 UTCI've loved this album since the day it was released (old guy here) and this might sound strange but it contains one of my favorite lines ... "And the flowers bloom like madness in the spring" ... poetic genius! Thanks Doug!
Stop Propaganda
2022-01-17 15:29:52 +0000 UTCWhat a wonderful, insightful video. Your comments on the lyricism was on point and the way you closed the video was thoughtful. Aqualung is one of my favourite albums of all time, and right up there with the greatest prog albums ever made. I find many prog bands too clinical and pretty, so the way Ian and the band write their songs with a hefty dose of old folk and blues influence really, really speaks to me. Their sound is not completely polished, it still has texture and organic joy of musicmaking in it. Ian's lyricism and vocals are drenched in sarcasm and pith without coming across as being overtly smug. His voice is not pretty, but immediate. They are theatrical without being pompous. And instead of just writing something clinical and complicated ("cool"), like a lot of their contemporaries, they know how to write memorable hooks while still sounding adventurous and challenging.
Olavi Lorenz Jussi
2022-01-17 15:06:46 +0000 UTCAs a person who listens and sings this album for years (I was IA impersonator of a JT tribute band in BRAZIL) this video helped me to understand even more what I sang for many years. I read the lyrics and translated them years ago so I could understand what Ian was saying. But thanks to you, Doug, I was enlightened today. All the best
Claudio Fernandes
2022-01-17 14:11:00 +0000 UTCThis is a great video. You really have captured the essence of a great album. Coincidentally in 2013 Ian Anderson was given the highest award of 'Prog God' at the Prog Magazine Awards. I guess things have come full circle!
Philip Briddon
2022-01-17 13:28:17 +0000 UTCThanks Doug, for this great reaction. The focus on some of the lyrics was very informative. I never read them and also hadn’t understood them all by listening. And thanks for the outtro. I’m not religious in any way, but I get an idea where you’re coming from and how you evolved to your present ‘you’. Indeed, in a way we’re not our parents’ sons and daughters but are singing our own song of life.
Frits van Voorst
2022-01-17 13:11:27 +0000 UTCThank you for your honesty regarding religion. I agree with so much of what you said at the conclusion and therefore your interpretation of Aqualung. I will listen several times to the last five minutes.
Andrew Wingham
2022-01-17 13:09:16 +0000 UTCIts amazing that i never got into Jethro Tull. I think we are sitting in the same boat on this one Doug. I have only heard Aqualung and Locomotive Breath. But i have known about this band for so long. Great video Doug.
Vei Hei
2022-01-17 12:06:36 +0000 UTCIan Anderson says he did not have formal flute teaching.
Andrew Wingham
2022-01-17 11:37:28 +0000 UTCYeah! It is from the perspective of Aqualung in Mother Goose :)
Jason Stockwell
2022-01-17 05:40:12 +0000 UTCI think you’ll find that Ian Anderson and Neil Peart are two of the best lyricists in rock. While musically there are other albums that I think you’ll love, this really is a great place to jump in with Tull (even though you’ve done Thick as a Brick). Since you live Wond’ring Aloud, you’ll have to add Wond’ring Again to your listening list. While it probably won’t rise to the top above A Passion Play and Songs from the Wood (also albums you must listen to), I still think you will love Minstrel in the Gallery and highly recommend it. A musical and vocal high point for the band, and an overlooked gem. Oh, and another must listen for you is Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s version of Jerusalem.
Randy Hammill
2022-01-17 03:44:36 +0000 UTCI think Doug and Ian connect to religion in the same way. The analysis of those themes in the lyrics is spot on. My perspective is that this is in fact a concept album. If you consider the trajectory of side 1, it's almost a mirror, in the material world, of the journey that takes place in the spiritual world on side 2. The lecherous Aqualung mirrors the corruption of the Church, and the religious huckster satirized in Hymn 43 is paralleled by Cross-Eyed Mary's prostitution. And so on. Could be coincidence, though :-) Also, I can picture this done as a musical. It does have some theatrical aspects.
Richard Moore
2022-01-17 03:24:35 +0000 UTCI want Life Is a Long Song played at my funeral :-)
Richard Moore
2022-01-17 02:49:12 +0000 UTC1:04:23 in the video is Doug's exact moment of Zen!
Richard Moore
2022-01-17 02:47:51 +0000 UTCThanks, Doug - Aqualung is a masterpiece album indeed, and it was great to enjoy it again along with your reaction! Next JT Extended play, please do Songs from the Wood...!
Nelson Br
2022-01-17 02:12:59 +0000 UTCWell, this album was ruined for me so many years ago by the overplay on FM radio of the tracks ‘Aqualung’, ‘Cross-Eyed Mary’ and ‘Locomotive Breath’, so much so that I never cared if I heard the album again. So it was with some trepidation I sat through today’s episode. I came out of it with a new respect and enjoyment for the other tracks I never was completely exposed to. A lot of this is due to just sitting and listening with a compelling guide, musically. I still can’t stand the previously mentioned tracks, but this album has now been removed from my personal SL. Thanks for that, Doug - it’s a compliment.
Peter Tutak
2022-01-17 01:15:45 +0000 UTCMartin "Bar", as in "Two guys walk into a bar." The elephants and lions are not things Ian sees. The foreign student is having a trick played on him, by being told that Piccadilly Circus is an actual circus, rather than just a place where the traffic converges. I love the way you and Ian simultaneously said "Hmm"! Did you think "Wond'ring Aloud" was too short? Have I got news for you! There is a long version! Recorded at Morgan Studios, mixed by Steven Wilson... a bit too dry, I think. But has a lot more lyrics! Has a commentary on overpopulation, on poverty, on the environment... and seemingly a poetic expression of a miscarriage, or at least that is my interpretation. And it runs a full 7 minutes. It has been said that you can't have really extreme positions with the Church of England. The worst it would be is "Have tea and cake with the vicar, or die. Cake or death." I just love your joy at listening to "Wind Up". Bookmark this for the Highlight Reel of 2022. Maybe even put this as the teaser for the YouTube crowd. The swaying, smiling, laughing, clapping. Gold. TEASER: You're sitting listening to "Wind Up", getting more and more into it. "Ok, stop." You pause. The video fades to black, and the message pops up telling us to see the whole thing at your Patreon. But in the background, "Well you can ex-communicate me on my way to Sunday school, and have all the b— it's just hysterical! And brilliant!" END TEASER. There's another big way that the Bible is like a comic book. What is the character of Jesus? What is his nature? What is his personality? Depends on who was writing him at the time.
Ray Sincere
2022-01-17 00:21:32 +0000 UTCWhere did you find that? It sounds interesting.
Bryan Sheehan
2022-01-17 00:08:31 +0000 UTCAs much as I may have preferred one of the other Tull releases, I still love this one and have been looking forward to seeing you review this. A lot of Tull fans and critics of the day declared this one a concept album, much to Ian's dismay. In reaction to that claim, Ian and the gang actually set forth to create a concept album, which became Thick As A Brick.
Bryan Sheehan
2022-01-17 00:07:57 +0000 UTCThis was an exceptional broadcast Doug! Thanks so very much for bringing it to us.
Jim Reeves
2022-01-16 23:42:59 +0000 UTCIn 1980, John Evans (along with David Palmer) started his own band after Tull, and called it "Tallis", after Thomas Tallis, the Renaissance English composer. The recordings from this ensemble have only very recently come to light, in the form of an album called "In Alia Musica Spero" (loosely translated as 'I Place My Hope in Other Music'). Assisted by David Bristow, fellow JT members Barrie Barlow and John Glascock (and other luminaries, such as Gordon Giltrap), it comes across with more overt classical influence than JT, but with much the same flavor, and a bit of clavinet funk to boot. And the playing is just excellent.
Peter Tutak
2022-01-16 23:41:52 +0000 UTCWe're on the same page, there's enlightenment in the church music and the inspiration of it. Not so much the liturgy when it bends away from humanism.
Jim Reeves
2022-01-16 23:36:21 +0000 UTCWent to a Martin Barre Band concert on Friday, and they did the entire album!
Russell L. Craft
2022-01-16 23:08:57 +0000 UTC"My God" the human artifice spoils the enlightenment.
Jim Reeves
2022-01-16 23:08:02 +0000 UTCLocomotive Breath is my all time favorite (glad you finally heard the intro which so often was omitted). I've always thought of Cross-eyed Mary more literally - a young girl, with very thick glasses, perhaps just a bit behind the others, few or no friends, especially to play with, so she's alone in a crowd. (I sometimes think that there's a kid like that in every school...)
Great Scott
2022-01-16 22:55:24 +0000 UTCDOUG!!!!! You absolutely need to hear Iron Maiden's cover of "Cross Eyed Mary", it's incredible (Maiden are HUGE Jethro Tull fans)! They recorded it during the Piece of Mind sessions in 1983, it's a great example of a band covering a song and making it their own, it's really heavy, YOU MUST HEAR IT!!!!!
Christopher Rapier
2022-01-16 22:49:24 +0000 UTCI love this album tho I have never really listened to the lyrics, no wonder it spoke to me this deeply. I've been in a church choir as well @doug and since im in europe I've also sang in cathedrals.
Human Person
2022-01-16 22:29:58 +0000 UTCDoug - if you enjoy Anderson's acoustic vignettes, check out "Life is a long Song" or "Skating Away (on the thin ice of the new day)".
Murdock Moriarty
2022-01-16 22:23:36 +0000 UTC'Wondering Aloud' is probably my favourite track...so simple...so beautiful
Andy Ambrose
2022-01-16 22:07:12 +0000 UTCNear the beginning of the video, you pronounce Martin's last name like the word "bare" but I think it is actually pronounced like the word "bar"
BRIAN MILLER
2022-01-16 21:44:45 +0000 UTCHeard this so much, it really is easy to forget that it is a fantastic album and most of all a perfect intro to Jethro Tull. I voted for a different album, but understand this was a justified choice. John Evans was a hell of a rock piano player! Also the acoustic side of the band - to me - always was an important part of their appeal. Also one cannot help but notice how carefully arranged all this music is, something even more so done on subsequent albums of the 1970s.
Murdock Moriarty
2022-01-16 21:33:19 +0000 UTC
