What does it sound like?:
When the full 1978 Bern show was included as part of the Heavy Horses box set a few years ago, I for one thought this live set from the same period would be excluded from the reissue series. How wrong I was, as here it is in this 3cd and 3 dvd set in the now tried and trusted book format. Steven Wilson once again handles the remix of the original double album, a good chunk of which originates from the aforementioned Swiss concert, with other tracks being recorded at other venues on the tour, and the whole thing having some studio fairy dust sprinkled over it by Ian Anderson that summer at Maison Rouge. The album restores to the running order a couple of songs omitted from the original release, and each of the two cds ends with a handful of previously unreleased soundcheck recordings, which are ok but fairly inessential overall – the most interesting is an early run through of 4WD (Low Ratio) which turned up a couple of years later on A. The third cd is the Madison Square Garden show from later the same year – this is the slightly edited version of the performance that was released in 2009, and has again been remixed for the occasion by the venerable Mr Wilson. The full show appears on the third of the dvds, which also includes the 50 minutes of video that was originally broadcast live on The Whistle Test. As is usual, the other two dvds contain the surround mixes and flat transfers of the material on the first two cds. Accompanying the discs is another comprehensive 96 page book that goes into plenty of detail about the album and the tour, and which certainly lives up to the high standard set in previous reissues. Not the most essential album in the Tull canon by any means, but you know you need to own it to complete your collection of the box sets!
What does it all *mean*?
Another good addition to this fine series, but I wonder where it goes from here?
Goes well with…
Remembering sitting in front of the TV in the autumn of 1978, glued to the original live transatlantic broadcast.
Release Date:
21 June
Might suit people who like…
Vintage Tull in their pomp.
Bargepole says
Twang says
It’s a great live album. I might have to go for this one. Tull were very solid live given the complexity of the music, and fun too.
Colin H says
The next in the series is ‘Living in the Past’ (to include all the extant 1968-71 TV material)…
Max the Dog says
Forgive the opinion of a (very) casual fan and those who know a lot more about the band may have a hugely different take. I only have four or five JT albums but this is by far my favourite. I like the songs of Jethro Tull but on the studio albums I have, it’s like I can hear the places where different takes have been stitched together and where overdubs have been dropped in – on this album it’s good to hear an excellent group of musicians in full flight playing as one…
Lando Cakes says
Looking forward to this one. As I have to all the others in the series, to be fair.
Lando Cakes says
I was interested to see the promo for this issue where IA seems a bit disparaging – “I’m going to enjoy putting it back on my bookshelf.” (or similar). However, in the attached novella, he is quite warm about the music and the band and clearly took some pains at the time to make sure it was a high quality album.
The answer is suggested right at the end of the novella. Like all well-adjusted human beings, he doesn’t like listening to his own talking voice. And there is a lot of stage banter in Bursting Out. It’s part of its charm, IMO, but he seems less sanguine. It’s probably worth noting that out of the 2 ‘bleeped’ words on the original release, a ‘bastard’ has now been released into the wild, while one stays in place, presumably at IA’s insistence; I suspect he is now embarrassed about dropping the c-bomb.
Jaygee says
Don’t know why, he’s been croaking out the lyrics for the best part of two decades.
Then again, perhaps you had another rather pithier c word in mind
Lando Cakes says
Ha ha I suspect so. In the intro to ‘Too old to rock’n’roll’.