Jethro Tull - 20 Years of Jethro Tull Definitive +Album Reviews

An Excellent Set of Jethro Tull music

Anthony M. Pirro | Granada Hills, CA USA | 05/20/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I really enjoy this Jethro Tull 3 CD set. I used to have it on casette, but once I got a cd player I spent like 8years scouring all the record stores for this collection. Then I finally found this collection on CD and had to get it, its really a great set of songs...I don't have a favorite track, they are all good from start to finish. This is in my opinion one of the best Jethro Tull complilations that has been released. I highly recommend any casual or die-hard Jethro Tull fan to pick this up if you can find it, beleive me you will not be dissapointed."

Some interesting material for the Tull fan

J. Carroll | Island Heights,NJ | 08/03/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"BBC recordings and a few oither live bits. A look at the band early in there career when Martin Barre was just starting with them. Not the best sound but cleaned up as well as could be for the time of this release.

Disc II:

Basically a greatest hits CD with the difference being that most of the recordings are from concerts. That at least separates it from the 10 other greatest hits sets this band has out there. (OK, maybe not 10.)

Disc III:

The Flawed gems here are really intriguing, particularly the "Chateau D'isaster Tapes" which really might have proven to be very interesting had the band decided to pursue it.

The tabloid size booklet does not give too much info, but does tell where the tracks came from and Anderson does his usual humorous forward. Far from a perfect set but for the material worthwhile."

The First Jethro Tull Box Set, Many More Will Appear In The

PHILIP S WOLF | SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, CA. USA | 03/10/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This 1988 Three CD Box Set was Released when Box Sets were still Scarce in Record Stores {Remember Those?}. In the 1980's, Dylan and Springsteen had created a new sensation with these Packages, so it was a Big Deal when Chrysalis Records brought out this "Limited Edition" "20 Years of Jethro Tull" "The Definitive Collection".

From 1968 with the Release of: "This Was" up to the 1988 selection featuring Martin Allcock: "Part Of The Machine". These Three CD's feature 65 Tracks of Essential,Rare and Unreleased Material. All the Normal Things are indeed represented herein: "Teacher", "Aqualung", "Thick As Brick". The Rare tracks include: "I'm Your Gun", "Pan Dance" and The Jethro Toe, Single of 1967: "Aeroplane". The "Flawed Gems" include the: "Chateau D'Iaster Tapes" and "Mayhem, Maybe".

Again I will say that this was quite an Honor for Jethro Tull, to be done up in the Big Box Set Format. Today in 2008, everybody has a Box Set {With many Artists that don't Deserve One in the first place!}. But this Set of CD's from Twenty Years back, still serves Jethro Tull well. It does Double Duty as both a: "Greatest Hits" Package and a Historical Document that contains many New Nuggets of Treasure. Yes, this won't be the Last JT Box Set, as there will be many, many more, but for now it is still the Best One that you are gonna find. And In it's Large Box and Full-Color Booklet, it is one of Better Produced Box Sets that you will come accross....FOUR STARS !!!"

Some brilliant rarities - and greatest hits

Matthew Schwarz | Bridgewater, nj United States | 10/27/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this in 1990 when it wasn't too old. It was definitely worth it for the Tull fan, although now with the remasters, maybe not as much. It was arranged for 5 vinyl records thematically, although the 3 CDs would've made as much sense - what you get are 3 groups of songs:

1. the usual greatest hits that make up most box sets (pretty redundant if you ask me - why buy an expensive box set if you don't already like the band enough to buy their regular albums). Here, interestingly enough, it's mostly acoustic stuff. I think people often asked for an album of acoustic Ian Anderson stuff so they grouped the classic acoustic songs here.

2. Live stuff. Again, somewhat redundant - there's live albums out, and I tend to prefer the studio version of a song for repeated listenings; even when I buy live albums I tend to listen to them pretty rarely. However, if you're a fan of live recordings, there's some material from the 80s as well as classic songs that should be a treat.

3. Unreleased tracks. Here's where it's worthwhile. Honestly, they should just release the "unreleased" songs separately, without all the stuff we've heard before. Anyway, about 30 songs here spanning Tull's career (from before the first album to a new song from 1988 for the set) most of which is quite good. A large chunk from the "Broadsword & the Beast" era, some of which sounds more like 70s Tull than anything that made the album - apparently Ian wanted to "move on", so he left out the really good stuff!

So, if you're a big fan of Tull, have their albums, and would like more songs from their classic era, this is a treat for you. However, if you own the modern remastered Tull, many of these songs have ended up as bonus tracks, so it may be redundant. You can lookup the track listing on wikipedia if you're not sure!

The Nightcap double-CD is also unreleased material, which hasn't all appeared on remasters."

I agree, except

W. E. Mattner Jr. | tampa, fl | 09/03/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It was great at the time to purchase this and peruse the enlcosed booklet while enjoying the plethora of music (each CD has more than 15 songs). My only pan about the collection is how some songs are cut short--just when you're getting into them, for whatever reason, Chrysalis/Ian Anderson/whomever fades out the song."

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