The Very Best Of Jethro Tull – Duke Egbert

Ho hum. Another greatest hits album. Why bother? Ian Anderson
himself talks in the liner notes about how he always thought that
greatest hits compilations were rather like cheating. So why
release one at all? Well, ask Anderson himself in his own words,
“to get a flavour of a band with whom I was only partially
familiar”. Fair enough.

I was only partially familiar with Jethro Tull myself I’ve more
than a passing acquaintance with
Aqualung and
Songs From The Wood, but couldn’t name a track off
War Child or
Rock Island if you paid me. If the purpose of a greatest
hits CD is to give you a taste of things, then
The Very Best Of Jethro Tull works. It’s like the sampler
plate at a Greek restaurant varied, interesting, and leaving you a
bit hungry for more, or at least for a few pieces of pita
bread.

The tracks on
The Very Best Of are varied in tone and tempo, much like all
of Jethro Tull’s work. More importantly, however, they’ve been
remastered, and not since Alan Parsons’
Definitive Collection can I remember a compilation that
improved so much on the originals. Tracks like “Aqualung”, “Living
In The Past” and “Locomotive Breath” snap and chime with new life,
and even the overly-produced “Steel Monkey” has a new life and
insistent energy to it. “Songs From The Wood”, “The Whistler” and
“Bouree” are more delicate, clear, and harmonic.

The big winner, though, is “Broadsword”. I know I’ve heard this
track before, and I remember it as being boring and bombastic, a
bad example of adolescent Dungeons-and-Dragons-rock. On
The Very Best Of, it practically reaches out, grabs you, and
forces you to listen to what has turned into an eerily fascinating
song with insistent, building energy.

Unfortunately, not even remastering could save “A New Day
Yesterday” (which I had not heard before, and I question why
exactly it was included. It doesn’t sound like Tull, and it’s not
very good). Anderson made what he called necessary edits on
“Minstrel In The Gallery”, “Too Old To Rock And Roll; Too Young To
Die”, and “Heavy Horses”. I’m not that familiar with the original
tracks, but the edits seem cohesive and complete on their own.

Overall,
The Very Best Of Jethro Tull does what it’s supposed to do;
summarize one of the most varied and idiosyncratic bands of the
last 30 years in one CD of tracks designed to make you look deeper.
I found myself thinking that perhaps I need to own some more Jethro
Tull therefore, it’s a success, and recommended.