September 5, 1975 - Minstrel In The Gallery

Just under a year since "War Child", Jethro Tull released their eighth studio album "Minstrel In The Gallery" on September 5, 1975. After the deliberately less progressive "War Child" with much shorter songs, this new album shows Jethro Tull combining the more instrumental progressive rock of "Thick As A Brick" and "A Passion Play" with the more folk inspired rock of "Benefit" and "Aqualung". I applaud this shift as I was not a huge fan of "War Child", and am excited to hear this line-up get back to what they do best: progressive rock. Let's dive in!

Side one starts with the title track "Minstrel In The Gallery" as the album opens up with what sounds like a medieval squire announcing the arrival of a roaming band to play music for a Lord and Lady. The first couple minutes are all Ian Anderson as he sings in his usual voice, adds bits of cool flute and carries the opening with some nice acoustic guitar. At about the 2:20 mark Martin Barre's electric guitar signals the entry of the rest of the band. Jeffrey Hammond and Barriemore Barlow play a nice rhythm section as Barre leads the way with some wicked guitar. He's playing lots of great sounding stuff in this slightly heavy riff and it sounds wonderful! Barlow starts a new drum beat that takes the song to a new part with more great guitar by Barre. Anderson joins in on flute and things sound pretty great in this new riff. Anderson's singing fits the mood really well and Hammond plays some solid bass as well. Everything sounds great and this 8-plus minute song is so refreshing after last year's record. A fantastic way to kick off the new album! Up next is "Cold Wind To Valhalla" as Anderson introduces the song and then goes off for a speedy acoustic guitar riff that sounds great! He's really going quick, but also very precise as we hear Ian play some cool flute as well. Dee Palmer, who's been with the band adding orchestral music for a few albums now, conducts a string quintet (four violins and one cello) and they sound really nice along with Anderson's cool opening. I really like his singing as well as he again starts off the song all by himself. The band joins eventually as the acoustic switches to Barre's electric guitar and it's a seamless shift to this bigger, grander version of the same riff. Barlow plays some cool drums and Anderson continues to add in some awesome little flute bits. Barre delivers some cool guitar at the end as he and John Evan rock out to close the song. Track 3 is "Black Satin Dancer" and Anderson is playing some cool flute right away. His voice sounds very beautiful and Evan's wonderful piano adds to that feel. The strings sound nice as well as this opening sounds very cool. After about 2 minutes it shifts to a new part that sounds really epic! Flutes, guitar, strings, bass and drums all sound great together and Barre goes off for a solo. He plays some really awesome stuff in this solo and segues nicely into a new part with some cool organ by Evan in the background. It's Anderson's turn as we hear a flute solo that is fantastic! It speeds up and once again they move seamlessly from one awesome part to the next. This is what Tull was meant to do! Barre's new guitar riff sounds pretty sweet as does Anderson's singing in this verse. The two of them play off each other in an amazing bit that is basically a bunch of little solos! Both sound incredible, and they decide to break it down to half speed! This is a pretty epic breakdown as Anderson plays some really cool flute. Then it's back to the soft, piano opening as they tie this wonderful song together with a neat little bow. That is the Jethro Tull I'm talkin' about! Superb stuff from everyone! The side finishes with "Requiem" and once again Anderson opens the song by himself with some soft singing and cool acoustic guitar. The string quintet joins him to make another beautiful riff. This song is clearly not the headbanging, progressive awesomeness that we hope for, but Ian does a really good job at writing beautiful ballads as well. He adds some flute to the mix that only makes things sound better and if you're gonna do a sappy song, this is surely the way to do it. A very strong first side.

Side two begins with one of the weirdest song titles you'll ever see: "One White Duck ÷ 0¹⁰ = Nothing At All". Anderson opens this odd equation with some slow acoustic guitar. The strings feature nicely once again as this song also has a beautiful vibe to it. Aside from the strings this song is all Anderson as his great singing and acoustic playing carry the tune in what is another cool song for sure. Track 6 is the near 17-minute "Baker St. Muse" and as we hear at the beginning, Anderson messes up the first take on acoustic, but seems to nail this tricky opening on take two. His acoustic sounds really cool and Ian's singing sounds great as always. Evan plays some nice piano and the strings sounds great in this opening as well. They move nicely into the chorus where things get a little heavier once Barre comes in. Anderson adds some cool flute to the next verse and after another chorus they shift to a new part with some awesome flute and guitar. Anderson and Barre take turns playing some amazing stuff and this great new part becomes a new verse. Barre is really showing off and it sounds fantastic! Ian's acoustic takes us to a new part that's similar to the opening riff but with a cool twist. It gets quiet as Anderson and Evan sync up the flute and piano in a cool new part and they move between all these parts so well as they bring it back to the opening riff for another beautiful verse. Anderson plays some cool flute that segues nicely into a quiet new part and the strings add so much emotion to the music as Ian continues to play some great acoustic guitar. He speeds up and smoothly switches to a new part where Barre takes over on electric guitar. Ian switches to flute and in between his vocals he finds time to squeeze in some wonderful stuff. They go back and forth between beautiful, slow music and a heavier rock riff, and both sound really good. After one last verse and chorus we hear a lovely rock and roll flourish ending to complete this incredible song. We hear Ian sing as it sounds like he's leaving the studio but the door is locked and he's trapped in a bit of a funny ending. The album closer is titled "Grace", a 37 second song that still manages to have some cool singing, acoustic and strings in it. It's the pretty bow that finishes off a spectacular present indeed as Jethro Tull are back in full force!

That is the end of "Minstrel In The Gallery" and I thought was a triumphant return to prog-inspired, truly great music. "Baker St. Muse" and "Black Satin Dancer" were both top-notch songs but every song on this album was quite good, even the short closer. I think it's the whole package and contains some of Jethro Tull's best stuff. But how does it compare to their previous albums? I thought this one was so good that it easily beats "Stand Up" but the top 3 has some really great stuff. I liked "Minstrel" even more than "A Passion Play", but it certainly wasn't better than "Thick As A Brick" so the real question is: is it better than "Aqualung"? This is a really close call as both albums are spectacular, but I give the slight edge to this new offering, making "Minstrel In The Gallery" my second favourite Tull album. That is quite the achievement to reach so high in the ranks of this band, well done Jethro Tull! I hope that they learned their lesson and the awesomeness continues next year!