Aqualung

Aqualung
Studio album by Jethro Tull
Released	March 19, 1971
Recorded	December 1970 - February 1971 at Island Studios, London
Genre	Progressive rock, hard rock, folk rock
Length	42:55 (original) 75:27 (bonus edition)
Label	Island (UK) Reprise (US) Chrysalis/Capitol (US re-issue)
Producer	Ian Anderson Terry Ellis
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Rolling Stone (favourable) link Sounds (favourable) April 10, 1971 George Starostin (overall rating: 12/15) link Robert Christgau (C+) link
Jethro Tull chronology
Benefit (1970) Aqualung (1971) Thick as a Brick (1972)

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Aqualung is the fourth studio album by the rock band Jethro Tull, released in 1971. It was their first album with John Evan as a full-time member, their first with new bassist Jeffrey Hammond and last album featuring Clive Bunker on drums. The first side of the LP contains a series of six character sketches, including two sketches of people of questionable repute (title character Aqualung and Cross-Eyed Mary) and two autobiographical tracks including "Cheap Day Return", written by band leader Ian Anderson while returning from a visit to his critically ill father.^{[citation needed]} The overall message of the lyrics on the second side is said^[who?] to be "pro-God but anti-church", and makes the statement that organized religion can actually restrict a person's relationship with his God instead of enhancing it. Anderson was not intending to make Aqualung a concept album.

In 2003, the album was ranked number 337^[1] on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Production

The album was one of the first to be recorded at the newly opened studios of Island Records in Basing Street, London. Led Zeppelin were mixing their untitled fourth album (Led Zeppelin IV) at the same time. In an interview on the 25th anniversary edition of the album, Anderson said that trying to record in their studio was very difficult. There were two recording studios at the location; Led Zeppelin worked in the smaller studio while Tull got the larger,^[2] which was probably the original chapel based on Anderson's description of its "orchestral" feeling.

Many of the songs are primarily acoustic. "Cheap Day Return", "Wond'ring Aloud" and "Slipstream" are short, completely acoustic "bridges", and "Mother Goose" is also mostly acoustic.

In a 2005 interview, Anderson claimed that:^[3]

I always said at the time that this is not a concept album; this is just an album of varied songs of varied instrumentation and intensity in which three or four are the kind of keynote pieces for the album but it doesn't make it a concept album. In my mind when it came to writing the next album, Thick as a Brick, was done very much in the sense of: 'Whuh, if they thought Aqualung was a concept album, O-O-K, we'll show you a concept album.' And it was done as a kind of spoof, a send-up, of the concept album genre. ... But, Aqualung itself, in my mind was never a concept album. Just a, just a bunch of songs.

The orchestrals were arranged by David (now Dee) Palmer.

Cover

The album's original cover art by Burton Silverman features a portrait of the title character, Aqualung, which many^[who?] have considered to be inspired by Ian Anderson, though Anderson denies it. The rear cover shows a less-lecherous looking portrait of the same character sitting on a street-curb with a dog, a scene reminiscent of the band's photographic portrait with age make-up and a pack of dogs on their first album, This Was. The inner art on the fold-out cover showed portraits of the five band members in typical stage attire performing irreverent acts in a chapel—perhaps simultaneously depicting the theme of the second side of the LP while commemorating the band's recording-studio environment.^{[citation needed]}

Release

In April 1970, Aqualung peaked at number 4 on the UK Album Chart; 26 years later it almost cracked the Top 50.^[4] It peaksed at #7 on the Billboard Music Charts' North American pop albums chart; the single "Hymn 43" hit #91 on Billboard's pop singles chart.^{[citation needed]}

Aqualung was one of only two Jethro Tull albums which were released in quadraphonic sound, the other being War Child. This version featured several differences from the stereo release. "Wind Up" (included in the CD reissue of album) is in a higher key (three semitones), and "Aqualung" begins with two solo repetitions of the opening riff instead of one.^{[citation needed]}

In 2005, new recordings of five of the songs from Aqualung were released as part of the double album Ian Anderson Plays the Orchestral Jethro Tull.

Personnel

• Ian Anderson: Vocals, acoustic guitar, flute
• Martin Barre: electric guitar, descant recorder
• John Evan: piano, organ, mellotron
• Jeffrey Hammond (as "Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond"): bass guitar, alto recorder and odd voices
• Clive Bunker: drums and percussion

Track listing

All songs written by Ian Anderson except where noted.

Side one

1. "Aqualung" – 6:31 (Ian Anderson, Jennie Anderson)
2. "Cross-Eyed Mary" – 4:06
3. "Cheap Day Return" – 1:21
4. "Mother Goose" – 3:51
5. "Wond'ring Aloud" – 1:53
6. "Up to Me" – 3:15

Side two

1. "My God" – 7:08
2. "Hymn 43" – 3:14
3. "Slipstream" – 1:13
4. "Locomotive Breath" – 4:23
5. "Wind Up" – 6:01

Bonus tracks

The 1996 and 1999 remastered CDs added six bonus tracks and extensive liner notes:

12. "Lick Your Fingers Clean" – 2:46
13. "Wind Up (Quad Version)" – 5:24
14. "Excerpts From the Ian Anderson Interview" [Mojo Magazine] – 13:59
15. "Songs For Jeffrey" (BBC) – 2:51
16. "Fat Man" (BBC) – 2:57
17. "Bourée" (BBC) – 3:58 (Ian Anderson, Johann Sebastian Bach)

In popular culture

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• The master version of Aqualung was released as a playable song in the popular rhythm game Rock Band 2. In addition, Hymn 43 was made available for download for the same series on December 30, 2008 for XBox 360 and January 1, 2009 for Playstation 3. Later, in 2009, Aqualung became available on PSP version Rock Band Unplugged.
• The cover of the 2009 album Hiranya by the noise artist Merzbow resembles to the cover of Aqualung.
• Will Ferrell referenced the title track during the movie Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy in the scene where he plays jazz flute for an audience.

References

External links

• discogs.com/master
• Aqualung (1971) at Allmusic
• Aqualung (1996) at Allmusic (25th anniversary)
• Aqualung (1997) at Allmusic (gold)
• Aqualung (1999) at Allmusic (bonus tracks)
• Aqualung Live (2005) at Allmusic (live)
• Tom Karr, May 2004 (Progressive World)
• 1971 Concert Tour from ministry-of-information.co.uk