Jethro Tull are a British rock band formed in Blackpool, Lancashire in 1967. Initially playing blues rock and jazz fusion, the band soon incorporated elements of English folk music, hard rock and classical music, forging a signature progressive rock sound. The group's founder, bandleader, principal composer, lead vocalist, and only constant member is Ian Anderson, a multi-instrumentalist who mainly plays flute and acoustic guitar. The group has featured a succession of musicians throughout the decades, including significant contributors such as guitarists Mick Abrahams and Martin Barre ; bassists Glenn Cornick, Jeffrey Hammond, John Glascock, Dave Pegg, Jonathan Noyce, and David Goodier; drummers Clive Bunker, Barrie "Barriemore" Barlow and Doane Perry; and keyboardists John Evan, Dee Palmer, Peter-John Vettese, Andrew Giddings, and John O'Hara.
Thick as a Brick is the fifth studio album by the British rock band Jethro Tull, released on 3 March 1972. The album contains one continuous piece of music, split over two sides of an LP record, and is intended as a parody of the concept album genre. The original packaging, designed as a 12-page newspaper, claims the album to be a musical adaptation of an epic poem by fictional eight-year-old genius Gerald Bostock, though the lyrics were actually written by the band's frontman, Ian Anderson.
Aqualung is the fourth studio album by the English rock band Jethro Tull; it was released in March 1971 by Chrysalis Records. Though it is generally regarded as a concept album, featuring a central theme of "the distinction between religion and God", the band have said there was no intention to make a concept album, and that only a few songs have a unifying theme. Aqualung's success signalled a turning point in the career of the band, who went on to become a major radio and touring act.
Heavy Horses is the eleventh studio album by British progressive rock band Jethro Tull, released on 10 April 1978.
A is the 13th studio album by British rock band Jethro Tull. It was released on 29 August 1980 in the UK and 1 September of the same year in the United States.
Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die! is the ninth studio album released by British band Jethro Tull, recorded in December 1975 and released in 1976. It is the first album to include bassist John Glascock who also contributes with backing vocals. Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die! is the last Jethro Tull concept album, which follows the story of Ray Lomas, an aging rocker who finds fame with the changes of musical trends. It was Jethro Tull's only album of the 1970s not to achieve Gold certification.
J-Tull Dot Com is the 20th studio album by the British band Jethro Tull, released in 1999 on Papillon, the Chrysalis Group's late 1990s heritage record label. It was released four years after their 1995 album Roots to Branches and continues in the same vein, marrying hard rock with Eastern music influences. It is the first album to feature Jonathan Noyce on bass, who would remain with the band until 2007 in Jethro Tull's longest ever unchanged line-up. This was the last Jethro Tull album to feature all original, new material for 23 years, although the band did release a Christmas album in 2003, which contained a mixture of new material, re-recordings of Tull's own suitably themed material and arrangements of traditional Christmas music.
Roots to Branches is the 19th studio album by the British band Jethro Tull released in September 1995. It carries characteristics of Tull's classic 1970s progressive rock and folk rock roots alongside jazz and Arabic and Indian influences. All songs were written by Ian Anderson and recorded at his home studio. This is the last Tull album to feature Dave Pegg on the bass, and the first to feature keyboardist Andrew Giddings as an official band member, although he had contributed to Catfish Rising (1991) on a sessional basis. As a result, the album notably features the five longest serving members to date in Jethro Tull’s history. It was also the final Tull album to be released through long-time label Chrysalis Records.
This Was is the debut studio album by the British rock band Jethro Tull, released in October 1968. Recorded at a cost of £1200, it is the only Jethro Tull album with guitarist Mick Abrahams, who was a major influence for the sound and music style of the band's first songs. When the album was released the band were performing regularly at the Marquee Club in London, where other successful British groups, such as the Rolling Stones and the Who, had started their careers.
Stand Up, released in 1969, is the second studio album by British rock band Jethro Tull. It was the first Jethro Tull album to feature guitarist Martin Barre, who would go on to become the band's longtime guitarist until its initial dissolution in 2011. Before recording sessions for the album began, the band's original guitarist Mick Abrahams departed from the band as a result of musical differences with frontman and primary songwriter Ian Anderson; Abrahams wanted to stay with the blues rock sound of their 1968 debut, This Was, while Anderson wished to add other musical influences such as folk rock.
Minstrel in the Gallery is the eighth studio album by British rock band Jethro Tull, released in September 1975. The album sees the band going in a different direction from their previous work War Child (1974), returning to a blend of electric and acoustic songs, in a manner closer to their early 1970s albums such as Benefit (1970), Aqualung (1971) and Thick as a Brick (1972). Making use of a newly constructed mobile recording studio commissioned and constructed specifically for the band, the album was the first Jethro Tull album to be recorded outside of the UK, being recorded in tax exile in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
Stormwatch is the twelfth studio album by progressive rock band Jethro Tull, released in September 1979. The album is often considered the last in a trio of folk rock albums released by the band at the end of the 1970s, alongside Songs from the Wood (1977) and Heavy Horses (1978). The album's themes deal mostly with the environment, climate and seaside living, and were heavily inspired by the Isle of Skye in Scotland, where frontman Ian Anderson had recently purchased property.
Benefit is the third studio album by the British rock band Jethro Tull, released in April 1970. It was the first Tull album to include pianist and organist John Evan – though he was not yet considered a permanent member of the group – and the last to include bass guitarist Glenn Cornick, who was fired from the band upon completion of touring for the album. It was recorded at Morgan Studios, the same studio where the band recorded its previous album Stand Up; however, they experimented with more advanced recording techniques.
Bursting Out is a 1978 live double album by the rock band Jethro Tull. The album was recorded during the band's European Heavy Horses Tour in May/June of that year.
The Broadsword and the Beast is the 14th studio album by rock band Jethro Tull, released in April 1982 by Chrysalis Records. The album's musical style features a cross between the dominant synthesizer sound of the 1980s and the folk-influenced style that Jethro Tull used in the previous decade. As such, the band's characteristic acoustic instrumentation is augmented by electronic soundscapes. The electronic aspects of this album would be explored further by the band on their next album, Under Wraps (1984), as well as on Ian Anderson's solo album Walk into Light (1983).
Crest of a Knave is the sixteenth studio album by British rock band Jethro Tull, released in 1987. The album was recorded after a three-year hiatus caused by a throat infection of vocalist Ian Anderson, resulting in his changed singing style. Following the unsuccessful electronic rock album Under Wraps, Crest of a Knave had the band returning to a more hard rock sound. The album was their most successful since the 1970s and the band enjoyed a resurgence on radio broadcasts, appearances in MTV specials and the airing of music videos. It was also a critical success, winning the 1989 Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental in what was widely viewed as an upset over the favorite, Metallica's ...And Justice for All. The album was supported by "The Not Quite the World, More the Here and There Tour".
Rock Island is the 17th studio album by the British rock group Jethro Tull, released in 1989. The album continued the hard rock direction the band took on the previous effort, Crest of a Knave (1987). The line-up now included Ian Anderson, Martin Barre, Dave Pegg and drummer Doane Perry in his first full recording with the band, although he had already been a member of Jethro Tull since 1984. Without a permanent keyboard player, the role was shared by Fairport Convention's Maartin Allcock and former Tull member Peter Vettese.
Living in the Past is a double LP compilation album by Jethro Tull, released in 1972. It collects album tracks, outtakes and several standalone singles spanning the band's career up to that point. Also included are the 1971 "Life Is a Long Song" EP and two live recordings taken from a performance at New York City's Carnegie Hall in November 1970.
Jethro Tull – The String Quartets is a studio album featuring Ian Anderson, John O'Hara and the Carducci String Quartet, arranged by O'Hara. It was released on 24 March 2017.
The Zealot Gene is the 22nd studio album by the British rock band Jethro Tull, released on 28 January 2022 by Inside Out Music. Nearly five years in production, it is their first studio album since The Jethro Tull Christmas Album (2003), and their first of all original material since J-Tull Dot Com (1999), marking the longest gap between the band's studio albums.
