Aqualung

Description

180 Gram Vinyl in Gatefold Sleeve with 24 Page Booklet.

The leap from 1970s Benefit to the following years Aqualung is one of the most astonishing progressions in rock history. In the space of one album, Tull went from relatively unassuming electrified folk-rock to larger-than-life conceptual rock full of sophisticated compositions and complex, intellectual lyrical constructs. while the leap to full-blown prog-rock wouldnt be taken until a year later on Thick as a Brick, the degree to which Tull upped the ante here is remarkable. The lyrical concept the hypocrisy of christianity in England is stronger than on most other 70s conceptual efforts, but it is ultimately the music that makes the album. Tulls winning way with a riff was never so arresting as on the chugging Locomotive Breath, or the character studies Cross Eyed Mary and Aqualung, which portray believably seedy participants in Ian Andersons story. The fable imagery of Mother Goose and the vitriolic anti-authoritarian sentiments of Wind Up both serve notice of Andersons willful iconoclasm and his disillusionment with the spiritual traditions to which he was born. Varied but cohesive, Aqualung is widely regarded as Tulls finest hour.