Aqualung Live

[anesthetize]

Hello all,

Aqualung Live is one of the few Tull albums I still have yet to own. I can find it for really cheap online but I have heard some less than stellar things about it. Is it a good performance, or how does it rank amongst the rest of their live albums?

[Tullist]

I believe the assessment of this recording, which was given away for free at the Aqua/Lucia tour in 05 or 06, and those that were sold later sent their money to charity I believe as specifically involves homelessness and indirectly Aqualung himself, (though he must have passed by now and Gerald Bostock is what, 50 i think )essentially comes down to the extent by which you can accept Ian Anderson's voice at that stage of his life. If you have heard other recordings by Tull i will somewhat arbitrarily mark as since 84 (though truthfully, I believe his voice began to change in 77)then it is a wonderful record, well worthwhile, for my ears an improvement on the original, but that is in no small part to how many times I have heard the original. If you had asked me in the early seventies, I would have found Aqualung to be hard to top, now it would struggle to make it into my top ten Tull favorites, really it would be about 11 or 12. For the most part I like his singing, the acceptance of time, what others find to be a disconcerting singing behind the beat I find to be engaging, with a sense of timing worthy of Thelonious Monk, but it ain't your Passion Play Jethro of 37 years ago. Especially improved to me is Hymn 43, the slightly Celtic take on the early part of the song enlivens the rest in a fashion where it sounds again to me as it did in 71, putting it in new clothes before letting the old beast out, with popping eyeball rage and everything, and once again the lyric rings very true to me as it did all those years ago, righteous indignation delivered in his singular fashion. So to me it comes down to that with some small advice to beware the detractors, they are looking in large part for their bite sized Jethro who can fit snugly in the racks next to earlier Genesis and Yes, Tull was not then and certainly not now ever of that world, or any world other than a singular path all of their own, in which people struggle mightily to cling to their personal vision of what Tull should be, a dictum that had Ian Anderson followed, I assure you they would have ceased to be along about 1973. So basically if you can 'deal' with the voice, and happily if it is affordable which, if it is out of circulation I am surprised to hear, given the insane prices I hear for other Tull items of decidedly spurious value, by all means snatch that sucker young man.
Btw 2 other boundary stretching musicians who are older than you but much younger than me that you may or may not know of, though I would certainly not file either under any sort of prog label, are Nels Cline, currently collecting beaucoup bucks with Wilco, but don't hold that for or against him, maybe check him out with the Nels Cline Singers, (an entirely instrumental band, so, what a funny guy) dealing in the spirit of Hendrix while in no wise directly aping him on something like Coltrane's last and arguably furthest out effort called Interstellar Space or Gregg Bendian's Interzone, there is signifigant meat being sliced up in dere.

[anesthetize]

Thanks for the post Tullist, I will pick it up! Also thanks for the recommendations

[My God]

Yes it's worth getting. I have it and play it often. Not quite as good as ''Bursting Out'' or ''Live at madison square garden, but it is way worth having.

[SilverHamer]

I think it is all relative to your level of expectation as to whether you will like this recording. Tullist touched on the fact that Ian's vocals have deteriorated over time and so that is one particular aspect to consider when comparing Aqualung Live to the original 1970 version. Tullist has, for his own reasons, stated that the original recording would not be in his top 10 these days, but I have always, and probably always will, held it at the very top of my favorite Tull masterpieces. For one thing it was my very first Tull purchase so therefor there is a certain aspect of nostalgia involved for me personally, plus there is the Law of Primacy involved (things first learned are things best remembered).

If I were an extreme purist, I could find a few reasons NOT to like Aqualung Live as much as the original...for one thing I think Crosseyed Mary sounds much better in the key of Em than it does in the key of Dm...my ears, my taste, law of primacy, etc. It doesn't seem to pack the same punch for me in the lower key as it does in the original...however, I totally understand and am able to accept the change simply out of the love I have for this band.

On the other side of the coin, however, there are some really catchy improvisations added to some of the songs in the Live version which capture the very essence of the soul of great Tull music...such as the added middle section to Mother Goose, and a very Tullish acoustic variation of Hymn 43 as an intro to the rendering of the original electric version.

For me personally, there were a few little disappointments with the Live version, but the little surprise outtakes and improvisations makes up for them. I believe this is certainly a work well worth having in the collection of your average avid Tull fan. And if you want to contrast THIS Live version with those Live versions from the early 70s, this one KILLS older live versions simply based on the quality of the venue and the modern recording gear used to capture a live performance. And the musicianship of the band would have to be extremely top-notch in order to make a complete Live band recording of an album which, more likely than not, was originally produced using several over-dubs which would be very difficult to emulate perfectly in a live performance. I think they covered all of THOSE bases very well with Aqualung Live.

My opinion...and we all know how opinions are... ;D

[Deleted]

I think the best thing about the album is seeing Ian's interpretation of his most succesful album decades down the road. It's refreshing all the changes he makes, and i'm always in favor of a live album that doesn't just have the hits.

[TM]

Witnessing the recording of this CD, along with Max Quad, the late Tony Snow, and Peggy Harris, was simply incredible. The volume level was set so low that we were actually listening to Ian sing un-amplified. Very cool. Also, Ian talked up each song before performing it which you can hear (in part) at the end. I wish they kept it all intact.

[Deleted]

Oct 29, 2010 13:26:14 GMT -5 TM said:

Witnessing the recording of this CD, along with Max Quad, the late Tony Snow, and Peggy Harris, was simply incredible. The volume level was set so low that we were actually listening to Ian sing un-amplified. Very cool. Also, Ian talked up each song before performing it which you can hear (in part) at the end. I wish they kept it all intact.

That was a great day/event. One of my top five Tull moments. My only regret is not organizing a group visit to a bar afterwards. (There was another guy we hung out with who was a frequent contributor to the defunct official chat room. Can't remember his name.)

[pantagruel]

Having not attended the event I can only judge my impressions by listening the album. It's cool to compare it to the original and it's cool to hear "Up To Me" but you have to be a completist to enjoy this.
I dig the new arrangment of "Hymn 43", though

[My God]

I agree. Hymm 43 was much better this time around.









If Jesus saves, well he'd better save himself.

[My God]

It's a pretty good disc. I have it. The performance was for a good cause.








Oh father high in heaven.