Review: Various Artists ‘Aqualung Redux’

I was born in 1974, so as I was growing up, my parents played a lot of the hard rock that was popular at the time. At an early age, I was introduced to bands like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Uriah Heap, Black Sabbath, and a little band from a seaside town in the north west region of the UK known as Jethro Tull.

Now, I’m not a big Tull fan, and Aqualung is an album that, while I liked some of it, is one I couldn’t/can’t listen to in full. So, I was cautiously interested when Magnetic Eye Records announced that they were going to be releasing it as part of their Redux series, hoping that maybe the bands on the stoner genre would be able to breathe new life into an album that was only ‘meh’ for me. Thankfully these versions rectify that problem to a certain degree, with the major exception being the song that we’re going to talk about first.

Aqualung, performed by Chris Goss & Alain Johannes

I feel that the title track is this album’s biggest disappointment, so much so that I almost didn’t bother to listen to anything afterwards. This is my favorite Jethro Tull tune, and these guys do their best at ruining that for me. This song had so much potential within the stoner genre and they used artists like this for it, which is mind-boggling to me. It’s not even that they’re bad at what they do, because they’re very talented, it’s just that, for me, it doesn’t fit within the context of the original. Total swing and a miss.

Cross Eyed Mary, performed by The Well

This track is what made me overlook the disappointing first one. The Well makes this their own, but also keeps the spirit and vibe of the original. I love the guitar tone, and the vocal performance is absolutely wonderful. The original was one of the songs that I always enjoyed, and I dig this version as much as I do the Tull one.

Mother Goose, performed by Huntsmen

Huntsmen‘s rendition of this tune crushes, even during the laid back, subdued verse sections. The mix of male and female vocals are a nice touch, each adding their own thing to what I feel is an already exceptional track. The guitar solo section is a slick showing of what this Chicago based band excels at, and I totally love what’s underneath as it’s just perfect for what this track needs.

Up To Me, performed by Motorpsycho

Motorpsycho does a killer version of this tune and is the first band to use the one instrument that Jethro Tull is most known for… the flute. I’ve always thought that there was a jazzy psych thing going on during the original, and the  Norwegian’s keep that feel intact while still bringing something new to the table.

Locomotive Breath, performed by The Sword

I’m so glad that The Sword is back, they were one of the first stoner bands that I got into, before I even knew what the genre was; so to have them covering my second favorite Jethro Tull song had me excited before I had even listened to what they did. I’d say that as far as the vocals are concerned, this is the truest to the original performance on this album; honestly, the same could be said of the music. This is an outstanding cover and serves as the highlight of this redux.

Other standout songs are Domkraft‘s Wind Up, and Cheap Day Return by Osi And The Jupiter and overall, this is an extremely solid release, rivaling even the Black Sabbath Vol. 4 Redux from a few years ago. I say this as a person who is very picky about cover songs, they’re either great, or they totally suck, but there’s very little suck to be found on this one.

Label: Magnetic Eye Records

Scribed by: Tom Hanno