Review: Various Artists ‘The Very Best Of Jethro Tull Redux’
Internal David-monologue, approx. 1994: Everything must be heavier than everything else! Metallica are for girls (NB I was sexist as well as musically stunted back in the ‘90s), Sepultura and Pantera are borderline pop music, prog-rock is for balding men who drink sherry, and folk music is something people from Devon perform prior to carrying out a human sacrifice.

Internal David-monologue, approx. 2020: Prog is the last frontier of unexplored rock music and folk music is the one great uniquely British form of music which must be celebrated… hence Jethro Tull are my new favourite band! And so it goes that my musical tastes ebb and flow over time.
Anyway, all this goes to illustrate my immediate reaction to seeing this record listed; which was that even ten years ago I don’t think this record would have happened. Over here in their native UK, I think up until very recently metal fans would have been almost uniformly dismissive, but such is the critical, popular (and dare I say it, commercial) reassessment of Jethro Tull recently that Magnetic Eye aren’t just releasing one Redux Tull title – they are releasing two! Alongside this The Very Best Of… we also have a complete tribute to the Aqualung album.
The contents of this The Very Best Of… tribute are very much focused on the early part of Tull’s career, with seven of the eight tracks coming from the time period of their second and third albums, with the one exception being Bungle In The Jungle which is from the War Child album. So, what we don’t have is any of the really deep prog-rock that is what Tull are perhaps best know for. What we do have, perhaps unsurprisingly, is a selection of the bluesiest and most guitar-heavy tracks.
We start with Mr. Bison and Reason For Waiting. This is a fairly faithful version, albeit with slightly louder guitars and less orchestration. It certainly retains the feeling of the original, and Mr. Bison deliver a worthy interpretation. Sweat then continue the ‘if it’s not broke, don’t fix it’ style of cover with Back To The Family. The most noteworthy part of this performance is the dualling organ and guitar solo towards the end – fantastic stuff that provides a great climax to a classic track.
It’s instantly recognisable as a Tull classic, but it’s been fuzzed up and filtered through Aqualung’s filthy overcoat in a way that The Shaman’s readers are certainly going to enjoy…
Hashtronaut then move us forward in time with Bungle In The Jungle. Now it’s apparent from the title alone that this a bit of a silly song and Hashtronaut lean heavily into the nonsense. Bungle… is a long way away from being my favourite Tull track, and similarly this version is a long way away from being my favourite cover on this album. Upon first listen, I thought my phone had done an AI trick on me because for thirty seconds I was convinced I was listening to Witchcult Today by Electric Wizard, but it turns out to be Elephant Tree’s version of We Used To Know, and it’s bloody marvellous. It takes the bluesy-whimsy of the original and mourning-dooms the tull out of it!
With The Golden Grass’ version of Teacher we’re back in faithful tribute territory (although almost doubled in length), but as Teacher is almost the prototype for every retro hard rock band that’s emerged since the year 2000, it sounds entirely proper. Sergeant Thunderhoof’s version of Son sticks to the under three-minute epic formula of the original! Very few tracks that I can think of pack quite as much into to such a short running time. I’ve always thought of Son as being Tull at their most Beatles-esque – it could quite happily sit on any post Revolver album. The Hoof only cement Son into my affections further – a fine effort.
For the final two tracks we then dive back into Jethro’s doom territory, firstly with everyone’s favourite nautically inclined Aussies, Oceanlord. Sweet Dream is one of the heaviest and most unsettling tracks in the Tull armoury anyway, so Oceanlord adding some almost Pentagram classic doom stylings to it sounds absolutely spot on. Great song choice, and great delivery.
Lowrider are then ably assisted by Elephant Tree to provide a version of Nothing To Say that sits somewhere between doom and shoegaze. If there is one track on this album that is going to prompt Tull-virgins with a taste for the heavier things in life to give Blackpool’s finest a go, then it’s this one. It’s instantly recognisable as a Tull classic, but it’s been fuzzed up and filtered through Aqualung’s filthy overcoat in a way that The Shaman’s readers are certainly going to enjoy.
Will The Very Best Of Jethro Tull Redux spark a huge number of new listeners to jump into the weird and wonderful world of Ian Anderson and co? Probably not, but it’s a worthwhile exercise nonetheless, and I’m fascinated to hear what the Redux of Aqualung sounds like as well. If you are tempted to dip a toe in then my advice would be to start with Aqualung and then flip-flop backwards and forwards from there – it’ll be a batshit-crazy ride at times, but hugely rewarding, oh, and their CD/DVD deluxe editions are a masterclass in how to do a reissue, so buy with confidence.
What’s next on Magnetic Eye’s Redux list, I wonder?…
Label: Magnetic Eye Records
Scribed by: David J McLaren