Jethro Tull *official*

He's a busy guy. He has released 25 remixes since 2009, and most of those contain a 5.1 mix, a stereo mix and bonus material. So in actuality each release is equivalent to remixing 3 albums.

He's done 4 releases in 2014:

King Crimson - Amsterdam, November 23rd 1973
XTC - Drums & Wires
Yes - Relayer
Jethro Tull - War Child

plus he also mixed Opeth's Pale Communion album and sang backing vocals...plus recorded a new solo album.

I envy his energy (and immense talent).

I just hope it's going to turn out that all of this energy is coming from a natural enthusiasm and he's not dousing himself with amphetamines or something to keep up this pace.

Then again, if anyone was legitimately driven to an absurd point to keep working on music to the expense of almost all else, it would be Wilson.

He loves what he's doing and only remixes albums that he is genuinely a fan of. I think he runs on passion for music.

Unrelated to the thread topic, but do you know what happened to him being involved with the Crimson reissues?

He's still working with them (see the live reissue from earlier this year) but it also depends on Robert Fripp being available and he's been touring and is now recording with the new King Crimson lineup so it may be awhile.

The only older albums left are Beat and Three Of A Perfect Pair. All of the 70s releases are done (plus Discipline).

I'm wondering if there's the material to do big boxes for the 80s albums as they did for the Larks' Tongues through Red lineups. It would explain the delays in Beat and ToaPF. Thrak? That would be another that I think Wilson could work some magic on.

There are a ton of live recordings from the 80s and 90s, King Crimson records every concert, which is the best method for a band that improvises as much as they do, you never know when magic will strike.

I only have War Child on vinyl which I no longer have any way to play so I looked it up to see what's on it.  I forgot that Skating Away and Bungle were on there.  Not to mention Solitaire and Rainbow Blues.  Looks like I'll be picking this re-release up after all.

Those are the only tracks I really remember from this album but since it's been literally decades since I've heard it, listening to this newly remixed version will virtually be like listening to a new Tull album for me.

tohostudios wrote:

I only have War Child on vinyl which I no longer have any way to play so I looked it up to see what's on it.  I forgot that Skating Away and Bungle were on there.  Not to mention Solitaire and Rainbow Blues.  Looks like I'll be picking this re-release up after all.

Those are the only tracks I really remember from this album but since it's been literally decades since I've heard it, listening to this newly remixed version will virtually be like listening to a new Tull album for me.

Warchild is a great album and was one of the surprises when I went from being a casual fan to owning the discography. It is a weird beast though - stylistically it's all over the place, which says something coming after Thick as a Brick and A Passion Play. I think Anderson just got tired of writing so much music that had to FIT together.

Ian Anderson just announced that Steven Wilson is currently doing remixes (5.1 and stereo) for the following:

Too Old To Rock 'N' Roll, Too Young To Die
Songs From The Wood
Heavy Horses
Stormwatch

Anderson said there are currently no plans to do anything with the 80s albums. The only earlier albums Wilson isn't doing are This Was (already reissued a few years ago and remixed by a different engineer) and Stand Up (master tapes are missing).

S.D. wrote:

Ian Anderson just announced that Steven Wilson is currently doing remixes (5.1 and stereo) for the following:

Too Old To Rock 'N' Roll, Too Young To Die
Songs From The Wood
Heavy Horses
Stormwatch  

Anderson said there are currently no plans to do anything with the 80s albums.  The only earlier albums Wilson isn't doing are This Was (already reissued a few years ago and remixed by a different engineer) and Stand Up (master tapes are missing).  

Finally!!! I've been screaming for these ever since I heard his remix of Aqualung.

OK, I had to post this.

I took my cat Tux to the vet again today for another shot of subcutaneous fluids (he's been diabetic since February and we still don't have the insulin dosage quite right).

Anyway, I wore my new Tull T-shirt (the Aqualung album cover) for the trip. While I'm waiting for the vet tech to bring Tux back out, the girl at the desk started grinning at me then said, "That shirt is so cool. I love Jethro Tull."

That wouldn't necessarily be post-worthy in and of itself except that this girl can't be more than 30 years old. My guess is she's in her late 20s. Yet she's still a fan of Jethro Tull. She started rattling off favorite albums and songs; stuff I'm sure was released decades before she was even born.

If that doesn't show how timeless Tull's music is I don't know what does.

One of the progressive rock groups I belong to on Facebook has many younger fans. Nothing like hearing 20 year olds that are experts in King Crimson, Jethro Tull and Yes. Great music is timeless.

Yeah, I kind of felt like an old fart when I ordered that shirt but to hear someone probably half my age be into the same band was something of a revelation.

S.D. wrote:

Ian Anderson just announced that Steven Wilson is currently doing remixes (5.1 and stereo) for the following:

Too Old To Rock 'N' Roll, Too Young To Die
Songs From The Wood
Heavy Horses
Stormwatch  

Anderson said there are currently no plans to do anything with the 80s albums.  The only earlier albums Wilson isn't doing are This Was (already reissued a few years ago and remixed by a different engineer) and Stand Up (master tapes are missing).  

Cannot wait to get my hands on the Songs From The Wood and Heavy Horses - my two favorite JT albums by far.

Thelemech wrote:

S.D. wrote:

Ian Anderson just announced that Steven Wilson is currently doing remixes (5.1 and stereo) for the following:

Too Old To Rock 'N' Roll, Too Young To Die
Songs From The Wood
Heavy Horses
Stormwatch  

Anderson said there are currently no plans to do anything with the 80s albums.  The only earlier albums Wilson isn't doing are This Was (already reissued a few years ago and remixed by a different engineer) and Stand Up (master tapes are missing).  

 

Cannot wait to get my hands on the Songs From The Wood and Heavy Horses - my two favorite JT albums by far.

Ditto! That's why I've been screaming for them!

S.D. wrote:

Ian Anderson just announced that Steven Wilson is currently doing remixes (5.1 and stereo) for the following:

Too Old To Rock 'N' Roll, Too Young To Die
Songs From The Wood
Heavy Horses
Stormwatch  

Anderson said there are currently no plans to do anything with the 80s albums.  The only earlier albums Wilson isn't doing are This Was (already reissued a few years ago and remixed by a different engineer) and Stand Up (master tapes are missing).

This is incredible news! While I'm bummed that there's no plan to do anything with the 80s albums (personal favorites of mine), I'm really glad to see the "folk" albums getting the royal treatment. They deserve it!

Very curious to see what bonus content accompanies these albums. They've been pretty generous opening the vaults for the last few, even if I wasn't crazy about the quality of performance on the Minstrel live disc.

I'm still a little puzzled why people call these "the folk albums" when they had folk influences in their music since the beginning, or at least since Stand Up. I don't hear a big stylistic change on Songs From The Wood, it sounds like a logical continuation of what came before.

S.D. wrote:

I'm still a little puzzled why people call these "the folk albums" when they had folk influences in their music since the beginning, or at least since Stand Up.  I don't hear a big stylistic change on Songs From The Wood, it sounds like a logical continuation of what came before.  

Maybe it's more of a rural element to the albums.

80s Metal Lady wrote:

S.D. wrote:

I'm still a little puzzled why people call these "the folk albums" when they had folk influences in their music since the beginning, or at least since Stand Up.  I don't hear a big stylistic change on Songs From The Wood, it sounds like a logical continuation of what came before.  

Maybe it's more of a rural element to the albums.

I'd go with that. It's also a change in aesthetic - not just visual, but musical. They were going for a jazzy/classically influenced vibe on most of their 70s stuff once the pure blues thing went away, but even the blues aspect was very "urban" in UK acts. A lot of the late 70s material seemed to go much more for a European folk/traditional influence... Granted, when it's almost Elizabethan folk tradition it borders on being classical influence anyway.

Actually, I think I will change my wording, S.D. I think it's less fair to call Songs through Stormwatch the Tull "folk" albums as much as the Tull "pastoral" albums. Musically, the aesthetic didn't change much, but the lyrical perspective and album artwork WERE a sea change.

Thing is, I think Ian Anderson even said it was basically the window dressing that changed in that era more than anything else.

I do hope we get a solid live recording from the Songs from the Wood tour with this next reissue. Ian wasn't in great voice or humor for the Minstrel one, but it could have just been an off night. Sadly, I don't imagine there are many off-cuts from the late 70s era that haven't already been unearthed for one of the box sets or previous reissues. Of what I've heard, Heavy Horses actually had the best b-sides with Broadford Bazaar easily as one of my favorite tracks by the band.