Customer Reviews
Outstanding - By: Mark Kibble, 10 Aug 2008 
The replacement of Mick Abrahams with Martin Barre enabled Tull to play a much wider range of music, & they didn't waste any timein doing so. The only blues track is the opener 'A new day yesterday', a nice link with "This was". Lighter acoustic numbers 'Jeffrey goes to Leicester square' & 'Fat man' mix with the harder rock of 'Nothing is easy' & 'For a thousand mothers'. 'Reasons for waiting' is the first example of orchestral backingin the Tull catalogue, while the instrumental 'Bouree' is the only track not written by IA, though the jazzed up version here is not exactly what mr Bach hadin mind, some nice flutework & excellent bass have made this a favourite number (both studio & live). 'Back to the family' is a softer rock number, while 'Look into the sun' & 'We used to know' are both mid tempo numbers employing a mix of acoustic & electric guitarwork, the latter building up to include some fine wah-wah, & is my personal favourite Tull number.
Soon to celebrate its 40th birthday, but it still sounds fresh, no need for the philosan.
The addition of 'Livingin the past' & 'Sweet dreams', plus their respective b-sides as bonus tracks, cover just about everything from that period of their development.
A well balanced album that was responsible for Tull's rise to fame, & for anyone who hasn't heard them before, this is the best place to start.
A CORKER - By: ANGEL INTERCEPTOR, 29 Dec 2006 "this will do until some more enterprising company puts it out as a digipak with the pop-up figures restored" SAID BEN absolutely right.
A powerful, moving piece by Tull. The opener A NEW DAY YESTERDAY & WE USED TO KNOW are great songs about fading or lost love because all the mix of emotions are there----KEANE et alin the current "scene" take note.
FOR A THOUSAND MOTHERS is a classic statement on the the bitter truths of intergenerational/parental relationships.
Listen & enjoy.
DO YOU HEAR ME CALLING IN YOUR SWEET DREAM? - By: t'amant, 21 Jul 2006 This Was, as the second Tull releasein 1969, a new album yesterday, but it's an OLD one now - AND A GREAT ONE! Is there a cooler (by New York artist Jimmy Grashow) album cover or band portrait? ... look carefully to see the unreal detail, a magnifying glass must have been used to carve this woodcut.
As the liner notes from Ian say, Stand Up went immediately to #1in the UK charts, & I can see why (Led Zep was getting a little nervous maybe, & invited Tull on the U.S. tour, perhaps to duke it out live?). This is a special piece of work that still towers over most rockin my opinion (scary how time flies). There are very few albums that I love more than this one, & other Tull albums are a few of those (If you are curious, see my Tull list "A NeanderTULL's Cave Favorites" to see how they stack up on my turntable).
At about 51:39 minutes, this SWEET psychedelic era DREAM of an album is full of true gems. They are all classics for me. As an extra bonus, four songs are added for your convenience & pleasure: Livingin the Past & Sweet Dream are two popular singles & have been favorites of mine forever, I'm glad to see them find a home here. I finally converted my 15 year old son by cranking Sweet Dream loudlyin the car one day - a very dramatic anthemic parable decorated with orchestral violins, trumpet & a spacey Barre reverb lead - NOW he loves Tull. Driving song is another fine rocker with parallel attacks from Martin & Glenn, separating here & there for cool, playful accents. The inserted growly guitar & flute leads are a taste of Benefits to come. 17 is kind of a forgotten lost classic from this era & a decent ending (although it is my least favorite on here).
The main body of songs are some of the earliest Tull masterpieces, basically just one after the other. It is the rare album with such an impressive stretch ... & these songs are all over the board with heavy rockers, medieval sounding charmers, heady melodic folk/rock, bluesy roots jams/music, jazzy lounge vibe (mixed with baroque classicism) - can a young band show more diversity? They sound so frickin good you would think they were old pro's. Each song groovesin its own way, so picking favorites is an excercisein futility, kind of like the classic Tull albums (although I gave it a shot). I truly do love them all almost equally.
Ian's lyrics are starting to show the soul-searching depth & sophistication he is now legendary for (unfortunately they didn't include lyrics with this package, but they aren't hard to make out & are quite catchy - PLEASE include them for us collectors!). If you want to hear one of the great rock drummers, Clive please STAND UP! I practice drumming & guitars to Tull all the time ... throw out your work-out tapes & punching bags, this is way more fun (go ahead & add your own Oboe lead or whatever, great for melodic jamming!).
THIS BAND ROCKS! They will always be one of my few top favoritesin this wonderful musical world of ours. "We are lovin' youin the morning & the nighttime too" (Fat Man). Kick back & soak itin ... "take me back to all good things we used to know" (Sweet Dream) - this is one of the true classics. If you don't have this welded to your pleasure center, get out the blowtorch & braze this one to your hemispheres. If you forgot it, come Back To The Family & enjoy often! What are your Reasons For Waiting?
Vintage Tull - By: Jimmy Sclaff, 01 Aug 2003 
I liked early Jethro Tull. This was the second (1969) of three decent albums before they got too grandiose, bombastic, melodramatic, self-indulgent, etc, etc...
Mick Abrahams had left to form Blodwyn Pig & was relaced by Martin Barre. The heavy, riffy A New Day Yesterday starts the album well, followed by the typically Tullish, quirky Jeffrey Goes To Leicester Square. Bouree is a fine instrumental with some good drums from Clive Bunker & bass from Glen Cornick behind Andersons throaty flute.
Back To The Family gets rockier & heavier again but to pleasing effect. Look Into The Sun is a very enjoyable wistful ballad with some excellent restrained, subtle guitar work from new boy Barre.
Nothing Is Easy is another up tempo optimistic job with a very good melody & lots of instrumental fills. Fat Man is another of those trademark early Anderson pieces that could be no one else. Good stuff from the bongos & the balalaika & mandolin along with Andersons lilting vocal line lend this number its charm.
We used To Know is the stand out. A power rock ballad with building tension, it grows with a memorable wah-wah guitar breakin the middle & at the end. Reasons For Waiting is the gentlest song on the album with flutes, acoustic guitar & uncredted organ noodling around behind the vocals with a brief entry from a string section at the end. I would have left the strings out, maybe just a solo violin or cello was needed.
For A Thousand Mothers provides a stompy farewell with flute first & then guitar chasing down the vocals.
They were a tight little unit way back then.
marvellous!! - By: , 28 Dec 2001 As a fan of jethro tull I cannot rave enough about this album . All of the songs are a joy to hear! Having owned the original vinyl,re-release & previous CD version of this album then I do not feel hard done by for shelving out for this again.The song's now sound fresher -definately benefiting from the remastering- just listen to this cd with head phones! I would like to have seen the packaging a little better but this is only a minor quibble.
