Jethro Tull: Every album, every song (On Track)

It's nearly impossible to discuss the history of rock music without praising the monumental quality, impact, variety, and boldness of Britain's Jethro Tull. Named after an eighteenth-century agriculturalist - and not after their striking frontman Ian Anderson - the group almost immediately became one of the most ambitious, and significant acts in two subsections of the genre: progressive rock and folk rock. Officially formed in 1967, mastermind Anderson and company initially forged a blues course before veering in a more diverse, and expansive direction. Their early 1970s period - which is often considered their peak-took them close to progressive rock via iconic album cuts like 'Aqualung' and lengthy narrative suites like Thick as a Brick and A Passion Play. The band spent the latter half of that decade modulating within those trademark flavours, ultimately finishing the '70s with what they referred to as the 'Folk Rock Trilogy' (Songs from the Wood, Heavy Horses, and Stormwatch). Like numerous peers at the time (ELP, Rush, Yes, and King Crimson, to varying degrees), Tull then embraced the more commercially accessible demands of the 1980s- complete with a fair share of both synthesisers and hard rock. Moving album by album, this book will examine the behind-the-scenes circumstances and motivations for each release via a track-by-track analysis to acutely observe why Jethro Tull were - and always will be - of invaluable benefit to rock music.