Living In The Past Middletown NY

Living In The Past

Jethro Tull

Chrysalis Records, 1972

REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 10/25/1999

It might have seemed odd to some people that Jethro Tull wasputting out a compilation album, Living In The Past, in 1972. After all, this was a groupthat was only four albums old at the time, and who were justhitting their commercial stride thanks to the success ofAqualung.

Bu Living In The Past is not a best-of per se. What this albumdoes is collects the songs that made Ian Anderson and crew stars inGreat Britain, songs that quite possibly were not as familiar toAmerican audiences. And there are some chestnuts in this collectionthat are absolutely astounding, making me wonder why they nevermade it onto an album prior to this one.

Sure, there's plenty of material that the casual Jethro Tull fanwill recognize, like "Teacher," "Living In The Past" and even somehidden nuggets like "Song For Jeffrey" or "Bouree." But the realtreats on this one, rightfully so, are the songs that weren't asfamiliar.

Just sit back, slap the headphones on, and wait to see how longit takes before you all in love with songs like "Love Story," "LifeIs A Long Song," "Dr. Bogenbroom" or "Driving Song." What isinteresting about these tracks is that, even on the first listen,they will sound like you've known them all your life, especially ifyou've listened to Tull past the hit singles in any fashion.