
In 1971, the
music industry witnessed the release of some of the most iconic and
influential pop/rock albums of all time. Among them are Imagine, Pearl,
Sticky Fingers, Who’s Next, Tupelo Honey, Surf’s Up, Fragile, Led Zeppelin (IV, "Zoso" whatever you call it), Muswell Hillbillies, Tapestry, What’s Going On?, and Madman Across the Water. These albums, along with today's freeload,
Aqualung, represent a remarkable output for a mere twelve months.
'Aqualung' was recorded between December 1970 and February 1971 at Island Studios in London. It was produced by Ian Anderson and Terry Ellis, and released on the Chrysalis Records label on March 19, 1971.
The album is generally regarded as the pinnacle of Jethro Tull’s recorded output, front-man Ian Anderson’s songwriting, and its eclectic fusion of progressive rock, hard rock riffs, and acoustic folk melodies. Songs
such as "My God", "Hymn 43", "Locomotive Breath", "Cross-Eyed Mary",
"Wind Up" and of course the title track "Aqualung" became FM radio
staples and are in-demand concert favorites to this day.
Jethro Tull
Ian Anderson - Lead vocals, flute, acoustic guitar
Martin Barre - Electric guitar, descant recorder
John Evan - Piano, organ, Mellotron
Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond - Bass guitar, alto recorder, odd voices
Clive Bunker - Drums and percussion
Side A - "Aqualung"
1. Aqualung
2. Cross-Eyed Mary
3. Cheap Day Return
4. Mother Goose
5. Wond'ring Aloud
6. Up To Me
Side B - "My God"
1. My God
2. Hymn 43
3. Slipstream
4. Locomotive Breath
5. Wind-Up
The freeload is a 24bit/96kHz vinyl rip of the 2011 Steven Wilson Remix.
As Steve himself tells it:
"As a long term fan of this music, my aim when remixing a classic album like this is to be faithful to the original, and to stay absolutely true to the spirit of the era in which the music was made. Some cleaning up has been done, but only to the extent that it had zero impact on the audio (after all, a little bit of analogue tape hiss is part of the magic!) No attempt was made to "modernise" the mix, and to this end most of the equalisation, volume levels (and rides), stereo positioning, reverbs, echos and other effects processing are matched as closely as possible to the 1971 mix. The only exceptions to this are that we have brought some instruments in a little from extreme left or right in the stereo specgtrum, and a few details that may have been getting a little lost in the original mix have been given a lift in the new version."
Also included in the freeload will be a bonus surprise mystery freeload of another classic Jethro Tull album. What will it be? The suspense just might kill you.
For the freeload what's your favorite album I named in the first paragraph?