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Aqualung is the fourth studio album by the English rock band Jethro Tull; it was released in March 1971 by Chrysalis Records. Though it is generally regarded as a concept album, featuring a central theme of "the distinction between religion and God", the band said that there was no intention to make a concept album, and that only a few songs have a unifying theme.[4] Aqualung's success signalled a turning point in the career of the band, which went on to become a major radio and touring act.
Recorded at Island Records' new recording studio in Basing Street, London, it was their first album with keyboardist John Evan as a full-time member, their first with new bassist Jeffrey Hammond, and last album featuring Clive Bunker on drums, who left the band shortly after the release of the album. The album utilises more acoustic material than previous releases; and—inspired by photographs of homeless people on the Thames Embankment taken by singer Ian Anderson's wife Jennie Franks—contains a number of recurring themes, addressing religion along with Anderson's own personal experiences.
Aqualung is Jethro Tull's best-selling album, selling more than seven million units worldwide. It was generally well-received critically and has been included on several music magazine best-of lists. The album spawned two singles, "Hymn 43" and "Locomotive Breath".[5]
Production
An early version of "My God" was recorded on 11–12 April 1970, followed by "Wond'ring Aloud, Again" on 21 June, both at Morgan Studios.[6][failed verification] After an American tour, bass player Glenn Cornick was fired from the band,[7] and was replaced with Jeffrey Hammond, an old friend of Ian Anderson.[8] Aqualung would be Hammond's first album with the band. It would also mark the first time John Evan had recorded a full album with the band, as his only prior involvement was to provide several keyboard parts on the previous 1970 album, Benefit. In December, the album became one of the first to be recorded at Island Records' newly-opened recording studios on Basing Street in London. Led Zeppelin did some recording for Led Zeppelin IV at the same time, though in the smaller of the two studios in the converted chapel.[9] In an interview on the 25th anniversary edition of the album, Tull's bandleader Ian Anderson said that trying to record in the larger studio was very difficult, because of its "horrible, cold, echoey" feel.[10] The orchestral segments were arranged by Dee Palmer, who had worked with the band since 1968's This Was, and would later join as a keyboard player. The master reels were assembled at Apple Studios on 2 March 1971. Aqualung would be the last Jethro Tull album to include Clive Bunker as a band member, as he retired shortly after recording to start a family.[10]
Musical style
The songs on the album encompass a variety of musical genres, with elements of folk, blues, psychedelia, and hard rock.[11] The "riff-heavy" nature of tracks such as "Locomotive Breath", "Hymn 43" and "Wind Up" is regarded as a factor in the band's increased success after the release of the album, with Jethro Tull becoming "a major arena act" and a "fixture on FM radio" according to AllMusic.[12][13] In a stylistic departure from Jethro Tull's earlier albums, many of Aqualung's songs are acoustic. "Cheap Day Return", "Wond'ring Aloud" and "Slipstream" are short, completely acoustic "bridges", and "Mother Goose" is also mostly acoustic. Anderson claims his main inspirations for writing the album were Roy Harper and Bert Jansch.[10]
Themes
Aqualung has generally been regarded as a concept album with a central theme of "the distinction between religion and God".[4] The album's "dour musings on faith and religion" have marked it as "one of the most cerebral albums ever to reach millions of rock listeners".[12] Academic discussions of the nature of concept albums have frequently listed Aqualung amongst their number.[14][15][16]
The initial idea for the album was sparked by some photographs that Anderson's wife Jennie took of homeless people on the Thames Embankment. The appearance of one man in particular caught the interest of the couple, who together wrote the title song "Aqualung".[17] The first side of the LP, titled Aqualung, contains several character sketches, including the character of the title track, and the schoolgirl prostitute Cross-Eyed Mary, as well as two autobiographical tracks, including "Cheap Day Return", written by Anderson after a visit to his critically ill father.[18]
The second side, titled My God, contains three tracks—"My God", "Hymn 43" and "Wind-Up"—that address religion in an introspective, and sometimes irreverent, manner. However, despite the names given to the album's two sides and their related subject matter, Anderson has consistently maintained that Aqualung is not a "concept album". A 2005 interview included on Aqualung Live gives Anderson's thoughts on the matter:[19]
I always said at the time that this is not a concept album; this is just an album of varied songs of varied instrumentation and intensity in which three or four are the kind of keynote pieces for the album but it doesn't make it a concept album. In my mind when it came to writing the next album, Thick as a Brick, was done very much in the sense of: 'Whuh, if they thought Aqualung was a concept album, Oh! Okay, we'll show you a concept album.' And it was done as a kind of spoof, a send-up, of the concept album genre. ... But Aqualung itself, in my mind was never a concept album. Just a bunch of songs.
Drummer Clive Bunker believes that the record's perception as a concept album is a case of "Chinese whispers", explaining "you play the record to a couple of Americans, tell them that there's a lyrical theme loosely linking a few songs, and then notice the figure of the Aqualung character on the cover, and suddenly the word is out that Jethro Tull have done a concept album".[10]
The thematic elements Jethro Tull explored on the album—those of the effects of urbanisation on nature, and of the effects of social constructs such as religion on society—would be developed further on most of the band's subsequent releases.[20] Ian Anderson's frustration over the album's labelling as a concept album directly led to the creation of Thick as a Brick (1972), intended to be a deliberately "over the top" concept album in response.[21]
40th anniversary adapted edition: Remixed and mastered by Steven Wilson (2016)
The 2016 edition was remastered by Steven Wilson of his 2011 remixed material as he did not like Peter Mew's mastering.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Aqualung" | 6:38 |
| 2. | "Cross-Eyed Mary" | 4:11 |
| 3. | "Cheap Day Return" | 1:23 |
| 4. | "Mother Goose" | 3:53 |
| 5. | "Wond'ring Aloud" | 1:56 |
| 6. | "Up to Me" | 3:17 |
| 7. | "My God" | 7:13 |
| 8. | "Hymn 43" | 3:19 |
| 9. | "Slipstream" | 1:13 |
| 10. | "Locomotive Breath" | 4:42 |
| 11. | "Wind-Up" |
Like many prog bands who formed in the late 1960s, Jethro Tull’s early years involved a new album release every single year. That pace slowed in the 1980s, and with J-Tull Dot Come in 1999, the band (name) went to hiatus. Ian Anderson however kept making music, and this brought us Thick As A Brick II and Homo Erraticus, both excellent albums which it’s hard not to think of as Tull albums, such is the imprint of Anderson’s DNA.
The continuation of that trajectory has been what is now three Jethro Tull albums in quick succession from January 2022’s The Zealot Gene, April 2023’s RokFlote and now in March 2025, Curious Ruminant – that’s a pace of output that even few younger peers are able to match… and reminiscent of a 1970s release schedule.
The stable JT core band members, David Goodier, John O’Hara, and Scott Hammond are joined by new guitarist Jack Clark, with contributions from previous members Andrew Gidding and James Duncan (the boss’s son making an appearance on drums). While the last two albums had specific thematic cores in Biblical references and Norse legends, this one is packed with Anderson’s ruminations on manipulation, contemplation, change, and bereavement, with the clever and thought-provoking lyrical approach that’s unchanged over the decades. Musically the album is similar in tone to the previous two, not overproduced, with lots of space when needed. While the overall tone is quite mellow, there are many “gut punch” moments either in song or in words.
“Puppet and the Puppet Master” kicks the album off with a speedy rock beat, acoustic guitars and the rasp of trademark flute – Anderson’s dexterity with this instrument still superb. We also get some trading off between Jack Clark’s guitar, the flute and a Hammond organ. Dig into the lyrics and I’m hearing a reflection on the role of the stage performer as both a puppet and a puppet master – as a minstrel of many years experience, Anderson will, of course, know all of the techniques to engage his audience.. and yet he’s the one dancing to their tune – perhaps a reflection on the role of a “heritage act” where the audience will demand certain songs and behaviors from the band. If that all sounds heavy, don’t worry – you can easily get lost in the jaunty melody … but there’s also lots there if you want to dig deeper! The piano led “title track” is next – it’s a song that couldn’t be anyone but Tull, so distinctive is its sound. This one is a song about curiosity, and those who think about the big questions in life… but ultimately end up changing their mind on a regular basis or indeed sit on the fence. Neither is criticised and you get the feeling that Anderson is reflecting his own personality in this lyric more than he would when, say, he’s wrapped in a character. Yet another shout for some great guitar work on this one.
In “Dunsinane Hill,” it seems that Anderson’s Scottish roots lead him to “The Scottish Play,” mixing elements of Macbeth with the equally murderous world of politics. More great flute playing on this one and in fact the track could also work well as an instrumental as Anderson’s vocal is part-recitation. The recent trilogy of albums has seen Ian settle into a comfortable vocal style, part spoken, part sung which suits his timbre at this point in life. The roar, sneer and snigger of past Tull tracks wouldn’t necessarily fit what he writes today, and yet with the voice and the flute you’re never in any doubt who you’re listening to!
“The Tipu House” is a folksier track, followed by “Savannah of Paddington Green” which returns to themes of climate change which certainly has been a familiar subject since the days of Stormwatch. “Over Jerusalem” starts with a bouncing Celtic folk theme and has a brilliant instrumental mid-section which overall gives it an epic feel. But when it comes to epics, well the prog fans ears prick up when they see a song that lasts longer than 15 minutes. So “Drink From The Same Well,” arguably the second longest track in the Tull canon if you treat Thick As A Brick as a single track, is one of interest. Some of the musical ideas stem from music created for Hariprasad Chaurasia, exponent of the bansuri, an Indian bamboo flute and appeared as instrumentals that Tull played live 20 years ago. Gathering those ideas together with lyrics themed around unity, it’s a showcase of instrumental styles covering jazz, folk and rock as well as Eastern styles – a real musical journey with superb playing throughout.
The album closes with “Interim Sleep”, a spoken word piece, written about the passing of a loved one. It’s a mellow ending track, which finishes the album by staring into eternity.
There’s no doubt that Ian Anderson’s creative well has not run dry, and his output in this decade alone has been of a very high standard. Curious Ruminant is perhaps the strongest of the three Tull albums released on InsideOutMusic, and it’s exciting to hear an artist who’s still producing music of this quality after so many years. For those who enjoy strong lyrical themes and subjects, there’s lots to dig into… and musically it’s full of great playing and virtuoso flute in particular.
Check out our interview with Ian Anderson here.
Released on March 7th, 2025 on InsideOutMusic
https://jethrotullband.lnk.to/CuriousRuminant-Album
The full tracklisting is as follows:
1. Puppet And The Puppet Master 04:04
2. Curious Ruminant 06:00
3. Dunsinane Hill 04:17
4. The Tipu House 03:31
5. Savannah of Paddington Green 03:13
6. Stygian Hand 04:16
7. Over Jerusalem 05:55
8. Drink From The Same Well 16:42
9. Interim Sleep 02:33
The band consists of:
Ian Anderson – Flutes, vocals, acoustic guitar, tenor guitar, mandolin, odds and sods, bits and bobs
David Goodier – Bass guitar
John O’Hara – Piano, keyboards, accordion
Scott Hammond – Drums
Jack Clark – Electric guitar
The album also features:
James Duncan – Drums, cajón, percussion
Andrew Giddings – Piano, keyboards, accordion
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