Record Reviews

JETHRO TULL ~ WAR CHILD (EXPANDED EDITION) EMI 541571 ~ UK ~ Progressive Rock Recorded: 1974 7th album by Jethro TullFind albums by this artist. After 2 incredible concept albums it took the group over a year to produce this one, which marked a return to the conventional song format, although the predominant central theme (violence) is present. Also new are some orchestral arrangements, which even meant touring with a string quartet. Great tunes and perfect performances as usual.

CD 1 Remastered Bonus Tracks Recommend To A Friend

JETHRO TULL ~ WAR CHILD (THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY THEATRE EDITION) CHRYSALIS 825646216277 (Barcode: 825646216277) ~ UK ~ Progressive Rock Recorded: 1972 - 1974 Released: 2014 This is a reissue of the seventh album by the British Prog Masters Jethro TullFind albums by this artist and another chapter in the series of reissues of their seminal albums which are being remixed to new stereo and 5.1 surround sound versions by Steven WilsonFind albums by this artist, who is doing similar projects with classic Rock / Prog albums by other artists as well. It follows a similar treatment that Wilson applied to the reissues of all Jethro Tull albums starting with their third album "BenefitFind albums with this title". The reissue consists of two CDs and two DVDs. The first CD contains the new stereo mix of the original album. The second CD contains a bunch of "associated recordings", i.e. outtakes, alternate versions and orchestral "War ChildFind albums with this title" recordings, partly in new stereo mix and partly in original version. The first DVD contains the original album remixed in High-Resolution 96/24 LPCM stereo and 5.1 surround sound in High-Resolution DTS 96/24 format and AC3 Dolby Digital format, a flat transfer of the original mix in High-Resolution 96/24 LPCM stereo and a flat transfer of the original Quadraphonic version in two High-Resolution formats. Also a few video clips are present. The second DVD contains the "associated recordings" in three High-Resolution formats. If you are confused by all these technical terms, don´t be – it is all complete bullshit piece of hype! Basically you don´t even get a copy of the original album, which you can listen to on conventional hi-fi equipment and you do get a bunch of bonus tracks which add very little value to the original album and a bunch of video clips, which are completely worthless. The entire set is lavishly packaged in a digibook format, with great photos of the band, background material, the song lyrics and other goodies, which are all beyond reproach. This album marks the return to the song format after extended concept album releases. It also introduces orchestral arrangements by David PalmerFind albums by this artist, for which this album was savagely criticized by the critics at the time of its release. In retrospect it defeats short-sighted critics and proves to be definitely as good as all other Jethro Tull albums. In Rock / Prog history Jethro Tull definitely remains as a group that managed to produce consistently excellent output, mainly of course due to the charismatic leadership of Ian AndersonFind albums by this artist. The other members of the group on this album were guitarist Martin BarreFind albums by this artist, keyboardist John EvanFind albums by this artist, bassist Jeffrey Hammond-HammondFind albums by this artist and drummer Barriemore BarlowFind albums by this artist. Although, as already mentioned, not a concept album per se, this album definitely has a central theme of War and violence. Some of the music on this album was actually written and even recorded during earlier recording sessions and included here. The whole story about this album and its relation to the film of the same name, which Anderson intended to produce, is described in detail in the splendid book accompanying the music. Side Note As for the Steven WilsonFind albums by this artist contributions, I´m perplexed time after time why anybody being of sound mind would allow him to butcher the original material and then hype the results as spectacular. These original mixes are untouchable and anybody trying to change them is more or less re-painting Van Gogh, re-sculpturing Michelangelo or re-writing the Bible, all truly barbaric acts of disrespect. Additionally I find his stereo mixes to be dry, artificial and deviant, badly damaging the original ambience of the recordings. Perhaps for people who are not familiar with the original sound this sounds fine, but for me it´s unbearable and sacrilegious. In addition I find the surround sound completely redundant, hoping for years that it will go away as did quad and other industry inventions meant to earn some more money from the suckers following the trends. The whole high resolution hype is so ridiculous; in reality most people are deaf anyway and can´t tell one note from another even if it bites them in the ass and use ridiculously lo-fi equipment. In short Emperor´s new clothes, as usual, and no shame whatsoever.

Updated: 25/05/2018Posted: 15/01/2016

2CD+2DVD 4 Digibook Box Set Oversampling DVD-A Remastered Bonus Tracks Recommend To A Friend