Before moving into the review, I must warn you that these reviews appear under three different versions of "Living in the Past."  The first version is a gold CD that contains 23 tracks, including "Teacher," "Bouree," and "Locomotive Breath," that do not appear on the other two versions.  The second version has 20 tracks, which does not include the three aforementioned tracks.  The third version is an imported version with only 19 tracks.  In addition to the three previously eliminated tracks, this CD also eliminated "Hymn 43."  The prices of the three versions and their availability vary greatly, so I recommend you survey the versions available and choose the version that best fits your needs.

This album fills in holes in Jethro Tull's early music, including tracks not a part of their earlier albums and commercially adding more music at a time when Tull was riding high on the success of 1971's "Aqualung." While some reviewers advise that you need not buy Tull's earliest recordings if you have "Living in the Past," I have all those recordings as well and do not believe this CD replaces them.

This CD offers a range of music, from hard rockers to mellow folk and Tull's signature renaissance-flavored folk and rock. "Living in the Past" offers a jazz-like piece with Ian Anderson's flute prominently displayed. It was the range of music Tull played that has always made Tull hard to fit into a particular genre. While they are often classified as hard rock because of songs like "Teacher" and "Sweet Dreams," as well as most of "Aqualung" and "War Child," Tull more likely fits into a genre of their own as they play music of all types and they seem to do so in a pattern of their own.

Like the true artists that they are, Jethro Tull created music as they felt moved to create. The result is creative and interesting music, often satirical, nearly always at least good. It may be tempting to think in retrospect that some of the music on this CD indicated that Jethro Tull was moving in a harder rock direction. However, as music from CDs such as "Minstrel in the Gallery" and "Songs from the Wood" indicates, Tull's style has always been eclectic, with hard rock being only one of their numerous styles.

This collection is a great introduction to a group that refuses standard classification and has only been recognized as one of music's greats in the last few years. While this CD is sometimes hard to find, I recommend this CD highly if you can find it and if you have liked what you've heard of Jethro Tull's non-commercial music.
Before moving into the review, I must warn you that these reviews appear under three different versions of "Living in the Past. "  The first version is a gold CD that contains 23 tracks, including "Teacher," "Bouree," and "Locomotive Breath," that do not appear on the other two versions. The second version has 20 tracks, which does not include the three aforementioned tracks. The third version is an imported version with only 19 tracks. In addition to the three previously eliminated tracks, this CD also eliminated "Hymn 43. "  The prices of the three versions and their availability vary greatly, so I recommend you survey the versions available and choose the version that best fits your needs. This album fills in holes in Jethro Tull's early music, including tracks not a part of their earlier albums and commercially adding more music at a time when Tull was riding high on the success of 1971's "Aqualung. " While some reviewers advise that you need not buy Tull's earliest recordings if you have "Living in the Past," I have all those recordings as well and do not believe this CD replaces them. This CD offers a range of music, from hard rockers to mellow folk and Tull's signature renaissance-flavored folk and rock. "Living in the Past" offers a jazz-like piece with Ian Anderson's flute prominently displayed. It was the range of music Tull played that has always made Tull hard to fit into a particular genre. While they are often classified as hard rock because of songs like "Teacher" and "Sweet Dreams," as well as most of "Aqualung" and "War Child," Tull more likely fits into a genre of their own as they play music of all types and they seem to do so in a pattern of their own. Like the true artists that they are, Jethro Tull created music as they felt moved to create. The result is creative and interesting music, often satirical, nearly always at least good. It may be tempting to think in retrospect that some of the music on this CD indicated that Jethro Tull was moving in a harder rock direction. However, as music from CDs such as "Minstrel in the Gallery" and "Songs from the Wood" indicates, Tull's style has always been eclectic, with hard rock being only one of their numerous styles. This collection is a great introduction to a group that refuses standard classification and has only been recognized as one of music's greats in the last few years. While this CD is sometimes hard to find, I recommend this CD highly if you can find it and if you have liked what you've heard of Jethro Tull's non-commercial music.