Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Jethro Tull
Label: EMI Records
Release: 1978
Rating: 5/5
By the time their first (double) live album “Bursting Out” came out, Jethro Tull were at the peak of their creative output in the world of progressive folk rock, and still riding the fresh wave of the tour for the unforgettable masterpiece “Heavy Horses” (1978), which convinced plenty of urban rock fans to start looking at the countryside through much more idyllic eyes. Most of the recordings on “Bursting Out” were captured on the European tour, including in Montreux, Switzerland, a town that’s probably best known among music lovers for the fire during Frank Zappa’s show, which later became the main inspiration for the Deep Purple classic “Smoke On The Water”, as well as for its many international jazz festivals. It was also where the members of Jethro Tull had their own recording studio in the early 70s. The proceeds from one of the Swiss shows went toward upgrading a department of the Montreux public library, a symbolic thank-you for the devotion of the local crowd. Quite the lovely gesture from Ian and his old-guard musical comrades of the time, that classic “folk rock” lineup in which, besides Ian and guitarist Martin Barre, you had bassist John Glascock, drummer Barriemore Barlow and keyboardists John Evans and David Palmer (now Dee Palmer). It was a seriously merry bunch that won over plenty of happy crowds, and with all that unbridled energy it even seemed like this would be the band’s permanent lineup, but sadly it started coming apart at the seams the very next year.
“Bursting Out” is the symbolic peak of those merry times, when the creators of the folk rock trilogy (Songs From The Woods, Heavy Horses and Stormwatch) were very much alive and kicking. The sturdy Scottish merrymaker with the flute, who has always preferred cider and a pipe to whiskey and cigarettes, and his woodland/farmhand hardy lads, greased up with every instrumental trick in the book and often marched along by Martin Barre, by then a true Irish leprechaun (though an ever-bigger guitar giant), throw an unforgettable musical shindig with thrilling renditions of most of their best work. They’ve also added a few small surprises that don’t turn up on their setlists all that often. Even though Jethro Tull don’t skimp on fun improvisations in between, they mostly stick to the original versions, just played a touch faster than on the record. The only minor minus, in my view, goes to some of the shortened versions of the classics, which is of course a logical consequence of a band having a small sea of beloved classics to choose from and having to pick carefully the whole time to somehow satisfy all the wishes of the crowd. Most of the repertoire comes from the two folk rock masterpieces “Songs From The Wood” (1977) and “Heavy Horses”, the albums that made this incarnation of the band famous.
After the opening address by the concert organizer (and director of the Montreux jazz festival) Claude Nobs comes “No Lullaby” (Heavy Horses), dressed up with a witty opening passage on the flute. With all its unbridled energy it’s anything but a lullaby, yet it still makes for a very surprising way to kick off the show. A solid take on one of their earliest classics, “Sweet Dream” (Stand Up, 1969), briefly revives their hard rock side. That’s followed by an excellent and very funny version of “Skating Away On The Thin Ice Of The New Day” (Warchild, 1974), for which individual band members swap instruments. Ian accompanies this with a juicy remark about Martin “Lancelot” Barre, who this time grabs the “mighty” marimba. Meanwhile he sends Glascock off to the electric guitar, Evans stays at the piano, and Barrie Barlow takes on the glockenspiel. Only Palmer is missing, who, according to Ian, has wandered off to answer a call of nature. Ian politely welcomes him back to the stage once he’s established that he’s still “in one piece”. Next up is Ian’s acoustic solo creation (he played the original entirely on his own), the unforgettable classic “Jack In The Green” (Songs From The Wood) about the little green fellas who never run out in the Scottish woods. A small surprise follows in the form of an excellent interpretation of the folk rock delicacy “One Brown Mouse” (Heavy Horses), this time enriched with some extra orchestral arrangements. The cunning woodland crew suddenly decides on a brief return to their blues roots. Fittingly, an exceptionally energetic version of the legendary “A New Day Yesterday” (Stand Up, 1969) follows, which Ian introduces as a very old song that was once truly the product of a new yesterday, one that has long since become “prehistory”. The crowd’s enthusiasm is immense, which Ian immediately takes advantage of, treating himself after this slightly shortened rendition to an extensive and very funny flute improvisation that tips over into the main motif of the classic “My God” (Aqualung, 1971) and the Christmas carol “God Rest Yer Merry Gentleman”, which he enriches with extra baroque arrangements thanks to Barrie’s help on the glockenspiel. The master of this magnificent wind instrument of course doesn’t run out of breath for a second, and here the listener is treated to some of the best moments of the entire recording. Ian wraps up his solo spot with an excellent variation on “Bourre” (Stand Up), originally a classical piece by Bach that Tull turned into a classic of their own very successfully (and one of their very rare “covers”). The big finale of the first half is the unforgettable “Songs From The Wood”, which sadly gets cut down to half its length. Then comes one of the highlights of the recording, the great prog rock masterpiece “Thick As A Brick” (Thick Ad A Brick, 1972), which of course had to be trimmed down considerably and adapted to the time limits of a live show. Even so, they managed to recreate most of the original atmosphere and energy, since they kept the bulk of the elements and sections that made this composition a legendary work, and skillfully slipped in plenty of small, free-spirited interpretations too. Although both original parts of the suite remain unreachable, and perhaps even the peak of their musical career, they deliver an extremely energetic version with a nice helping of orchestral arrangements even fuller than on the original.
The second half opens with Ian’s cheeky speculations about Glascock’s moral qualities and kicks off with the hot-blooded woodland beauty “Hunting Girl” (Songs From The Wood), which blossoms again in all its magnificent baroque curves, um, wind and orchestral arrangements. Ian and the gang use every break for a witty aphorism at their own or someone else’s expense, and so it goes before the playful classic “Too Old To Rock’n’Roll Too Young To Die” from the album of the same name from 1976, which came about as a kind of self-parody aimed at the music critics of the day who had written them off as “dinosaurs”. Once again, the main sources of laughter are the cheeky, deliberately self-pitying chorus and an ending played even more in the style of the music from Benny Hill’s unforgettable comedies. “Conundrum” is an excellent baroque instrumental, played specifically on this tour and not found on any studio recording. Barre shines in it above all with his melodic guitar passages, as does drummer Barrie Barlow, who deftly works in his own solo spot and shows why he was one of the best jazz/rock drummers of the 70s, tearing through the air with his dynamics and massive swings at a speed rarely seen or heard. Fans of Elizabethan drama and baroque melodies will surely be delighted by the excellent version of the classic “Minstrel In The Gallery” from the album of the same name from 1975, which this time is dressed up a touch more in folk rock waters, giving it an even juicier sound. Of course, it would be sheer blasphemy to forget the classics from what is still their most beloved album, “Aqualung”. They start with an excellent rendition of “squint-eyed Mary”, that is, “Cross-eyed Marry”, which Ian sings with a slightly more melodic approach than the original. After that comes the first encore with “Quatrain”, another witty instrumental, built mainly on passages between Hammond organ and guitar, which also doesn’t appear on any studio release. The joking is over with one of their heaviest pieces, the unforgettable hard rock classic “Aqualung”, which created the mysterious legend of a connection between the tramp of the same name and Ian. Beyond the extra orchestral arrangements, Barre’s metallic riffing, spiced with an excellent solo, and Ian’s immortal combination are once again the winners in yet another highlight of this recording. The closer with their best-known and most beloved classic, “Locomotive Breath”, is still pretty much a standard of most of their shows. I probably won’t be exaggerating if I say this version is even better than the studio original, since besides the traditional wheezing guitar riffs and rhythm it also features a series of newly added piano arrangements. They end the concert out of nowhere with the ceremonial instrumental “The Dambusters March”, another instrumental that officially came out only on this recording, and during which they throw huge balloons into the air (a practice they still do today and one that’s typical of their shows), before playing a closing verse of “Aqualung”.
“Bursting Out” is one of those unforgettable live albums that belongs in every decent music collection. It’s the cherry on top of the creative cream Jethro Tull piled up in the 70s, and more or less their last classic release, rounding off their best creative period. For a total newcomer who wants to get to know the band as quickly as possible, I’d say this is practically the ideal album to start with, since it more than effectively presents the full picture of everything the best of Jethro Tull ever stood for. In my opinion they were never better again, even though they showed up in many other interesting guises. With the reissue of one of the best live albums of the 70s, which also brings a noticeably improved sound, I think it’s high time the Montreux jazz festival organizers made good on their years-long plans to put a statue of the bearded uncle with the flute who likes to dance on one leg alongside the statues of music legends like Freddie Mercury, Miles Davis and B.B. King.
Lineup
Ian Anderson – vocals, flute, acoustic guitar
Martin Barre – electric guitar, mandolin, marimba
John Glascock – bass guitar, guitar, backing vocals
Barriemore Barlow – drums, glockenspiel
John Evans – piano, organ, accordion, synthesizer
David Palmer – organ, synthesizer
Production
Ian Anderson
Tracklist
CD1
1. Intro by Claude (0:50)
2. No Lullaby (4:47)
3. Sweet Dream (6:30)
4. Skatin’ Away On The Thin Ice Of A New Day(4:30)
5. Jack-in-the-Green (3:12)
6. One Brown Mouse (3:53)
7. New Day Yesterday (2:27)
8. Flute Solo Improvisation / God Rest Ye Merry 9. Gentlemen / Bourée(6:08)
9. Songs From The Wood (2:40)
10. Thick As A Brick (12:26)
CD2
1. Intro by Ian (0:42)
2. A Hunting Girl (5:44)
3. Too Old To Rock ‘n’ Roll: Too Young To Die (3:56)
4. Conundrum? (6:57)
5. The Minstrel in the Gallery (5:41
6. Cross Eyed Mary (3:58)
7. Quatrain (1:33)
8. Aqualung (8:37)
9. Locomotive Breath (5:34)
10. The Damnbuster’s March / Medley (3:28)
