Jethro Tull notched its sixth gold record in 1975 with its eighth studio album, Minstrel In The Gallery. Its elaborate production is reminiscent of the band’s 1972 classic Thick As a Brick and its songs rock as hard as anything in the band’s vast and storied catalog. To mark the occasion of the album’s 40-year anniversary, Steven Wilson remixed this incredible album with amazing sound quality!

• 40th Anniversary La Grande Edition
• 180 Gram Vinyl
• Pressed at Optimal in Germany
• New Stereo mix by Steven Wilson
• 24 Page Booklet

“Aqualung” and “Thick As A Brick” tend to be cited as defining the 1970s’ Jethro Tull – but arguably “Minstrel in the Gallery” is the quintessential 1970’s Tull album. The album contained a liberal sprinkling of the type of personal acoustic ditties which had graced the “Aqualung” album, with the string-adorned “Requiem” being possibly the most romantic song Ian had ever written, and the closing “Grace” – more whimsical in its romanticism – clocking in at a whole thirty seven seconds. And after the forty-plus minute “Thick As A Brick" and “A Passion Play” epics, Ian once again dabbled with an extended suite of music with “Baker Street Muse,” a seventeen minute four-part observation of the seedier side of his then home town of London.

The acoustic guitar and strings are to the fore in most of the other songs, but the likes of “Cold Wind To Valhalla” and “Black Satin Dancer” then explode into full-blown rockers, with Martin Barre’s electric guitar taking the spotlight as the band thunders along behind him in an adventurous exploration of unpredictable key-changes and time-signatures. That juxtaposition of acoustic and electric has been a feature of Jethro Tull’s music throughout their career, but is perhaps never better exemplified than on “Minstrel In The Gallery” which, after earlier albums’ tags of ‘blues’ and ‘prog,’ is unequivocally a ‘rock’ album, albeit with a maturity and sophistication both lyrically and harmonically which highlighted Tull’s originality.

Though “Minstrel” is heavily acoustic, songs from the album rarely appeared in concert set lists. Partly, this could very well be due to “Minstrel’s” rather dark, often very personal subject matter and tone for many of the acoustical tunes. Ian was just coming off a divorce and “One White Duck/0¹º = Nothing At All” addresses the end of his marriage. “One White Duck” is related to a common British concept (and even wall ornament) that a married couple have their “ducks in a row.” A sole duck, hence, represents separation.

Track Listing:

1. Minstrel in The Gallery
2. Cold Wind to Valhalla
3. Black Satin Dancer
4. Requiem
5. One White Duck / 010 = Nothing at All
7. Baker St. Muse
    a. Pig-Me and the Whore
    b. Nice Little Tune
    c. Crash Barrier Waltzer
    d. Mother England Reverie
8. Grace

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