Feature Photo: Girish Menon / Shutterstock.com
Our list of the 10 Most Underrated Jethro Tull Songs offers a wonderful roundup of tracks that had not widely penetrated the mass market. While everyone knows the hits and the songs that achieved radio airplay, there are many deep album tracks on popular albums and singles from lesser-known albums to consider. There’s a lot to choose from. In the end, we selected ten standout tracks that we believe deserve much more attention than they’ve received.
Jethro Tull has released 23 studio albums since their debut record, This Was, hit the stores on October 25, 1968. Their most recent album, RökFlöte, was released on April 21, 2023. In addition to their studio albums, the band has also released at least nine live albums and 15 compilation albums. Through it all, the one constant has been band leader, vocalist, and virtuoso flutist Ian Anderson.
# 10 – Ginnungagap – RökFlöte
We wonder how many old-school Jethro Tull fans even realize that Jethro Tull has continued to release new albums over the past couple of years. It had been a long time between the band’s J-Tull Dot Com album, released in 1999, and the next studio album, which came out 23 years later, entitled The Zealot Gene. However, one year after the return of Jethro Tull with The Zealot Gene, they released another album. Although we should also mention that in 2003, there was a Jethro Tull Christmas Album. Nonetheless, these two recent albums, The Zealot Gene and RökFlöte, are pretty darn good Jethro Tull albums.
Of course, it’s not the same band as the original members, but it’s still Ian Anderson up front, writing the songs, singing lead vocals, and playing his various flutes. The band on this record consists of Ian Anderson on vocals and flutes, Joe Parrish-James on guitars, David Goodier on bass, John O’Hara on keys, and Scott Hammond on drums. Check this song out—it rocks pretty hard!
# 9 – Quiz Kid – Too Old to Rock ‘n’ Roll: Too Young to Die!
I never understood why so many critics bashed the Jethro Tull album Too Old to Rock ‘n’ Roll: Too Young to Die! when it came out. This was a really good Jethro Tull album. The title track was just phenomenal. All I know is this album got a lot of spins on my turntable back in the day. It was originally released in the spring of 1976. There were so many great tracks on this record, but I thought it would be cool to showcase the album’s opening number, “Quiz Kid.”
# 8 – Occasional Demons – Catfish Rising
It was really important to us when we put together this Jethro Tull underrated songs list to represent songs from albums that did not do really well in the mainstream. Many of these Tull albums were often overlooked, which was sad because they were really good records. I mean, you couldn’t expect the band to keep doing Aqualung over and over again. There had to be some growth, some experimentation. Otherwise, if you’re an artist, why just continue doing the same thing? That’s not what an artist does. An artist grows, an artist changes things to keep it interesting. But, of course, there’s always going to be people who don’t want change, who don’t want to hear anything new, and just want bands to do the same old stuff. That’s not us, and I think that’s probably not most people.
So here’s a great one from Catfish Rising called “Occasional Demons.” This album was released in 1991. It became the lowest-charting album in the US that Jethro Tull had released since their debut. However, in Switzerland and Germany, it was a top 20 record. I always find that interesting.
# 7 – Beggar’s Farm – This Was
Well, since we just happened to mention their debut album in our description of the last song, we decided to pick one from this one too. The actual Jethro Tull debut album was released in October of 1968. This is a really interesting album because it really defined how ahead of the curve this band was. Of course, you know psychedelic music, progressive rock music, and all were really blooming at this time, but Tull had this brand new distinct sound which was fueled by the songwriting of Ian Anderson and his incredible flute playing. Martin Barre had not even joined the band yet, as the guitar work on this record was done by Mick Abrahams.
The big popular song from this album was “A Song for Jeffrey,” so of course, we wouldn’t include something like that on the underrated songs list. Even the opening track, “My Sunday Feeling,” is pretty well known. However, the third song on side one, “Beggar’s Farm,” is a pretty outstanding rocker that showcases the writing style of Mick Abrahams and Ian Anderson together. I thought this was an important piece to represent on this list. I think you’ll enjoy this one—make sure to check it out.
# 6 – Play In Time – Benefit
Jethro Tull’s Benefit was one of the band’s most popular albums. They weren’t a household name yet, but they were getting close. For big-time Jethro Tull fans, finding an underrated song on this album may be a stretch, but we think that for the casual fan, there is plenty from this great record to choose from. We went with the ninth track on the album, entitled “Play in Time.” The band on this album featured Ian Anderson, Martin Barre, Glenn Cornick, and Clive Bunker. The most popular song from this record is probably “Teacher.”
# 5 – Velvet Green – Songs From The Wood
At the halfway point on this list of the 10 most underrated Jethro Tull songs is one from one of our favorite albums, Songs from the Wood. The big hits from this record were “The Whistler” and, of course, the title track, “Songs from the Wood.” This album was pretty much loved by everybody at the time, both fans and critics. It went all the way to number eight on the US Billboard Top 200. In the UK, it hit number four. The band celebrated a gold record with this one. At the time, the band consisted of Ian Anderson, Martin Barre, John Glascock, John Evan, Dee Palmer, and Barriemore Barlow.
The song that always got plenty of spins on my turntable and probably a lot of FM radio airplay was side two’s opener, “Velvet Green.” This is a scorcher, a progressive rock masterpiece that, if you’ve never heard it before, you should drop everything and press play. It will put a smile on your face.
# 4 – North Sea Oil – Stormwatch
I just love the opening instrumental melody of this song. It’s surely vintage Jethro Tull. Stormwatch is the album that closes the decade of the ’70s for Jethro Tull. I remember when this album first came out, a lot of fans were a bit disappointed in it. What you have to understand is that Tull had released so much incredible music throughout the decade of the ’70s. Songs like “War Child,” “Locomotive Breath,” “Skating Away,” and “Aqualung”—just so many.
The album didn’t spawn any big-time hits, so of course, there was disappointment in it. However, it was a really good record, and I think over time, like the next couple of albums that we take a look at here on this list, it starts to get a little more love from those who invest their time in taking a look back at these overlooked records. Although this is still the ’70s and it really isn’t considered a later period, it is an album that I think kind of got lost.
# 3 – Rover – Heavy Horses
In case you glanced quickly, make sure to take notice that this song is called “Rover,” not “The Rover” as in the legendary track from Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti. Nonetheless, this is a great song from Jethro Tull’s Heavy Horses album. This album is the follow-up to Songs from the Wood. You can hear similarities between the two records in production and arrangements, as well as the overall feel of the album. If you don’t have this record, I highly recommend it. Heavy Horses is a gem in Jethro Tull’s catalog and one of the most overlooked albums they have ever released.
# 2 – Farm On The Freeway – Crest Of A Knave
Next on our Jethro Tull songs list, we turn to the band’s 16th studio album. Crest of a Knave was released in 1987. This was sort of a comeback album for the band, as they had released an album called Under Wraps a few years earlier that was somewhat rejected by fans due to its experimentation with electronic rock, which was not everyone’s idea of their sound. Although, hey, listen, whatever they want to do, they should do—it’s their career, it’s their band. Ian Anderson probably doesn’t care what anybody thinks. That’s what has always made him great.
Nevertheless, this album also became the first to go gold in the US since Heavy Horses almost ten years earlier. This record stands out as one of the earliest to fully exploit the CD quality sound that was emerging in the mid-80s. Yeah, it’s loaded with great tracks, but “Farm on the Freeway” just totally dominates this album and is by far one of the best songs the band has ever released.
# 1 – Kissing Willie – Rock Island
We weren’t really sure whether to include this song on the list—not because it isn’t a fantastic song (in fact, we’ve ranked it at number one)—but because we weren’t sure if it was underrated enough. It was a pretty big hit on rock and roll radio in the late ’80s when it was first released. However, I’m not so sure how many fans, even some of the hardcore fans, were paying attention as so many of us had begun raising families by then and were overwhelmed working overtime and all that jazz. In the end, all that matters, I guess, is that we celebrate this fantastic Jethro Tull song, which is definitely one of the best pieces the band released in the post-’70s era.
10 Most Underrated Jethro Tull Songs article published on Classic RockHistory.com© 2024
