Delving deep into the annals of rock history, we're shining a spotlight on the illustrious discography of the renowned band, Jethro Tull. Those music aficionados seeking to explore the best Jethro Tull albums will find themselves embarking on a fascinating aural journey. This beloved group's artistry stands out in the annals of progressive rock, grounded in their ability to seamlessly blend blues, folk, and hard rock. This splendid symphony has etched the band's name in the hearts of avid music enthusiasts worldwide.
The impact of Jethro Tull on the music industry is palpable, particularly through their most popular albums that have served as powerful pillars in their musical career. Throughout their journey, they've mastered an array of styles, transitioning from a blues rock flavor to their signature progressive rock sound; each album encapsulates these genre shifts. The Jethro Tull discography is a testament not only to the group's versatility but their extraordinary ability to evolve while leaving indelible imprints on the musical landscape.
Reviewing their discography, you will find popular gems like Ram or Flaming Pie, distinguished exemplars of the best of Jethro Tull. These records are multi-dimensional portraits, capturing the ever-evolving spirit of the band. Tug of War and Chaos and Creation in the Backyard are additional must-listen albums by Jethro Tull, albums that illustrate the grandeur of their musical prowess. Each album listing is accompanied by an easy link to Amazon, offering fans a seamless listening experience at their fingertips.
The collection of diverse and representational works like Aqualung, Thick as a Brick, Songs From the Wood, and more, offer a peek into the genius that is Jethro Tull. Whether you're a long-time fan or a new convert, embarking on this journey through the best Jethro Tull album sampler is guaranteed to captivate and inspire. Now, let the music take control and immerse yourself in the awe-inspiring world of Jethro Tull's delightful discography.
Most divisive: Catfish Rising
Over 1.2K Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of The Best Jethro Tull Albums Of All Time
- 1Thick as a Brick is the fifth studio album by the English band Jethro Tull, released in 1972. The album is notable for only including one song, which spans the entire album. Thick as a Brick was deliberately crafted in the style of a concept album. The original packaging, designed like a newspaper, claims the album to be a musical adaptation of an epic poem by a 8-year-old genius, though the lyrics were actually written by the band's frontman, Ian Anderson. The album was a commercial success and topped the US charts.
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- 2Aqualung is the fourth studio album by the rock band Jethro Tull. Released in 1971, Aqualung, despite the band's disapproval, is regarded as a concept album featuring a central theme of "the distinction between religion and God". The album's "dour musings on faith and religion" have marked it as "one of the most cerebral albums ever to reach millions of rock listeners". Aqualung 's success marked a turning point in the band's career, who went on to become a major radio and touring act. Recorded at Island Records' studio in London, it was their first album with John Evan as a full-time member, their first with new bassist Jeffrey Hammond and last album featuring Clive Bunker on drums. Something of a departure from the band's previous work, the album features more acoustic material than previous releases; and—inspired by photographs of homeless people on the Thames Embankment taken by singer Ian Anderson's wife Jennie—contains a number of recurring themes, addressing religion along with Anderson's own personal experiences. Aqualung has sold more than 7 million units worldwide according to Anderson, and is thus Jethro Tull's best selling album.
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- 3
Benefit
1970Benefit is the third album by Jethro Tull, released in April 1970. It was the first Tull album to include pianist and organist John Evan – though he was not yet a permanent member of the group – and the last to include bass guitarist Glenn Cornick. Recorded in a better studio than the previous albums, the band could experiment new tecniques. "To Cry you a Song" and "Teacher" became notorious for the stage shows and radio frequencies. Anderson has said that Benefit is a much darker album than the predecessor Stand Up for the pressures of an extensive tour in U.S. couple with frustrations with the music business.Purchase
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Songs From the Wood
1977Songs from the Wood is the tenth studio album by Jethro Tull. The album signalled a new direction for the band who turned to celebrating British pagan folklore and the countryside life in a wide-ranging folk rock style which combined traditional instruments and melodies with hard rock drums and electric guitars. The album is considered to be the first of a trio of folk rock albums: Songs from the Wood, Heavy Horses and Stormwatch. On the album cover appears an extended title line: "Jethro Tull—with kitchen prose, gutter rhymes and divers—Songs from the Wood". The title track of the album contain two of these phrases in its lyrics. The 2003 remastered edition includes a pair of bonus tracks, featuring a live rendition of "Velvet Green".Purchase
- 5Stand Up is the second album by Jethro Tull released in 1969; it quickly went to number 1 in the UK charts while a single, "Sweet Dream", rose to number 5. Before Stand Up, the band's original guitarist Mick Abrahams resigned because of musical differences with Ian Anderson; Abrahams wanted to stay with the blues-rock sound of This Was, while Anderson wished to add other musical influences such as folk rock. The result was an eclectic album with various styles appearing in its songs, yet an album which remained broadly in the blues rock mould, which would be the last such album from Jethro Tull. Stand Up represents the first album project on which Anderson was in full control of the music and lyrics. It also marks the first appearance of guitarist Martin Barre, who appeared on every Jethro Tull album from this point on.
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- 6
Heavy Horses
1978Heavy Horses is the eleventh studio album by Jethro Tull, released on 10 April 1978. It is considered the second album in a trilogy of folk-rock albums by Jethro Tull, although folk music's influence is evident on a great number of Jethro Tull releases. The album abandons much of the folk lyrical content typical of the previous studio album, Songs from the Wood, in exchange for a more realist perspective on the changing world. Likewise, the band sound is harder and tighter. The third album in the folk-rock trilogy is Stormwatch. This album was the last studio album to feature John Glascock playing bass on all tracks.Purchase
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Minstrel in the Gallery
1975Minstrel in the Gallery is the eighth studio album by British band Jethro Tull, recored in April and released in September 1975. The album go on a different direction from their previous work War Child, with the orchestration being replaced by a string quartet conducted by David Palmer. The band also return to the blend of electric and acoustic pieces, in a manner more closely to Aqualung and Thick as a Brick. It would be the last album to featured bassist Jeffrey Hammond, who was replaced by former Carmen bass player John Glascock.Purchase
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Living in the Past
2013 - 9
A Passion Play
1973A Passion Play is the sixth studio album by Jethro Tull, released in July 1973 in both UK and US. Like its predecessor, Thick as a Brick, it is a concept album comprising a single continuous song. The theme of the concept is apparently the spiritual journey of one man in the afterlife. In the original tour to support the album, three videos were used: one for the intro of the play, "The Story of the Hare Who Lost His Spectacles" and a final shot passage to conclude the act. The whole of the concert was probably the mark of Jethro Tull elaborate stage productions.Purchase
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Stormwatch
1979Stormwatch is the twelfth studio album by the rock group Jethro Tull. It is considered the last in the trilogy of folk-rock albums by Jethro Tull. Among other subject-matter, the album touches heavily on the problems relating to the environment, oil and money. In 2004, a remastered version of Stormwatch was released with four bonus tracks. This is the last Tull album to feature the classic line-up of the 1970s. Bassist John Glascock, suffering at this point from the effects of a cardiac infection that eventually led to his death, is only featured on three tracks. Ian Anderson played bass elsewhere on the album while Dave Pegg played on the subsequent tour. The instrumental piece "Elegy" was written by David Palmer.Purchase
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Broadsword and the Beast
1982The Broadsword and the Beast is the 14th studio album by Jethro Tull, released on 10 April 1982 and according to Ian Anderson in the liner notes of the remastered CD, contains some of Jethro Tull's best music. It mixes electronic sound with acoustic instruments and is a cross between the synthesiser sound of the 1980s and the folk-influenced style that Tull had in the previous decade.Purchase
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This Was
1968This Was is the debut album by the rock band Jethro Tull, released in 1968. Recorded at a cost of only £1200 GBP, the album received generally favourable reviews and sold well upon its release. In the documentary film of the Woodstock Festival, portions of the songs "Beggar's Farm" and "Serenade to a Cuckoo" may be heard on the PA system, indicating the level of notice the album achieved in the United States. The album reached number 10 on the UK Album Chart and number 62 on the Billboard 200.Purchase
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Crest of a Knave
1987Crest of a Knave is the sixteenth studio album by British rock band Jethro Tull, released in 1987. The album was recorded after a hiatus of three years occasioned by a throat infection of vocalist Ian Anderson. After the unsuccessful Under Wraps, the band returned to a more heavy blended electric with acoustic style of sound, one of the top characteristics of Jethro Tull. The album was their most successful since the 70's, and the band enjoyed a resurgence on radio broadcasts, appearances in MTV specials, and recording music videos. The album was supported by the "The Not Quite the World, More the Here and There Tour".Purchase
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Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die!
1976Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die! is the ninth studio album released by British band Jethro Tull. It is the first album to include bassist John Glascock who also contributes with backing vocals. Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die! is a concept album about the story of Ray Lomas, a ageing rocker that found fame with the changes of musical trends. The album was remastered in 2002 and the CD version contains two bonus tracks that were cut from the original LP, "Small Cigar" and "Strip Cartoon".Purchase
- 15
A
1980A is the 13th studio album by Jethro Tull. It was released on 29 August 1980 in the UK and 1 September of the same year in the United States. The album was recorded in the summer of 1980 using Maison Rouge Mobile and Maison Rouge Studios in Fulham, London. Eddie Jobson guested on the album, playing keyboards and electric violin. The album was produced by Ian Anderson and Robin Black.Purchase
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The Jethro Tull Christmas Album
2003The Jethro Tull Christmas Album is the 21st and final studio album released by Jethro Tull, on 30 September 2003.Purchase
- 17
Nightcap: the Unreleased Masters 1973-1991
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Roots to Branches
1995Roots to Branches is the 19th studio album by the British band Jethro Tull. It carries characteristics of Tull's classic 1970s art-rock and folk-rock roots alongside jazz and Arabic and Far Eastern influences. All songs were written by Ian Anderson and recorded at his home studio. This is the last Tull album to feature Dave Pegg on the bass, and the first to feature keyboardist Andrew Giddings as an official band member, although he had contributed to Catfish Rising on a sessional basis. In January 2007, a remastered edition of the album was released. It contained no bonus tracks.Purchase
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The Zealot Gene
2022The Zealot Gene is the 22nd studio album by the British rock band Jethro Tull, released on January 28, 2022, by Inside Out Music. This is their first studio album since 2003's The Jethro Tull Christmas Album and their first to consist of entirely original songs since 1999's J-Tull Dot Com, marking the longest gap between the band's studio albums. The Zealot Gene is the first Jethro Tull studio album to feature an entirely new lineup, with guitarist Florian Opahle (who left the band between its recording and release), bassist David Goodier, keyboardist John O'Hara and drummer Scott Hammond replacing four-fifths of The Jethro Tull Christmas Album lineup–Martin Barre, Jonathan Noyce, Andrew Giddings and Doane Perry respectively. Vocalist and flautist Ian Anderson is the only member from that lineup to appear on the album. The Zealot Gene is also the second Jethro Tull album not to feature Barre, after the band's debut album This Was. - 20
Catfish Rising
1991Catfish Rising is the 18th studio album by the British rock group Jethro Tull, released in 1991. It is the first Tull album to feature keyboardist Andrew Giddings.Purchase
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Rock Island
1989Purchase
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J-Tull Dot Com
1999J-Tull Dot Com is the 20th studio album by the British band Jethro Tull, and their final studio album consisting of all-original material. It was released four years after their 1995 album Roots to Branches and continues in the same vein, marrying hard-rock and art-rock with Eastern music influences. This is the only album to feature both Andrew Giddings on keyboards and Jonathan Noyce on bass, although both would stay with the band until 2007, resulting in Jethro Tull's longest ever unchanged line-up; they recorded just one other album, The Jethro Tull Christmas Album.Purchase
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Under Wraps
1984Under Wraps is the 15th studio album by the band Jethro Tull, released in 1984. The songs' subject matter is heavily influenced by bandleader Ian Anderson's love of espionage fiction. It was controversial amongst Tull fans due to its 1980s electronic/synth-pop sound and Dave Pegg has been quoted as saying that the tracks cut from Broadsword and the Beast would have made a better album. The album was a commercial failure, reaching only the Nº 76 in the Billboard 200 and Nº 18 in UK charts. The single "Lap Of Luxury" achived some attention, reaching the Nº 30.Purchase
