01	No Lullaby						06:01
	02	Skating Away On The Thin Ice Of A New Day						03:25
	03	Jack In The Green						02:49
	04	One Brown Mouse						04:00
	05	A New Day Yesterday						02:49
	06	Flute Solo Improvisation / God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen / Bouree						05:41
	07	Songs From The Wood						02:36
	08	Thick As A Brick						12:53
	09	Hunting Girl						05:41
	10	Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll; Too Young to Die						03:54
	11	Minstrel In The Gallery						05:44
	12	Cross-eyed Mary						03:56
	13	Aqualung						08:33
	14	Locomotive Breath						06:37
	15	The Dambusters March - Medley						02:19

Date of Release Oct 1978 (release)

~ Live - Bursting Out ~

An introduction to "Live - Bursting Out"

Only five months after the release of "Heavy Horses", Jethro Tull released their magnificent live double album many fans had been desperately waiting for for so long. The only official live recordings were until then part of the "Living In The Past" double album, released in 1972, containing two tracks from the Carnegie Hall benefit concert in New York in October 1970. But the band went through an immense evolution in the following years. Needless to say that there was a great hunt for bootleg live material among us, the fans....

They were catered for in 1978, when the band was 'in action' for 10 years under the name of Jethro Tull and released this double album. In at least two ways this double album is a remarkable one. First of all it portrays Tull in the hayday of their "classic" and very productive period, when they were a six piece band: two keyboard players (David Palmer and John Evans), a versatile lead and acoustic guitar player (Martin Barre), one of their best bass players ever (John Glasscock), a very talented and 'passionate' percussionist (Barrie Barlow) and the perfectionist, flute- and guitar player, front man, composer, lyricist and vocalist Ian Anderson. They had just released two of their - creatively speaking - greatest albums: "Songs From The Wood" and "Heavy Horses" and were in a way pregnant of "Stormwatch", the third one of this 'folky' trilogy, which was to be released the following year.

Secondly, the double album portrays the band as the remarkable live act, which they were famous for, both then and now. It;s not surprising that every gig was a sell out and still is up to now. Ian's humoristic stage banter, his teasingly 'toying' with the other band members, his way of 'settling' the audience e.g. when acoustic songs are announced. What I particularly find remarkable about this album is that it shows us the ability of the band to combine their sturdy rock song with the sweet and warm acoustic ones and the sheer enthousiams of playing before an audience. The atmosphere of the gigs as I recall them is perfectly reflected in the tracks the band chose for this album.

David Rees quotes Ian Anderson, who considered the album as a landmark: "The end of an era, and of course the start of a new one. We have gone as far as we can with the styles of music we've been playing so far. I think we will be moving in different directions from now on" (1). Well, they did as "A", "Walk Into Light" and "Under Wraps" would show us in the years to come.

All recordings were made during the tours of 1977 - 1978 in different European countries, though up to now I haven't found out which song was recording where. Andy Jackson informs me as follows: "As to when and where the Bursting Out tracks were recorded, I think there MIGHT be some very general information in the Melody Maker article I posted in the Steakhouse Tidbits section. Ian was talking to Chris Welch after the gig at the Berlin Deutschlandhalle (18.5.78), and mentioned that they had been taping concerts "for the past couple of nights". The reference to Berne by Claude Nobbs (on the album) would refer to the gig on 28.5.78 at the Festhalle there. So I guess the recordings were made throughout the German and Swiss concerts in May that year.

They used the Maison Rouge Mobile studio, that since the "Minstrel In The Gallery" had proved to be a reliable set of tools while recording on the road, delivering us one of the best live albums ever made by a rock band. "Bursting Out": indeed it was, definitely.
* Jan Voorbij; 1) David Rees "Minstrel in the gallery, a history of Jethro tull",Firefly Pubishing, Wembley, UK (1998)



Annotations

The Dambusters March

The Dambusters March was composed by the contemporary English composer Eric Coates in 1954 for the film "The Dambusters" (1956) to commemorate Bomber Command's 1943 air raid against the dams in the Eder, Sorpe and Mohne rivers. Breaking these dams would flood a large part of the Ruhr area which would obstruct the war-production in the many factories over there. For that purpose Barnes Wallis, the engineer who invented the geodetic construction of the Wellington bomber, developed a rotating bomb that would bounce on the surface of these rivers, breaking the dams at collision. A special version of the Lancaster bomber was built, one that would be able to carry and deliver it.

A special squadron (nr. 617) was composed of the best of the RAF's navigators, bomb aimers and pilots under the command of Guy Gibson. After months of testing and training this squadron leader led the raid against the dams. In spite of all the efforts the mission was only partly successful: the Mohne dam collapsed, the others were slightly damaged. And though the overall damage was great, within 3 months the production in the Ruhr area was back to 80% of before the raid. Many of the casualties were Russian, French and Dutch prisoners of war who were forced to work in these factories. The squadron suffered many casualties: half of the bombers and their crews did not make it home. Beside the tactical objectives, this raid was very important for propaganda reasons: their was much political pressure on the staff of Bomber Command, because of the lack of results in comparison to the high losses suffered. Apart from that, Bomber Command needed new recruits to man the growing number of bombers. Guy Gibson, lateron became a fighter pilot. He was killed in his Spitfire in 1944 over the continent. There is more information on Bomber Command Raids.
* Jan Voorbij, Luud de Brouwer




AMG EXPERT REVIEW: Released just as punk was taking hold on the public's imagination in America and making groups like Tull seem like dinosaurs on their way to extinction, Live - Bursting Out became a seemingly perpetual denizen of the cutout bins for years afterward. However, it happened to be a good album, a more-than-decent capturing of a live Tull concert from Europe. The sound is remarkably good, given the group's arena-rock status at the time, and the repertoire is a solid representation of the group's history, going all the way back to "A New Day Yesterday" from their second album and up through 1977's Songs From The Wood, with stops along the way for "Bouree," "Aqualung," "Locomotive Breath," "Cross-Eyed Mary" and a compact reprise of Thick as a Brick. Some of these tracks work better than others - the tendency here is to play loud and hard, and sometimes that just doesn't translate well on record; seeing "Locomotive Breath" probably worked better than hearing it. - Bruce Eder

1. No Lullaby (Anderson) - 5:54
2. Skating Away on the Thin Ice of a New Day (Anderson) - 3:22
3. Jack in the Green (Anderson) - 2:35
4. One Brown Mouse (Anderson) - 3:43
5. A New Day Yesterday (Anderson) - 2:49
6. Flute Solo Improvisation/God Rest Ye Merry (Anderson) - 5:41
7. Songs from the Wood (Anderson) - 2:29
8. Thick as a Brick (Anderson) - 12:27
9. Hunting Girl (Anderson) - 5:17
10. Too Old to Rock & Roll, Too Young to Die (Anderson) - 3:54
11. Minstrel in the Gallery (Anderson) - 5:44
12. Cross-Eyed Mary (Anderson) - 3:38
13. Aqualung (Anderson/Anderson) - 8:33
14. Locomotive Breath (Anderson) - 6:37
15. The Dambusters March/Medley (Anderson/Coates) - 2:19

Ian Anderson - Guitar (Acoustic), Flute, Guitar, Vocals, Producer
Martin Barre - Guitar, Mandolin, Guitar (Electric), Marimba
Barriemore Barlow - Drums, Glockenspiel
Robin Black - Engineer
John Evan - Organ, Synthesizer, Piano, Accordion
John Evans - Keyboards
John Glascock - Bass, Guitar (Bass), Vocals
Ruan O'Lochlainn - Photography
David Palmer - Synthesizer, Keyboards, Saxophone
Chris Amson - Engineer
Brian Cooke - Photography

CD Chrysalis F2-21201
1978 LP Chrysalis 21201
1990 CD Capitol 21201
1978 CS Chrysalis F4-21201




Tentative Review #122
Jethro Tull
Live: Bursting Out
(released 1978)

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Track: Rating:
1. No Lullaby
2. Sweet Dream
3. Skating Away On The Thin Ice Of A New Day
4. Jack In The Green
5. One Brown Mouse
6. A New Day Yesterday
7. Songs From The Wood
8. Thick As A Brick
9.Hunting Girl
10.Too Old To Rock'n'Roll: Too Young To Die
11.Conundrum
12.Minstrel In The Gallery
13.Cross-Eyed Mary
14.Quatrain
15.Aqualung
16.Locomotive Breath
17.The Dambuster's March

[Note: This is the track listing for the LP version. I understand that the CD version omits at least one track.]

Personnel:
Ian Anderson: vocals, flute, acoustic guitar
Martin Barre: electric guitar, mandolin, marimba
Barriemore Barlow: drums, glockenspiel
John Evan: piano, organ, accordion, synthesizers
John Glascock: bass guitar, vocals
David Palmer: portative pipe organ, synthesizers
Credits:
All songs by Ian Anderson except "Conundrum" and "Quatrain", by Martin Barre, "The Dambuster's March", by Eric Coates/Ian Anderson, and "Aqualung", Ian Anderson/Jenny Anderson.

[Note: For some strange reason, the album credits "Aqualung" to Ian alone, despite the well-known dual credit on _Aqualung_. Mind you, Ian is also credited for "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" here, technically.]



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Comments:
One of the mysteries of English progressive rock history is that Jethro Tull waited as long as they did to release a live album. While Yes, Genesis and ELP had all made their mark in 1973-74, King Crimson had released two by 1975, and even Gentle Giant were on the map by 1976, Tull waited until 1978 before issuing Live: Bursting Out, a two-record set taken from a recent Italian show. This delay probably cost the band no small amount of revenues (the progressive market was declining by 1978, after all). It may have hindered the long-term reputation of the album, too -- despite being a perfectly good snapshot of Tull's live powers and prowess, the album falls somewhat short of being a "classic" in most prog-fan circles.

Why did they wait so long? It surely can't be because of a poor reputation for live shows -- by all accounts, these had been quite memorable audio/visual spectacles for several years. And I rather doubt that it was due to poor performances. Perhaps the presence of a "greatest hits" album in 1975 had saturated the market to the point that a live album would have been superfluous ... I can't think of better reason, at least.

In any event, this particular 1978 show shows the group in top form, and playing a good variety of songs from throughout their career. Some might complain about "A Passion Play" being left out, or quibble that "Sweet Dream" and "A New Day Yesterday" weren't the best early Tull songs they could have chosen. All in all, though, this is a pretty even setlist -- it's doubtful that too many hardcore fans would have had much reason to complain.

As far as the lineup goes ... well, this album may very well be John Glascock's finest hour. The ill-fated Tull bassist is fairly high in the mix this time around, adding a fair bit to songs which had previously been defined by Mr. Hammond-Hammond. Bass-playing Tull fans should probably snag this album for this reason alone.

On the other hand, a case could reasonably be made that David Palmer isn't needed for most of the album. His presence doesn't actually hurt, but there simply isn't a strong need for two keyboardists on most of the material (despite some exceptions, most obviously "Hunting Girl"). Tull were never a keyboard-dominated band to begin with, and one gets the feeling that JE didn't really need any help in this department ... Palmer makes the sound a bit "fuller", to be sure, but seems more of a luxury than a necessity.

There's nothing to fault in the performances of the other band members, and Ian plays the master-showman role to a hilt (completely ignoring any possible language barriers in exposing his dry wit to the audience). With a band like Tull, "the show" was generally as important as "the music" (or, in the case of the flute solo, more important) ... and Ian clearly wasn't letting anyone down on the night in question [which reminds me ... kudos to whoever it was that decided to put a complete show on the record].

As to the show itself ...

After a bilingual introduction, the band takes the stage to "No Lullaby", one of the most strongly prog-rock (with emphasis on both "prog" and "rock") tracks of their late-'70s career. The playing is tight all around (Barlow deserves special credit), and the heavy-guitar/flute duets provide a perfectly ambiguous preface to the entire show. One can only marvel at the purity of Ian's voice; from all the recent reports of near- total deterioration, it's amazing that he used to be this good (capable of articulation and melody at the same time). On the instrumental front, Barre's tone in mid-song is a far cry from the heavy-rock intro (which I'd consider a good thing). I probably like this version better than the on Heavy Horses -- I'm only a bit curious as to why they decided to cut the track short.

And, from there, it's back to the beginning -- "Sweet Dream" is a fairly good psych-rock track from their early career, and gets a decent run-through here. The arrangement is too different from that on Living In The Past, save (obviously) for the keyboard presence, lending itself to the brief keys/flute duet at the end. Not the best Tull song of all time, but a decent flashback.

Ian then makes his first interaction with the group, apologizing for his hat. He then introduces "Skating Away On The Thin Ice" as being held under special conditions, with the other Tull members switching instruments: MB to marimba, JG to lead guitar, JE to accordion, BB to glockenspiel, and DP to the loo areas offstage (if legend be believed). The performance, aside from some superfluous echo effects, is fine -- JG's guitar tone is ... odd, but I rather like it. Anderson's vocal accent on the chorus seem a bit curious as well, though it's nothing to complain about. This chestnut from Warchild gets a decent performance.

Momentarily losing his grasp on the audience, Ian then makes the mistake of noting the Americans in the crowd (not the best thing to say in Europe, of course -- some scattered jeering results). With Palmer then back in the fold, Ian subsequently introduces "Jack(s) In The Green", his tribute to the elfin creatures who preside over England's climactic cycles. On the original Songs From The Wood version, Ian played all the instruments himself; this version, obviously, has a rather more "full" sound to it; and, besides which, Ian's voice sounds less rushed here (though the echo, again, could have been lost). Another good song meet another good performance.

Ian then introduces "One Brown Mouse" as a tribute, of sorts, to Robert Burns. This acoustic number is most notable for its great vocal melody, though it must be admitted that Ian's voice wavers on a few occasions. The synths are fairly prominent here as well, and Barlow provides some good prog drumming in the background (why, I casually ponder, doesn't he have a stronger reputation in the field). And so ends the first LP side.

Ian introduces "A New Day Yesterday" with his usual self-effacing dryness (later demonstrated on "Living In The Past" in the late '80s), citing it as "in a blues tempo, the only one we know". This song of an ending romance works well as a psychedelic/blues-rock number, and is performed fairly faithfully by the group; the mid-song guitar solo features some good harmonizing from Glascock too. But, suddenly ...

... in mid-song, Ian goes into his "Flute Solo Improvisation", a theatrical segment not entirely unrelated to Rick Wakeman's solo spotlight on Yessongs. There's some interesting music going on here, though I can't say I have a strong desire to listen to Ian snorting into the flute ever again in my life. Brief snippets on "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" (with the full band) and "Bouree" pop up as well. I suppose that the silliness was part and parcel of the experience, but it doesn't hold up as well as the rest of the album. Still, the good parts of this bit are, as it were, good enough.

A very abbreviated "Songs From The Wood" then turns up, clocking in at under three minutes. I can't say I have any clue as to why it was shortened; if there was a problem with the arrangement, surely some revision could have been made easy enough. Moreover, this particular track is not entirely "live" -- the opening section is taped in, with Ian's backup vocals (and a flute part, mimed on some occasions by Barlow) magically appearing on stage. These problems aside, it's a good performance -- this was always one of Tull's better late-'70s tracks, and everyone pulls together here (note the harpsichord part). A complete version of the track might even merit a five-star rating (the miming I don't really care about, but abridging a year-old anthem seems a bit pointless). Oh well ...

We are then treating to the first-and-only "epic" track on the album, in the form of a 12-minute version of "Thick As a Brick" (which Ian dedicates to the "over-25s" in the audience). This arrangement begins (obviously) with the eponymous opening section (with synthesizers taking over for the famous flute part; one presumes that Ian's breathing would have been severely compromised if he had attempted singing and playing at the same time). Glascock's bass playing adds a fair amount to the "See, there a son is born" section, and Ian's voice once again reaches a state of high purity. The flute finally makes its appearance in the brief instrumental bit prior to "The Poet And The Painter". From there, the spotlight shifts several times -- Barre takes an impressive solo, Evan and Palmer get in some decent dueting in the background, and Evan (I presume) gets in a hot solo in a reprise of the "son is born" theme. Ian then ends the song with a reprise of the opening, leaving the final "brick" to be filled in by the audience. The end is a bit on the cheese-heavy side, but this is a fairly minor flaw on an obvious album highlight.

The second half of the album begins with a rendition of "Hunting Girl", one of the best songs of Tull's entire catalogue. Ian's introduction (involving John Glascock's fetishes) is quite unusual for actually having a word as harmless as "bastard" bleeped out. Why anyone would think this necessary a year after Never Mind The Bullocks is beyond me ... then again, perhaps the silliness of the censor represents some odd form of British humour. Anyway, the performance is top-notch, with themes shifting from player to player in a highly professional manner. Barre's guitar tone is usually nasty at times (note: this is a good thing), and Ian's voice is near-perfect. Be warned, though, that listening to this song carefully might reduce nostalgic listeners to tears if they should think of Glascock's death so shortly thereafter (I'm serious). Palmer, playing the portative organ, actually has a vital role here -- provided the lead melodic motif which turns up from time to time. Whatever one may think of the S&M/bondage subject matter (discreetly presented, in any case), this performance is another highlight -- probably the best of the "five minute" songs.

The censor returns on Ian's introduction to "Too Old To Rock'n'Roll: Too Young To Die", presumably blocking out Ian's absurdly cheery reference to the song as being about "some other c*nt", rather than himself. The anthemic qualities of this song seem a bit overdone, at times -- Ian's theatrical vision may have taken him too far this time, and the song itself has always been at least one notch below the group's best work. Still, the rockabilly pastiche at track's end is pretty cool ... and where on earth is that saxophone sound emanating from? An entire album of this would be a bit much to take, but it's fine in small doses, I suppose.

Martin Barre's "Conundrum" then emerges, giving Ian the chance to take a time-out. For a guitarist as perpetually low-key as Barre, the opening bits of this piece must have been an incredible on-stage liberation -- his solo is actually very good (even if it does sound like it was written with a missing vocal line from Ian in mind). The "duet" of Glascock and Barre is fairly good as well, as is the slight return of "Hunting Girl" from Palmer. Unfortunately ... well, as I noted in my review of Living In The Past, drum solos don't always translate well beyond the "moment" for which they were intended. While Barlow's solo is probably better than Bunker's on "Dharma For One", it still drags a bit (especially before the percussives kick in). The reprise of the main theme brings this little jaunt to an end, as Ian makes his triumphant return.

And this, in turn, leads us to "Minstrel In The Gallery", which kicks-in with the acoustic section after a very brief organ lead-in. I must confess that this track has never impressed me quite as much as, say, "Aqualung" or other Tull-anthems -- the quiet intro is fine, as is the instrumental rock development thereafter (fusion-y scales and all), but the power-rock section which follows (reprising the opening lyrics) has often struck me as a bit too much bluster. Still, it's a good song -- even a great song -- if still falling short of "classic" status. And Glascock's work on the fretless bass is worth the price of admission.

The final quarter of the album is devoted to the group's most familiar material (although any complaints about an over-reliance on "hits" would have to be counterbalanced by the absence of "Living In The Past" and "Bungle In The Jungle" ... one side dedicated to the Best-Loved Classics seems fair enough, all things considered). A brief "pop-goes- the-weasel" introduction leads into "Cross-Eyed Mary", with the jazzy opening thankfully intact. This is essentially the same as the studio version, only "fuller" -- the guitar/flute duet is again worth pointing out. The usual bogus encore then occurs.

The band then embarks on the brief "Quatrain" which, all credits to Martin Barre aside, is essentially a thinly-disguised rip-off of Aaron Copeland's "Hoe-Down" (from "Rodeo"). As I'm not here to judge the ethics of the situation, however, I'd give the track a high rating fairly easily -- the playing is solid, and the melody can't really be faulted. And, in any event, it provides the means for a surprise lead-in to "Aqualung". Anyone familiar with Tull should know what to expect herein -- though Glascock's bass work on the "sun-streaking cold" bit is good enough to merit special attention again. Barre has probably played better versions of the guitar solo than this, but there's not much to complain about. I suppose this track hadn't been completely played to death in 1978, after all.

And, getting both of the really "heavy horses" out of the way at same time, the group then returns for a second-encore of "Locomotive Breath". The jazzy piano intro seems stretched out a little bit for full dramatic effect, and a train whistle signals the ... er ... "all change" band section that follows, so to speak. Aside from being another solid performance, this version has the additional advantage of lacking the irritating hum in the third verse. ;) Glascock actually makes the bass line "walk" a bit, though I suppose that anyone else would probably have done the same as a point of basic pride. The band then segues into "The Dambuster's March", which makes for as good of a finale piece as anything else, I suppose. Anderson appears on-stage again for a final reprise of "Aqualung", with the surprise ending which concludes the show.

Not essential for the casual fans, this is a strong addition to any serious Tull-fan's collection. Recommended.

The Christopher Currie
(review originally posted to alt.music.yes on 1 Aug 1998)