Jethro Tull - Songs From The Tower (2023)

MAGNIFICENT COME-BACK SHOW FROM A REVAMPED JETHRO TULL • Following throat problems suffered by Ian Anderson - which he developed singing the demanding Under Wraps material on Jethro Tull’s 1984 tour - and generally poor reviews for Under Wraps and the band’s previous two records, Tull took a three-year break following the tour. • Jethro Tull returned in 1987 with Crest of a Knave. With keyboardist Peter Vettese having now quit and the band relying more heavily on Martin Barre's electric guitar than they had since the early 1970s, the album was a critical and commercial success. Shades of their earlier electronic excursions were still present, however, as three of the album's songs again used a drum machine, with Doane Perry and Gerry Conway sharing drum duties on the other tracks. Prior to the Crest of a Knave tour, keyboardist Don Airey (ex-Rainbow, Ozzy Osbourne) joined the band. • The group won the 1989 Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental, beating the favourite Metallica and their ...And Justice for All album. On the advice of their manager, however, who told them they had no chance of winning, no one from the band attended the award ceremony. In 1992, when Metallica finally won the Grammy in the category, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich joked, "First thing we're going to do is thank Jethro Tull for not putting out an album this year". • They toured the album with "The Not Quite the World, More the Here and There Tour". It was also the first time in the band's history that it had two electric guitar players on stage, when Anderson, albeit rarely, played rhythm guitar. The live jaunt was also a success and among the finest shows the group played, their date at the Tower Theater in Philadelphia was among the finest. Performed on 25th November ’87, and recorded for live FM broadcast, the show was deemed by fans and critics alike as one of Tull’s best concerts of the 1980s. • Now available on this new CD in its entirety, the release marks one of rock music’s best ever comebacks.