Tull fans : Aqualung or Thick as a Brick ?

When I see lists of Prog Top 50's etc I always see TAAB pretty high but never Aqualung. Same on this board and in most discussions. Seems most are praising TAAB and maybe Songs From The wood or even This Was and Minstrel in The Gallery. Not that I does not like these records, too BUT once I saw Aqualung in the shops with that medieval artwork, beggars ppainting and the GOD/DOG statement i was hooked and had to buy it as a 12 or 13 year old, i already had THIS WAS and pumped a New Day yesterday / Tp a 1000 Mothers but AQUALUNG was on a whole different. Had to learn to play the flute at school i had a soft spot for rock with fflutes. Like on Ruck Zuck from KRAFTWERK's first LP.
Anyway at an age where finding out about religion played a big role i found the album interesting. I played it yesterday after a few years again and still love it. I find the musical diversity t be key to the album. great acoustic guitars, fine vocals, dope flute parts and on many songs fine rocking parts make for an interesting and entertaining listen. i also dig the lyrics- Amazing . till this day the people helping homeless thank ian anderson for aqualung and his tale about that old sob with Locomotive Breath. When i hear TAAB I hear way too much of the same type of arrangement, the lyrics making no sense really, Of course it is the second best TULL LP, but aqualung to me is TOP 10 of all times and I am not sure if I put TAAB in my personal TOP 100.
How about you ? Got love for Aqualung ?

 

Aqualung. Easier to digest, good songs, and great sleeve art.

 

Aqualung for me. I love most every Tull album, but Aqualung remains my favorite.

 

Aqualung is the only Jethro Tull album in my collection.

 

No serious record collection is complete without both Aqualung and TAAB. To choose just one would be like having to choose between your children...

 

I think they're both kind of overrated (in comparison to, say, Stand Up & Benefit, not to mention A Passion Play).


But if I had to pick one of the two, Aqualung.

 

Thick as a Brick, for me. It's the best album-length composition in the rock world of which I am aware.

 

Tough question. Aqualung was seriously overplayed on FM radio growing up, but I think it is still a stronger album. I listen to Thick as a Brick more though.

 

Generally I'd say Aqulung was one of the most loved Tull albums, the sheer number of reissues suggests there's plenty of sales in it.

As a Tull fan though, it's never been one of my favorites. With bands like Tull I can't really have favorites, because they went though so much, and they maintained a high standard for so long. Having said that, there are some albums that stick with me better than others. I wouldn't say they are better albums, just that I enjoy them more. For example, This Was is probably the album I play the most these days, and I'd play Benefit before Aqualung.

There's a certain element of over-familiarity, I think. I feel the same about Zep's Four Symbols - bloody Stairway to Heaven, a great song, but damn it's been exposed to death. With Aqualung it's Locomotive Breath. I have seen Tull live on several occasions, and I pray they won't cover it again..... but they mostly do. I kind of feel the same a bout the title track, it's over-exposed to a point where I don't find it very affecting these days.

Still, there are some great songs on the album, and it's nowhere near the low of Passion Play, A, amd J-Tull.com.

Thick as a Brick is just organic magic, imo.

 

Love them both! Fortunately I don't have to choose, but I will say that the Aqualung box is far and away the most expensive thing in my collection. I've never played the vinyl, because the digital formats are just that good! Was amazed as every copy of Aqualung I ever owned before Mr. Wilson sounded awful.

 

Aqualung. Thick as a Brick becomes a ponderous bore by Side B. Ian got it right when performing it live as a 12 minute edit on Bursting Out.

 

Aqualung is a spectacular rock n roll album. It's only fault is that half the songs have been played to death on the radio.

I prefer TAAB since I was always a sucker for proggy concept album stuff.

 

The "lung"... by a mile!

I'll quote myself from another thread: I'm a big fan of both prog and Jethro Tull, and TAAB has never been among my top 5 Tull albums. I played it recently and still felt the same. They lose me as of the drum solo - a good solo in itself, but I hate the weakly recorded "statements" and the unimaginative freeform playing. Not much highly interesting themes after that either, barring the reprises of the good themes from side one.

I don't consider "Aqualung" prog though. To me, its stronger connections are to both heavy metal and period folk pop like Cat Stevens and James Taylor.

And I can also relate to Baron Von Talbot's experience with it inasmuch as I also discovered it in my early teens and was highly impressed by the artwork as a whole. The half-torn poster with the phrase "Spend Christmas skiing with mixed party" - something that will never happen to a guy like Aqualung - is a brilliant and moving touch.

 

My sense is that prog lovers tend to prefer Thick as a Brick because it's more ambitious and artfully developed. It's actually the second most highly rated album over on Prog Archives, whereas Aqualung doesn't even scrape into the top 25. But Aqualung has much broader appeal among rock fans, with it's mix of harder edged rock songs and more delicate acoustic folk inflected tracks. Though I really enjoy the first side, as 3rd Uncle Bob mentioned, Thick as a Brick does get rather bogged down in the second half, so I tend to lean more towards Aqualung overall.

 

I listen to Thick As A Brick more, but I love both. Anyway, I definitely choose Aqualung over TAAB2 (which is not bad at all, by the way).

 

Love them both, but if I had to pick one.....Aqualung!

 

TAAB is one of my top 10 desert island discs so easy choice for me. Aqualung is great of course. I have original UK vinyl, MFSL vinyl, 40 th anniversary CD (I thought i was getting the hi res dvd as the 2nd disc ) and new HDtracks hi res DL. So yeah, i must like it. But i prefer This Was, Stand Up and Benefit.

 

Not even close. I love Aqualung, but Thick As A Brick has been played daily by me since its release.
I'll be closing in on 16,000 plays soon.......

 

I can't choose and you can't make me!

 

My God that is a hard choice that is Up To Me to decide. Wond'ing Aloud I'd have to Wind Up picking Aqualung.

 

For me it is Aqualung that has a great first side but a lesser second side.

 

Aqualung, for me. Cross-Eyed Mary, Hymn 43, Cheap Day Return, all killer!

 

TAABrick; hands down winner IMO.

 

If I had to choose, it would be Aqualung

 

I prefer Aqualung somewhat to TAAB. The problem is that you are looking at prog lists, and many prog fans are so nitpicky that they consider TAAB and A Passion Play to be the only "proper" prog albums within the Tull discography. I disagree, but if enough people feel that way, then it's going to push TAAB to the top.