JETHRO TULL : DOWN TO EARTH

Disc One (57:42)

1. Wondr'ing Aloud
2. Skating Away
3. Jack-In-The-Green
4. Thick As A Brick
5. Songs From The Wood
6. Instrumental / Drum Solo
7. To Cry You A Song
8. A New Day Yesterday
9. Flute Solo
10. Living In The Past
11. A New Day Yesterday (reprise)
12. Velvet Green

Disc Two (53:19)

1. Hunting Girl
2. Too Old To Rock 'N' Roll
3. Beethoven's Ninth Symphony
4. Minstrel In The Gallery
5. Aqualung
6. Guitar Solo
7. Wind-Up
8. Back Door Angels
9. Wind-Up (repise)
10. Locomotive Breath
11. Land Of Hope and Glory
12. Back Door Angels (reprise)

Label : Progressive Rock Remaster Project (PRRP)

Venue : Apollo Theater, Manchester, UK

Recording Date : February 5, 1977

Quality : Soundboard recording (A+)

Review (PRRP Staff) : What A Year It Was... The definition of Progressive Rock has been debated for years, but whatever it is; most historians believe it began with the release of The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967. Through the early 1970's many British groups took up the mantle of this new, innovative style, much to the pleasure of music fans. The new LP format for phonograph records permitted up to 25 minutes of continuous music on each side and was a crucial technological development allowing the musical style called Progressive Rock to flourish. This was considered a major advance over the "old 45" which was perfect for the radio-friendly 3 minute pop songs but limited longer musical expressions. Once available, progressive bands made full use of the new format to display their musical creativity. Side-long pieces were written by Yes for their December, 1973, 2LP release: Tales from Topographic Oceans. Pink Floyd's masterpiece The Dark Side of the Moon just happens to fit on one LP, clocking in at 43 minutes and conveniently finds a natural break point after 'The Great Gig in the Sky' and before the song 'Money' for a flip of the record. And Genesis was one of the first in the genre to use the new-length LPs to present concert material in the case of Genesis Live, 46 minutes of music recorded live from performances given in February of 1973. With many of the original progressive rock bands beginning at approximately the same time, there seems to be some uniformity in the rise, maturation and success of these bands. Not surprisingly many within the progressive rock field reached major artistic success simultaneously. While the most important work from each band can be debated endlessly, 1977 has been considered by many to be a (or the) pinnacle year for Progressive Rock as most of the major bands in the genre released important and groundbreaking music during that year. Genesis, coming off the very popular album A Trick of the Tail followed this achievement with Wind and Wuthering. Weathering the storm from the loss of Peter Gabriel, Genesis were unsure of their future when they released Trick in 1976. But with the surprising success of this album, the new release, Wind and Wuthering, allowed a more confident collection of material to be presented. From Rutherford's love song 'Your Own Special Way' to the instrumentally heavy and Hackett solo career favorites 'Blood on the Rooftops' and '.In that Quiet Earth', Genesis were proving that life after Gabriel was not only possible but could also be musically triumphant. So successful were they in 1977 that November of that year saw the release of Seconds Out, a double live album presenting the best of the new Collins era material. Pink Floyd had no tour or album during 1976 so Floyd fans eagerly awaited the release of Animals during our year of 1977. As a scathing rebuke of capitalistic exploitation, Animals uncomfortably but poignantly addresses the plight and struggle between workers and management, owners and would-be owners, all caught up in the desire for money, power and fame. Using the symbols of Pigs, Dogs and Sheep the harsh realities lived by many people in 1977's Britain were brutally exposed, but softened a bit by the completely out of context placement of a 2-part love song between the main three movements. Though Dark Side of the Moon may have been their most successful album, Animals was considered by many to be the most important cultural statement from the band to that point in their career. Almost every year of the 1970's decade had major news from the band Yes and 1977 was no exception. In 1976, the band reunited with former keyboardist Rick Wakeman and, in 1977, released a superb new album, Going for the One. The promotional tour for this album was without doubt one of the highlights on the progressive scene in 1977. Clocking in at 38 minutes, the new album was even shorter than its 40-minute predecessor, Relayer, but with such a long time between the two releases, fans were eager for any new material. One cause for this delay was the decision by the band members to work on solo albums during 1976. Chris Squire's Fish out of Water and Jon Anderson's Olias of Sunhillow were considered major achievements of that year. Regardless, the re-uniting of the band and the release of a new album was welcomed. In keeping with the Yes tradition, the new album was fully progressive but a bit more straightforward at times. The song 'Awaken', one of Yes' best, still stands out as one of the finest pieces of music from the seventies. The album also contained a few of their most popular songs to date, such as 'Parallels' and 'Wonderous Stories', and was considered by many to be the pinnacle of their career to that point. Kansas was one of the few legitimate American bands in the Prog-Rock genre and were clearly an important musical force in the 1970s. In September of 1977 the band come out with one of their most artistically creative and popular albums ever; Point of No Return. Working with Don Kirshner, as they had since early in their career, their fifth album was considered a major triumph. 'Point of Know Return' and 'Dust in the Wind' are among their most popular songs and have been played by the band in concerts well into the new millennium. Building on the popularity of the prior album, Leftoverture and the success of Point of Know Return, a double live album called Two for the Show was released the following year and presented Kansas at their very best. But let's not forget Jethro Tull, themselves a respected member of the Progressive Rock clan and the star of this new PRRP release. Starting as a blues band in the 1960's they thrust into the prog-rock genre with Aqualung, which Ian Anderson, to this day, denies was a cohesive concept album. This was followed by Thick as a Brick which Anderson states was a parody of the prog-rock concept album but which, to many prog-rock fans, epitomizes this musical construct. After disappointments over the next few releases, Jethro Tull came back in 1977 with quintessential British progressive rock in the form of Songs from the Wood, still considered one of their most musically successful albums. The band continued to pursue elements of the prog-rock style with its next effort, Heavy Horses, and really launched their career to new heights with this pair of albums. Like Kansas, the success of these two works led to the release of a double live album, Bursting Out, the following year. The Jethro Tull concert presented here comes from the rarest of the rare in music collecting circles, a master tape soundboard recording. Sourced from a tape provided by a former roadie of the band, the recording was digitized and uploaded for torrenting in 2008. Remastering has corrected speed, tone and many tape flaws so that we can bring you an outstanding recording and performance by one of progressive rocks most enduring acts. Yes, 1977 was one of the most important years in progressive rock history. Many more examples of important prog-rock bands and their 1977 releases could be listed here, but the point has already been made and needs no further elaboration. To this point PRRP has brought you nine remastered shows from 1977 and this Tull recording makes number ten. Given the importance of this year to the history of Progressive Rock, there will probably be more to come in the future.

Note (Mr Fibuli) : Acquired this from one of the Tull road crew several years ago & then promptly forgot I had it. Does not seem to have surfaced anywhere, so this should help fill in the missing gaps at The Ministry of Information. The very first track on the tape is the instumental Quartet, played over the PA in the theatre, and which can be found on the Nightcap album (highly recommended). The first instrumental is also incomplete - otherwise this is the concert in its entirety.