Posted on: June 24, 2008 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Jethro Tull’s “Jack In The Green’ DVD showcases memorable footage from all the times that they had performed Live in Germany, from a period a few years after their founding (1970) all the way to 1993. Perhaps the strongest footage that is present on “Jack In The Green” has to be the rare footage that was dug up from their performance at the Beat Club (from the 1970-1971) period, where viewers will hear a young Tull play two classics – “With You There To Help Me” and “Nothing Is Easy”. A few years pass between the next set of footage, which is a more complete concert from their 1982 “Broadsword and the Beast” tour.

The band bust through “Aqualung” and “Locomotive Breath” in a way that will keep viewers at the end of their seats, to be let down nicely with the band’s closing up shop with their “Cheerio”. There is later, spottier coverage from 1986, consisting of a performance of “Huntign Girl” from Rocksummer and a mini-set of four tracks (including “Thick As A Brick” and “Too Old To Rock ‘N’ Roll”) from the “Out In The Green” performance. Finally, there are two tracks from a live 1993 show – “My Sunday Feeling” and “So Much Trouble”. The quality of the performances vary considerably from the different time periods, but at all points, the audio and video are solid for a live performance, allowing viewers to understand and comprehend what was going on at that period of time. The only criticism that I could conceivably levy with this DVD is that some of the shorter sets – in particular, the Rocksummer and Beat Club performances – could have been further boosted up.

I believe that Tull fans would have paid the extra money to create a second disc if it meant that these performances were closer than full than brief views into the band at a specific period of time. Regardless, what Eagle Rock has done here is make a live sort of “Greatest Hits” album for anyone that may be into Jethro Tull. “Jack In The Green” is thus a solid purchase due to these live performances, and would be a perfect purchase for anyone that is a fan of Jethro Tull. Here’s to hoping that Eagle Rock will release more in the way of live footage from the Tull archives in the months and the years to come; lord knows that there are more than enough fans of the band to pick any future releases up.

Rating: 7.0/10

Jethro Tull – Jack In The Green / 2008 Eagle Rock / 96 Minutes / http://www.eaglerockent.com /

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