JETHRO TULL’s Martin Barre is featured in a new interview with Classic Rock Revisited founder Jeb Wright. They discuss the history of the band’s breakthrough album, Aqualung, which is celebrating it’s 40th Anniversary. An excerpt is available below:

Jeb: It’s hard to believe Aqualung is 40 years old. You’re used to anniversaries but the number 40 really jumps out at you.

Martin: “These numbers come up and they’re like birthdays. When you have your 40th birthday it’s like, ‘WHOA!’ Then 50 is a big one and 60 is a big one but after that is 65, which is huge. I would imagine that after that you just go to 66 and then 67, as each one gets bigger the older you get; each day becomes an anniversary as you’re just happy to be alive. The thrill of the album’s anniversary dulls a bit because after this year will be the 40th anniversary of Thick As A Brick, and the following year, Passion Play. I’m very proud but I have trouble getting too excited.”

Jeb: When the big 10’s come up, like 40 years, it does give the fans a chance to look back and remember why that album was so special to them.

Martin: “The packages are very nicely put together and they’re great for the fans. Jethro Tull has never patted ourselves on the back, ever. We’ve never gone down to the pub and said, ‘It’s been forty years; pour me a glass of champagne.’ It’s a shame because we’re living in an age where everything is expendable. We don’t have a record company anymore. EMI deal with the back catalog but I’ve never talked to them. It is all very removed from the days when you would go to the record company in New York, or LA, and you would go to the office and know everybody. You would leave the building with armfuls of everybody else’s records. It was very personalized then but now, most of the record companies I deal with have gone bankrupt. They just don’t exist anymore. If they do, then they don’t have any money. There is not a lot of celebrating anymore. For me, the celebrating I do is when I walk into the studio, pick up my guitar and play something and think, ‘Yeah, that’s nice.’ I am proud of the albums and the history and it does mean a lot, however, it is what I’m doing today and what I’m going to do tomorrow that is really important for me.

Jeb: Jethro Tull is one band that has never worried about sales, style, what is in vogue or anything else; Tull makes the music the most important thing. You have a fan base that will accept whatever Tull does, not that they always like it, but they give it a fair listen.

Martin: “They are amazing and we’ve made them put up with some weird stuff over the years. They patiently sat through it. I guess because of them, we have license to change directions, which is great. If you don’t do that, you get so bogged down in a style that it gets hard to survive. Luckily, Ian and I both love writing music. I am writing music now. Sometimes, in the back of your mind you wonder, ‘Have I lost it?’ I then play and play and play until I go, ‘Yeah, I did it; I’ve still got it.’ I just love that. While I like it, that is still not what matters most, as you’ve got to get a few thousand other people to like it as well. Jethro Tull’s fans have given us the opportunity to do a lot of stuff. They allow us to do solo projects and to play with other people. We are able to take the music to a lot of places that fans of other bands may not have allowed them to take it; it’s great.”

Click here for the complete interview.

Aqualung is Jethro Tull’s most recognized album and a definitive rock classic. Now, 40 years after its release, this prized recording received a collection worthy of its historic status on October 31st. This is not a simplistic rehashed remastering aimed at squeezing another few pounds, dollars, euros, etc. out of the recording. Want proof? The limited collector’s edition’s contents include:

– 180g heavyweight LP, 2CD, DVD, and Blu-Ray including various unreleased materials, a new stereo mix, the original Quad mix, and 5.1 DTS and Dolby Digital Surround. The “special edition” includes just the two CDs.

– 12″x12″ 48-page hardback book featuring liner notes and an interview with Ian, Q&A with engineer John Burns, Don Lawson (initially written for Classic Rock Presents Prog in March 2011), memoirs from band members (Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond (bass guitar), Martin Barre (guitar), Clive Bunker (drums), Barrie Barlow (drummer following Clive Bunker’s departure), Glenn Cornick (original bassist on early recordings), Terry Ellis (Manager) and Jennie Franks (Ian’s first wife who wrote the lyrics for the title track), rare photos, notes on the new mixes by producer Steven Wilson, and Billie Ritchie (from ’60s rock band and label mate CLOUDS), rare photos, album lyrics, and more.

Ian’s comments: “Well – it’s finally here! The superb remixes by Porcupine Tree’s Steven Wilson in both stereo and 5.1 Surround. Plus the re-mastered original mixes, bonus tracks, alternative versions and takes of the classic Aqualung material from 40 years ago. When I wrote and recorded these songs and slaved over a hot audio-mixer in Island Records’ Basing Street Studios, I never thought we we would be celebrating this 40th Anniversary release, soon to be released in October. But you can’t keep a good song down. Many of these are still favourites on stage today in our concerts throughout the world. I hope you enjoy this splendid EMI release and, if there’s someone out there you really love, then why not treat them to the Collector’s Edition in all its glory. Or, come to think of it, if there’s someone out there you really dislike, then the same might apply. Each to his own. Me – I kinda like it….. For those of you easily confused about such things, a ‘remix’ is not the same as a ‘re-master.’ Remixing involves going back to the original studio multi-track masters and balancing and perfecting the sound on all the individual instrumental and vocal tracks and creating from them a new stereo or 5.1 surround master.

Remastering’ is just the cleaning up and making a new copy of the original stereo master – which usually results in a clearer and more sparkling listening experience than the original, when CDs were usually just the vinyl master copied straight to the then new CD medium. These days, with digital audio, we can afford to get more dynamic range and frequency response compared to the vinyl album and (God forbid) cassette versions of old.

Many thanks to Tim Chacksfield and Steve Davis at EMI for all their hard work and initiative in making this happen. And to the enthusiastic and respectful Steven Wilson, who has just sent me the remixes of another album to listen to, which he has been working on. But, another year, another story.”

Tracklistings:

Vinyl

Side 1
‘Aqualung’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘Cross-Eyed Mary’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘Cheap Day Return’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘Mother Goose’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘Wond’ring Aloud’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘Up To Me’ (New Stereo Mix)

Side 2
‘My God’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘Hymn 43’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘Slipstream’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘Locomotive Breath’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘Wind-Up’ (New Stereo Mix)

CD 1 – New Aqualung Stereo Mix (Previously Unreleased)
‘Aqualung’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘Cross-Eyed Mary’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘Cheap Day Return’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘Mother Goose’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘Wond’ring Aloud’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘Up To Me’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘My God’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘Hymn 43’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘Slipstream’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘Locomotive Breath’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘Wind-Up’ (New Stereo Mix)

CD 2 – Additional 1970 &1971 Recordings include some Previously Unreleased New Stereo Mixes.
‘Lick Your Fingers Clean’ (New Mix)
‘Just Trying To Be’ (New Mix)
‘My God’ (Early Version)
‘Wond’ring Aloud’ (13th December 1970)
‘Wind-Up’ (Early Version – New Mix)
‘Slipstream’ (Take 2)
‘Up The ‘Pool’ (Early Version)
‘Wond’ring Aloud, Again’ (Full Morgan Version)
‘Life Is A Long Song’ (New Mix)
‘Up The ‘Pool’ (New Mix)
‘Dr Bogenbroom’ (2011 – Remaster)
‘From Later’ (2011 – Remaster)
‘Nursie’ (2011 – Remaster)
US Radio Spot

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QqZmtq5LhFo

DVD
‘Aqualung’ (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
‘Cross-Eyed Mary’ (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
‘Cheap Day Return’ (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
‘Mother Goose’ (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
‘Wond’ring Aloud’ (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
‘Up To Me’ (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
‘My God’ (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
‘Hymn 43’ (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
‘Slipstream’ (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
‘Locomotive Breath’ (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
‘Wind-Up’ (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
‘Lick Your Fingers Clean’ (New Mix)’ (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
‘My God’ (Early Version)’ (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
‘Up The ‘Pool’ (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
‘Life Is A Long Song’ (New Mix)’ (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
‘Aqualung’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘Cross Eyed Mary’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘Cheap Day Return’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘Mother Goose’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘Wond’ring Aloud’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘Up To Me’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘My God’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘Hymn 43’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘Slipstream’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘Locomotive Breath’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘Wind-Up’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘Lick Your Fingers Clean’ (New Mix)
‘Just Trying To Be’ (New Mix)
‘My God’ (Early Version)
‘Wond’ring Aloud’ (13th December 1970)
‘Wind-Up’ (Early Version – New Mix)
‘Slipstream’ (Take 2)
‘Up The ‘Pool’ (Early Version)
‘Wond’ring Aloud, Again’ (Full Morgan Version)
‘Life Is A Long Song’ (New Mix)
‘Up The ‘Pool’ (New Mix)
‘Dr Bogenbroom’ (2011 – Remaster)
‘From Later’ (2011 – Remaster)
‘Nursie’ (2011 – Remaster)
‘Aqualung’ (Quad Mix)
‘Cross-Eyed Mary’ (Quad Mix)
‘Cheap Day Return’ (Quad Mix)
‘Mother Goose’ (Quad Mix)
‘Wond’ring Aloud’ (Quad Mix)
‘Up To Me’ (Quad Mix)
‘My God’ (Quad Mix)
‘Hymn 43’ (Quad Mix)
‘Slipstream’ (Quad Mix)
‘Locomotive Breath’ (Quad Mix)
‘Wind-Up’ (Quad Mix)

Blu Ray
‘Aqualung’ (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
‘Cross-Eyed Mary’ (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
‘Cheap Day Return’ (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
‘Mother Goose’ (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
‘Wond’ring Aloud’ (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
‘Up To Me’ (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
‘My God’ (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
‘Hymn 43’ (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
‘Slipstream’ (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
‘Locomotive Breath’ (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
‘Wind-Up’ (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
‘Lick Your Fingers Clean’ (New Mix)’ (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
‘My God’ (Early Version)’ (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
‘Up The ‘Pool’ (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
‘Life Is A Long Song’ (New Mix)’ (5.1 Surround Sound Mix)
‘Aqualung’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘Cross-Eyed Mary’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘Cheap Day Return’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘Mother Goose’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘Wond’ring Aloud’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘Up To Me’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘My God’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘Hymn 43’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘Slipstream’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘Locomotive Breath’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘Wind-Up’ (New Stereo Mix)
‘Lick Your Fingers Clean’ (New Mix)
‘Just Trying To Be’ (New Mix)
‘My God’ (Early Version)
‘Wond’ring Aloud’ (13th December 1970)
‘Wind-Up’ (Early Version – New Mix)
‘Slipstream’ (Take 2)
‘Up The ‘Pool’ (Early Version)
‘Wond’ring Aloud, Again’ (Full Morgan Version)
‘Life Is A Long Song’ (New Mix)
‘Up The ‘Pool’ (New Mix)
‘Dr Bogenbroom’ (2011 – Remaster)
‘From Later’ (2011 – Remaster)
‘Nursie’ (2011 – Remaster)
‘Aqualung’
‘Cross-Eyed Mary’
‘Cheap Day Return’
‘Mother Goose’
‘Wond’Ring Aloud’
‘Up To Me’
‘My God’
‘Hymn 43’
‘Slipstream’
‘Locomotive Breath’
‘Wind-Up’
‘Aqualung’ (Quad Mix)
‘Cross-Eyed Mary’ (Quad Mix)
‘Cheap Day Return’ (Quad Mix)
‘Mother Goose’ (Quad Mix)
‘Wond’ring Aloud’ (Quad Mix)
‘Up To Me’ (Quad Mix)
‘My God’ (Quad Mix)
‘Hymn 43’ (Quad Mix)
‘Slipstream’ (Quad Mix)
‘Locomotive Breath’ (Quad Mix)
‘Wind-Up’ (Quad Mix)

Source: Bravewords