JETHRO TULL: Minstrel in the Gallery (1975)
I have been
listening to Jethro Tull’s music since my teenage years, and I consider them as
one of my most beloved and well-respected bands.
I have been
listening to Jethro Tull’s music since my teenage years, and I consider them as
one of my most beloved and well-respected bands.
In my collection I have almost 20 albums of them, and
there are some that I like more than others, for various reasons. One of them is Minstrel
in the Gallery.
Minstrel in the Gallery was recorded in Monte Carlo on
April of 1975 and it was released in September of the same year. The album follows a different musical
direction from the previous album (War Child-1974), and it includes elements of
British Folk music and Pre-Elisabeth medieval tunes, mixed with beautiful
acoustic and electric pieces.
In the original version, the album includes 7 songs
and has a total running time of almost 45 minutes. In 2002 a re-mastered
version was released, including 3 extra songs, and 2 live versions of the songs
Minstrel in the Gallery and Cold Wind to Valhalla.
The album’s opening song is Minstrel in the Gallery, which refers to the use of a minstrel’s gallery
in the great halls of Medieval castles and manor houses. It begins with a small
speech by the minstrel himself, before the acoustic guitar starts playing the
song’s main theme. After almost 2.5 minutes, the electric guitar enters and the
song’s structure changes completely. In my opinion ‘Minstrel’ in a typical
Progressive Rock song, including a few Folk influences.
The next song is Cold
Wind to Valhalla, another beautiful and Folk-influenced piece. What I wrote
for ‘Minstrel’ stands for this song as well. It begins as an acoustic song, but
it soon becomes electric and faster in pace and rhythm.
The 3rd song is the beautiful 7-minute-long
Black Satin Dancer, which is also
one of the album’s finest moments. Here the band uses the piano as a leading
instrument accompanied by a string quartet at start. But after 2.5 minutes the
electric guitar enters once more, playing some beautiful riffs and solos.
The A-side of the vinyl version is closing with the
ballad Requiem, which is a
beautiful, melodic and kind of melancholic piece. Although it is nothing
impressive, I really love this song.
The B-side opens with the track with the bizarre title
One White Duck / 010 =
Nothing at All. A very nice acoustic
song that prepares the listener for what’s coming next. And next comes one of the best long songs that Jethro Tull
ever recorded, and definitely the album’s Top song by far. Baker St. Muse with its almost 17-minutes
length is the album’s epic song, and an absolute masterpiece. I am not going to
write anything about it, because I don’t think I can describe it in any way possible.
But in order to fully appreciate it, you will surely need more than 1 or 2
listenings.
The album’s closing song is Grace, one of the shortest - if not THE shortest - songs Jethro
Tull ever recorded. Grace is a half minute long melodic ballad, that it was used as a small closing piece and nothing more.
Although Minstrel in the Gallery was never characterized
as a “Top album” and never climbed to the high positions of the charts, it is a
very beautiful album that only needs a few careful listens in order to reveal
its hidden beauty.
Personally, I
love each and every song in it, and I can't give anything less than
4.0 out of 5.0 stars to it.
For those who
are not familiar with Jethro Tull, I definitely don’t recommend this album as a
starter (better try Aqualung). But to all those who have some albums and like
the band’s style, I recommend it without a second thought.
By clicking on the following links you will listen to a couple of songs from the album. Enjoy!
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