My copy of Jethro Tull's Under Wraps: The Unwrapped Edition arrived yesterday. It has been some years since I have heard either Under Wraps or Fly By Night, so I'm taking a listen and finding I do still enjoy them. They are quite different from much of what went before, and Under Wraps was definitely 'marmite' for many JT fans.
Like all of the boxsets, it is a lovely job, with a lot of information about the albums, interviews with Ian Anderson, Peggy, Martin Barre and others aboutt he making of, etc. Each album is presented with the original programmed drums and with updated drum programming (apparently they thought about getting a real drummer in to redo them, but it didn't work). And there's a live BBC recording from Hammy Odeon (the day after the one recorded on London Fields), and a Bluray with all the music in 5.1 and a couple of videos.
I'm hoping that Crest of a Knave will be the next one out, and then I think I'll have all I want - JT wise, anyway! - to the relief of my wallet!
But these Tull boxsets really are pretty much the gold standard for presentation at a pretty reasonable price, compared to what some people ask for sets with much less quantity or information.
I sometimes think I'm the only Tull fan in the world who loves Under Wraps... I thought the remix was excellent.
j-tull.com is out in August, but it's on a different label to the Chrysalis albums (Probably the same album the Xmas album box came out on.) Bruce Soord has done the remix.
Loves might be a bit strong, but I don't have the same reaction against it that many Tull fans seem to have. I am enjoying the new version too.
