History Music / JethroTull

Progressive rock group formed in 1968 and mostly known for their [[TheSeventies '70s]] output, particularly their albums ''{{Music/Aqualung|JethroTullAlbum}}'' and ''Thick As A Brick''. Made up of lead singer/flutist Ian Anderson, guitarist Martin Barre (who joined in 1969), and one of rock's most frequently revolving line-ups.

* JustForPun: In response to the criticism the band received after winning the first Grammy for hard rock/heavy metal album, they put out an ad showing Ian's flute on a scale, stating that the flute is a "heavy, metal instrument."

* DarkerAndEdgier: ''A Passion Play'' is this in comparison to ''Thick as a Brick,'' both musically (due to the dominating presence of minor key variations) and thematically (dealing with a story of life and death and the afterlife).

* NewSoundAlbum: ''Aqualung'' marked the full shift away from jazz-blues-rock to ProgressiveRock. ''Songs From The Wood'' led Tull into a British progressive folk-rock sound, which they sustained for the next two albums. ''"A"'' brought synth sounds and [[TheEighties '80's]] technology to their repertoire, while ''Crest Of A Knave'' led them into a prog-folk/hard-rock sound with more emphasis on electric guitar. Tull experimented with East Indian and Oriental influences by ''Roots To Branches''.

!!Tropes:

* FourMoreMeasures: The opening riff in Aqualung is played ''twice''.
** It plays three times to close the song.

* TheGrandHunt: In "Hunting Girl" (on the album ''Songs from the Wood"), the narrator encounters a fox-hunting aristocratic young lady whose horse had refused to jump a fence. The young lady turns out to some distinctly kinky tastes.

* SpringtimeForHitler: "Living in the Past"; see above under GenreAdultery (or below under UncommonTime).

** They wrote "Living in the Past" in 5/4 to try to avert it being a BlackSheepHit, but the masses took to it anyway.

* IAmTheBand: These days, it's indisputably Ian Anderson. Martin Barre was the only other constant member since the 60s and critical to the band's sound. Doane Perry had a decades-long run on drums beginning in the 80s. Both left in the early 2010s.

* ExcitedShowTitle: "Too Old to Rock 'N' Roll: Too Young to Die!" Both the album and the song.

* LyricalDissonance

* ''TBA'' (2023)

* AwesomeMcCoolName: The main reason Ian would often introduce Martin Barre by his full name: Martin Lancelot Barre.

* FilkSong:
** "Dot Com" is about a relationship over the Internet. Particularly notable in that it was written in 1999, before that sort of thing became common.
** Many of the songs on ''Under Wraps'' are heavily based around SpyFiction.
** "Enter the Uninvited" rattles off a bunch of pop culture references.
** "Broadsword" is about a medieval village facing attack by Viking-like raiders.
** Several of the "Songs From the Wood" have the FairFolk or Druids as a theme as well as having a general medieval flavor.
** "One Brown Mouse" is a tribute to the poetry of Creator/RobertBurns.

** An even lesser extent, but a large portion of their songs fall in the 5-10 minute range. Some examples: "Aqualung" (6:34), "To Cry You a Song" (6:09), "Minstrel in the Gallery" (8:13), "Too Old to Rock 'N' Roll: Too Young to Die!" (5:44), "Budapest" (10:05)

* IAmTheBand: These days, it�s indisputably Ian Anderson. Martin Barre was the only other constant member since the 60s and critical to the band�s sound. Doane Perry had a decades-long run on drums beginning in the 80s. Both left in the early 2010s.

* ''The Zealot Gene'' (2022, forthcoming)

After almost two dozen albums and decades of touring, Ian Anderson parted ways with his remaining Tull band mates about 2012. He continued to tour and record under his own name. Most recently, Anderson announced a new Jethro Tull album titled ''The Zealot Gene'' with a 2022 release planned, using his solo band.

* IAmTheBand: These days, it’s indisputably Ian Anderson. Martin Barre was the only other constant member since the 60s and critical to the band’s sound. Doane Perry had a decades-long run on drums beginning in the 80s. Both left in the early 2010s.

* TheEndIsNigh: Pretty much the theme of ''Stormwatch''.

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: Varies all over the place, as is fitting for a band that plays mainly Progressive Rock with heavy influences from Hard Rock and English Folk music. One one hand, they could do acoustic songs that were easily level 1, such as 'Dun Ringill' and 'Requiem'. However, they could also reach level 5 and 6 at times, especially on Benefit, Aqualung, and Crest of a Knave. 'Dark Ages', from 1979's Stormwatch album, even reaches into low level 7 territory at times, thanks to the playing of Martin Barre and Barriemore Barlow.

After almost two dozen albums and decades of touring, Ian Anderson parted ways with his remaining Tull band mates about 2012. He continued to tour and record under his own name. Most recently, Anderson announced a new Jethro Tull album titled ''The Zealot Gene'' with a 2022 release planned.

* IAmTheBand: Ian Anderson is the only founding member still in the band. To a lesser extent, Martin Barre has been with the band since ''Stand Up''. Doane Perry's been around since the eighties.

Ian Anderson laid Jethro Tull to rest in 2014, but the spirit of Tull goes on with him and his solo band, who continued to tour, until Anderson resurrected the Jethro Tull name in 2017 and eventually announced a new Tull album titled ''The Zealot Gene'' in 2021, with a 2022 release planned.

* CloudCuckoolander: Imagine if, on one regeneration, [[Series/DoctorWho The Doctor]] is once again exiled to Earth, but, rather than work for UNIT again, he decides to start a progressive folk-rock band. That's pretty much Ian Anderson in a nutshell. Fittingly, the first song Anderson learned on the flute was Roland Kirk's "[[HilariousInHindsight Serenade to a Cuckoo]]" (which Tull recorded for ''This Was'').

Ian Anderson laid Jethro Tull to rest in 2014, but the spirit of Tull goes on with him and his solo band, who continue to tour and record...

Until January 2018, that is. Ian Anderson posted an update on the band's website showing him in the studio working on his next solo album, TBC, which was released in 2019.

* TBC (2019)