Jethro Tull questions...

It is the shame one can't return a disc because it is unplayable because of poor sound quality. That would be the only way that the record companies would get the message to not produce junk.
I agree about Springsteen too. There are artists whose music I will never purchase again because, "Once bitten twice shy"!
A couple of reviews of the Japanese mini LP version of Aqualung on Amazon warn would be purchasers to save their money too.
I will look into the "live" version of Aqualung.
Strangely enough a friend owns s CD I believe is called 'Original Masters' sounds great. I see it was remastered by Steve Hoffman. That's why it sounds so good.
However this shows there was nothing the matter with the original master tapes, but just a crappy remastering/transfering to CD job done by Chrysalis.
What a shame!

i have a copy of one of the later cd issues i believe. i will rip it to music server give a fresh listen and report back.

after a quick listen to the cd with bonus tracks copyrighted in 1998 versus original vinyl copy, one of the first rock albums i ever bought, i'd say the cd ranges from ok to quite good fromtrack to track. the acoustic guitar as a whole is done quite well. dynamics of drums and bass in some tracks including the title track leaves a lot to be desired but other than dynamics is not done badly. the cd is not overly loud either. some decisions were apparently made during the mastering to go for a tighter cleaner sound overall compared to my vinyl copy. the vinyl was murkier sounding overall but thetitle track had abit more meat tothe bones that added something.

i forget what a fine work aqualung is overall when i donot hear it for awhile.

In the case of Benefit, maybe Tull should have listened to their company/producer more, since I believe that is their best album. Explains why they don't play Benefit songs live.

My favorites are Benefit and Stand Up. Unfortunately I've never heard an excellent version of either album.