JETHRO TULL – The Broadsword And The Beast [The 40th Anniversary Monster Edition] (2023)

JETHRO TULL early Eighties album, 1982’s album ‘Broadsword And The Beast’ is being reissued in a 5CD+3DVD ‘Monster Edition’ including a new Steven Wilson stereo mix of the album, plus a host of associated recordings / early 1981 Sessions, also newly mixed by Wilson (CDs 1 & 2).
The third disc offers demos, master mixes, rough mixes and more, while CDs 4 & 5 deliver a live set from Germany performed in 1982 in a superb Stereo Remix by Wilson as well.
If you aren’t fan of JETHRO TULL and never heard this album, you better grab “The Broadsword And The Beast [The 40th Anniversary Monster Edition]“, as this record has a real ’80s feeling.
It has that trademark folk-influenced style that Jethro Tull used in the previous decade, but crossed with the dominant synthesizer sound of the Eighties. In fact, “The Broadsword And The Beast [The 40th Anniversary Monster Edition]” contains some of Jethro Tull’s best music – and founder Ian Anderson agreed.
By the way, the Steven Wilson stereo mixes are stupendous…

Now on this Tull album remix, seasoned veteran Wilson finds room for improvement in sonics and clarity with what was at times a flat sounding recording, particularly in the drum department. His tweaks are sensible ones, boosting and refining where he can, while maintaining the artists’ original vision and resisting any urge to make radical changes based on personal preference.
We’ve all heard some pretty dire remixing jobs over the years, where undisciplined technicians make mincemeat of our favourite albums, so it’s understandable when some are wary or even scoff at the idea of anyone monkeying around with our beloved Tull music.
But rest assured, Wilson is the man for the job.

‘Broadsword And The Beast’ benefitted from a unified band approach to its construction, with a couple of key ingredients in particular elevating the material. First and foremost? Martin Barre. His bold guitar work rises to the fore here, each of the songs flecked with his bluesy licks and coloured by his squealing riffs.
Also of note is Scottish keyboard whiz Peter-John Vettese whose impressive ear and musical savvy brought a new angle to Tull’s music of this period.
Vettese was something of a character both on and off stage, and his period synths lent Tull’s music a different energy, with sometimes darker tones that blended well with Anderson’s compositions. An immensely important member during this time, Vettese – the man and the musician – is well spoken of by all parties involved; bandmates, crew, and producer Paul Samwell-Smith.

Anderson was in peak vocal form through this general period. There’s no doubt that he had been a powerful and unique singer all along, but by 1982 he had honed and refined his vocal chops to deliver strong, clear lines that explored his range and expanded on the types of multi-layered harmonies.

On the extra disc 2 we find songs which also found a spot on various releases, and those of us with old boxed sets on our shelves for years will recognize tracks like The Curse, I’m Your Gun, Commons Brawl, Too Many Too, and Crew Nights.
But the most anticipated inclusions here are the songs never before heard. In the case of Broadsword, the mind boggles that further songs from these sessions are now seeing the light of day, when umpteen have already been issued as bonus tracks over the years.
Having expanded to such a degree, can there really be more? The answer is a resounding yes, as the Broadsword domain has now ballooned to a whopping three and a half hours… and that’s not counting the live concert recordings found elsewhere in this set.

Disc 3 is comprised of various mixes and demos, including the 48 minute demo tape of a potentially very different album made in December 1981 for Samwell-Smith to give him an idea of some of the material they had been working on.
This is the first ever release of this demo, and among the tracks that were being considered at that time are three more new songs. Honest Girl is a slower, low-key piece with a repetitive vocal melody and an arrangement that feels unfinished. Anderson, who likes the song, doesn’t go into any detail on its musical creation, focusing instead on the lyrics, so it’s hard to know if and when it was abandoned.
The heavy Me, Dinosaur is one of the best of this batch, with Barre’s wonderfully rocking guitar, and Anderson spitting defiant lyrics about how he doesn’t care that he was being viewed as a ‘rock dinosaur’ by the press (… and that was over 40 years ago!) The song is well arranged with the Tull hallmarks of the day, including Vettese’s nicely incorporated keys working in tandem with Barre, and it brings a smile to hear them give a giant middle finger to the naysayers of that era. A winner of a track, to be sure.

Discs 4 & 5 consist of a brand new live release, a hybrid ‘concert’ compiled from four German shows from the same week in April 1982. These were still the glory days when a new album was properly represented in the band’s live set, and in this case, an astonishing nine of the ten Broadsword tracks were played (as well as The Swirling Pit).
With so many new songs in the show, obviously a lot of oldies had to get the boot, so the resulting set list is not exactly a fair cross-section of Tull history; apart from a handful of obvious standards, much of the remaining music is drawn from the Songs From the Wood and Heavy Horses albums, with most recent album ‘A’ only represented by a brief instrumental snippet of Black Sunday.
Sound quality is excellent.

All parties involved in the creation of this outstanding release deserve a round of applause. The attention to detail, the carefully done remixes, the wealth of bonus material… a chef’s kiss to all of it. This set achieved something I thought impossible – it made me love a Jethro Tull album more than I already did.
They really did create a monster.

CD 1 The Broadsword And The Beast (Steven Wilson Stereo Remix)
01 – Beastie
02 – Clasp
03 – Fallen On Hard Times
04 – Flying Colours
05 – Slow Marching Band
06 – Broadsword
07 – Pussy Willow
08 – Watching Me, Watching You
09 – Seal Driver
10 – Cheerio
11 – Fallen On Hard Times (V.1)
12 – Beastie (V.2)
13 – Fallen On Hard Times (V.2)
14 – Seal Driver (V.1)
15 – Cheerio (Alt. V.)
16 – Jack-A-Lynn (Acoustic V.)
17 – Beastie Band Shouts!

CD 2 Associated Recordings (Early 1981 Sessions) (Steven Wilson Stereo Remix)
01 – Roland’s Entry
02 – Lights Out
03 – The Curse (V.1)
04 – The Curse (V.2)
05 – Too Many Too
06 – Calafel
07 – I’m Your Gun
08 – No Step
09 – Down At The End Of Your Road
10 – Mayhen, Maybe
11 – Commons Brawl
12 – Return To Calafel
13 – Jack Frost And The Hooded Crow
14 – The Swirling Pit
15 – Inverness Sleeper
16 – Crew Nights
17 – Rhythm In Gold
18 – Overhang
19 – Jack-A-Lynn (Band V.)
20 – Motoreyes
21 – Drive On The Young Side Of Life

CD 3 Demo Recordings
01 – Flying Colours [Demo]
02 – Me, Dinosaur [Demo]
03 – Crew Nights [Demo]
04 – Rhythm In Gold [Demo]
05 – Honest Girl [Demo]
06 – Seal Driver [Demo]
07 – DJ Dream [Demo]
08 – Jack-A-Lynn [Demo]
09 – Fallen On Hard Times [Demo]
10 – Drive On The Young Side Of Life [Demo]
11 – Beastie [Original 1981 Master Mix]
12 – Too Many Too [Original 1981 Master Mix]
13 – Jack Frost And The Hooded Crow [Original 1981 Master Mix]
14 – I’m Your Gun [Original 1981 Master Mix]
15 – Down At The End Of Your Road [Original 1981 Master Mix]
16 – Slow Marching Band [Early 1982 Rough Mix]
17 – Pussy Willow [Early 1982 Rough Mix]
18 – Fallen On Hard Times [Early 1982 Rough Mix]
19 – Theakston Music Festival Advert

CD 4 Live In Germany 1982 pt1 (Steven Wilson Stereo Remix)
01 – Clasp (Live In Germany 1982)
02 – Hunting Girl (Live In Germany 1982)
03 – Fallen On Hard Times (Live In Germany 1982)
04 – Pussy Willow (Live In Germany 1982)
05 – Broadsword (Live In Germany 1982)
06 – Jack-in-the-Green (Live In Germany 1982)
07 – One Brown Mouse (Live In Germany 1982)
08 – Seal Driver (Live In Germany 1982)
09 – Heavy Horses (Live In Germany 1982)
10 – Weathercock/Fire At Midnight (Live In Germany 1982)
11 – Keyboard Instrumental (Live In Germany 1982)
12 – Sweet Dream (Live In Germany 1982)

CD 5 Live In Germany 1982 pt2 (Steven Wilson Stereo Remix)
01 – Flying Colours (Live In Germany 1982)
02 – Songs From The Wood (Live In Germany 1982)
03 – Watching Me, Watching You (Live In Germany 1982)
04 – Band Introductions (Live In Germany 1982)
05 – The Swirling Pit (Live In Germany 1982)
06 – Pibroch/Black Satin Dancer (Live In Germany 1982)
07 – Beastie (Live In Germany 1982)
08 – Too Old To Rock ‘n’ Roll, Too Young To Die (Live In Germany 1982)
09 – Aqualung (Live In Germany 1982)
10 – Minstrel In The Gallery (Live In Germany 1982)
11 – Locomotive Breath/Black Sunday (Live In Germany 1982)
12 – Cheerio (Live In Germany 1982)

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