Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
It feels strange to think that a band of such repute as Jethro Tull waited a decade before releasing a live album to the public, a sizeable and abundant crowd that had been clamouring to feel the enjoyment and sheer artistry of the live arena within their own four walls; after all other bands within the genres they straddled like kings on a noble steed had been putting out live albums as a way to garner more attention after just a couple of studio recordings, to push the agenda onwards. Not Jethro Tull though, and perhaps it could be argued that it was to their benefit that they waited until the time was right, till the fates decreed that the group were more than just any other group plying their trade, but were already the mega stars to whom could bestow the raw and the beautiful in one extraordinary home adventure.
Whilst not the first time they had been captured live for posterity, this step into the realm of the live recording for the housebound and those to whom miss out through circumstances of being unable to attend such finery is magnificently framed in the 1978 album Bursting Out; and one that neatly fits the sense of adulation that has come from Steve Wilson’s intricate eye and ear as once again the magic is weaved and extended in such a way that the recording is now even more appreciated, more dramatic, that the tag line of The Inflated Edition doesn’t just offer the listener an insight to the world of extra cool, but a sense of immortality in the air.
Over the course of three extended CDs and three DVDs, the colossal interpretation of music from Jethro Tull’s even then extensive back catalogue is revealed in its objectively and passionately playful manner; so much so that each set, whether taken from the original masters or the added bonus of the sublime show at Madison Square Gardens, as well as the intriguing sound check recordings that accompany the graphically appealing boxset, feel bigger, appear larger, more immense than ever.
From tracks such as Jack-In-The-Green, Heavy Horses, the instrumental delight of Living In The Past, Songs From The Wood, A New Day Yesterday, Thick As A Brick, Aqualung, Cross Eyed Mary, Locomotive Breath, the majesty of My God, and the various connections that meld in the mind from inserts such as The Dambusters March, God Rest You Merry Gentlemen, and a fantastic flute soloimprovisations, the reproduction of sound is nothing sort of immense.
Steve Wilson and Jethro Tull were absolutely made for each other, and in Bursting Out: The Inflated Edition, the listener will be absolutely convinced of this once and for all.
Ian D. Hall