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Jethro Tull is a musical group that defies categorisation, a group that has slipped through the confines of any and all genres to form an unexplainable musical phenomenon... and it is one of the very few that has also been successful at it. Selling in excess of 60 million albums, and playing over 2,500 concerts in forty different countries, neither Ian Anderson (Tull's frontman/flautist/vocalist) nor the rest of the group show any signs of slowing down. Best known for their albums in the late 60's and early 70's... hit albums such as "Benefit", "Aqualung" and "Thick as a Brick" brought Tull into the ranks of superstardom. After the release of Aqualung, Tull were voted "World's Most Popular Band" by fans across the globe. So exactly what genre does Tull fit in? Truth is, there is not a convenient label to stick on this band. It would be nearly impossible to say that Jethro Tull were any one type of band. They have won a Hard Rock / Heavy Metal Grammy, they have been featured in many a rock and roll magazine, and are most heavily played on classic rock radio stations, and what's more, Anderson has also taken a solo path, most notably with the production of an album titled "Divinities", which is comprised of twelve compositions for flute and orchestra. With Ian's venture into classical music, we saw yet another change in the genre. Although Anderson was not classically trained on flute, or any other instrument for that argument, he manages to pull off a polished new sound. Jethro Tull grew up alongside the likes of the Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd, and with those genres conquered by their respective bands, where did Tull fit in? Ian explains, in this 1978 interview with Creem Magazine, just what piece of the puzzle Jethro Tull is. "Stylistically, I've always said that we can't be a heavy riff group because Led Zeppelin are the best in the world. We can't be a blues-influenced r&b rock and roll group because the Stones are the best in the world. We can't be a slightly sort of airy-fairy mystical sci-fi synthesizing abstract freak-out group because Pink Floyd are the best-in the world. And so what's left? And that's what we've always done. We've filled the gap." But Tull has had it's part in influencing the world of rock and pop music as well... In their touring of over forty countries, the group has brought music to many lands that have not been exposed to the likes of any type of pop or rock music. Now with a steady fan base in many regions of Africa and India, Tull continues to bring influences from the Middle and Far East into their music. One recent album Roots to Branches (1996), took many instruments native to the middle and far eastern lands and integrated them into a new style of "progressive rock". The swiftly changing keys and meters provide for a very thrilling ride as the solid backing from his band members offers a great wave of searing energy that just invigorates you. Indeed, the world has never heard a pop band that provides this kind of musical and lyrical excitement in their music. Ian Anderson's musical ideas have been known to effectively taken the roots of one genre and uplift them, transplanting them into fertile soil that proves perfect for a steady and still growing fan base. Throughout the years of the groups existence, Tull have created many new avenues of which many groups today follow in, and with the release of a new Jethro Tull album last September(2000), as well as an Ian Anderson acoustic solo album The Secret Language of Birds (March, 2000), it is doubtful that the group will stop there.

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