Minstrel in the Gallery

about this album

Minstrel in the Gallery is the eighth studio album by British band Jethro Tull, recorded in April and released in September 1975. The album goes in a different direction from their previous work War Child (1974), with the orchestration being replaced by a string quartet conducted by David Palmer. The band also returned to the blend of electric and acoustic pieces, in a manner closer to their early '70s albums such as Benefit (1970), Aqualung (1971) and Thick as a Brick (1972), and for the first time since their two concept albums of Thick as a Brick (1972) and A Passion Play (1973), they recorded a song of more than ten minutes, which occupies almost all of the second side of the record. It would be the last album to feature bassist Jeffrey Hammond, who was replaced by former Carmen bass player John Glascock. The band recorded the album in the Maison Rouge Mobile Studio, in Monaco. They recorded "Minstrel in the Gallery", "Cold Wind to Valhalla", "Black Satin Dancer" and "One White Duck/010= Nothing at All" on 15 May 1975, "Baker St. Muse" and "Grace" on 18 May, and finally "Requiem" on 7 June 1975. Ian Anderson thought that the band was unfocused in the making of the music, leaving him with more freedom to explore the melodies and themes. Minstrel in the Gallery's lyrics and subject matter do show an introspective and cynical air, possibly the byproduct of Anderson's recent divorce from first wife Jennie Franks and the pressures of touring, coupled with the frustrations o

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more from Jethro Tull

Aqualung

Aqualung (Special Edition)

Stand Up

Original Masters

Living in the Past

Thick as a Brick