Aqualung by Jethro Tull
Aqualung is the fourth studio album by British rock band Jethro Tull. It was released on 19 March 1971 and has since gone on to become their biggest commercial success.
A remarkably consistent sound, Aqualung offers soft, acoustic tunes that grow in progressive layering and hard rock songs that are ready for Madison Square Garden. In between are tracks that explore social musings and religious ones that dabble in the chordal modulations of spiritual music.
Featuring Ian Anderson, the lead flute player for Jethro Tull, Aqualung combines their folk and harder rock influences with Anderson's idiosyncratic flute playing that creates an album that is as unique and distinctive as it is unmistakable.
As one of the first and only rock bands to feature a lead flute, Jethro Tull have had a longstanding reputation for eclectic influence and musical range. But when Anderson joined the group, they merged these two worlds into a cohesive style that has remained their trademark to this day.
While critics have often tried to pigeonhole Aqualung into one of several genres (concept album, progressive rock, folk-rock, etc.), the album has always transcended those limitations.
Among the most memorable Tull tracks is "Aqualung," which features an opening riff that has become a staple of classic rock and still resounds today. It's the kind of riff that would be recognizable to any middle school boy in the 1970s. And, as a bonus, it's also the album's title song.