This record, Tull's 8th, has some of their hardest, sharpest material yet. It's a pseudo-concept album, with a "band of traveling minstrels" being introduced to "a lord and lady" and then playing some songs. One would think this would lend itself to Tull's folksy side, but Minstrel in the Gallery is surprisingly heavy. Of the Tull record's I've heard, this one has by far the most guitar dominance. Usually, Barre seemed to be ore a complementary player for Anderson's words and flute, but here, the guitar is at the forefront. The pastoral passages are kept to a minimum, and there's lots of stuff on here that would not be that out of place on a Led Zeppelin album. This is not a bad thing at all. I appreciate Jethro Tull taking on new ground and evolving their sound while not at all turning their back on prog. Highlights of this album include the title track, which has quite cold yet surprisingly human lyrical themes about performance art and service (disillusion with touring was a big inspiration for Anderson's work on this record), "Black Satin Dancer", which builds immense tension through interplay between guitar, bass, and flute much like a ballet, and the nearly side long "Baker Street Muse", which is sort of like a mini-version of Thick as a Brick or A Passion Play.
This album took me a little bit of time to warm up to as the great stuff about it is not as obvious and show-stopping as that of other great Tull records. Yet, given repeated listens, Minstrel in the Gallery has moved up in my estimation. This is a great record, the keystone in the long career of Jethro Tull as they transitioned from prog-folk to hard-prog and chock full of musical merit.
Grade: B+
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