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Jethro Tull's second album saw them move away from blues, with the exception of the opening track, towards a more diverse style. However, with the possible exception of "Bourée", there is little on this album that could really be considered ground breaking in any way. The big step forward on this album was Ian Anderson's song writing. The entire album is made up of Anderson compositions or arrangements, as was to become the norm, and most are of high quality. The style leaps from blues ("A New Day Yesterday") to Indian influenced ("Fat Man") to whistful ("Reasons for Waiting") to aggressive ("For a Thousand Mothers"). There is also more use made of accoustic instruments. The highlight for most people will be "Bourée". This is one of the oft-played pieces by J.S.Bach with the melody played here on flute and given new life by the use of a skip-beat. The result is one of the most succesful arrangements of a classical piece for rock, mainly because the walking bassline already existed in the original version. Of course, the other notable change for this album is the inclusion of Martin Barre to the post of guitarist. Martin Barre has always struck me as a serviceable, though rarely brilliant guitarist. He does, however, have a very good feel for the music of Ian Anderson and already on this album managed to become an integral part of Jethro Tull's style. This album makes a significant advance in terms of quality for Jethro Tull and is often considered among their top six albums. It is a very good collection late sixties rock songs with a couple of accoustic and quirky pieces thrown in. A very worthwhile album, if not for the most part progressive. review by Conrad Leviston — 2-9-03 —