Jethro Tull - Aqualung

See, told you i'd wake up again today. Remember that time Metallica lost the Grammy to Jethro Tull? We aren't listening to that album, we're listening to Aqualung, but that particular injustice led to finally separating the hard rock and metal categories and there was eventually justice for all. It was great, Jethro Tull took out a full page ad proclaiming flute a heavy metal instrument and Metallica added a sticker saying Grammy Award LOSERS, and the academy was completely embarrassed. I'm not a voting producer because as Groucho Marx so eloquently put it, i refuse to join any club that would have me as a member. 

Before all that, Jethro Tull made a few Prog albums and Aqualung was the first. They weren't trying to make a concept album, but they ended up putting the concept right there on the back of the jacket. 

The two sides are subtitled Aqualung and My God, and the whole thing is a contemplation of society creating both its dregs and gods. Intended or not, that's a more coherent concept than most actual concept albums. Why? Because the concept grew from assembling the songs, all of which come from a narrator standing in the middle and observing the best and worst of everything at the same time. 

Aqualung asks "who would choose to be the dregs of society, and who could possibly justify buying salvation?" My God explores the hypocrisy of creating a god to justify your own selfish desires. 

It's not an album about religion, it's an album about humanity's selfish motivations and using religion as a justification for greed. God isn't a mechanical wind-up toy for your amusement, that's the message at the end. 

Did i mention how much it rocks? What a great album.