another masterpiece of Jethro Tull ...

Acoustic / electric / acoustic / electric / acoustic ...
It is a continual balancing between these two temperaments (it is true especially in the first part, that is to say, the first face of the vinyl album) invites us this splendid album, my favorite group to " Aqualung "and" Roots To Branches "(great achievement that out in the middle 90s), to approximate in the sense of" III "of Led Zeppelin, the progressive aspect and more.
The title track is a feat unto itself, an admirable building (which I think in this regard "Station To Station" Bowie): an acoustic intro + song then it's thunder bursts with claws electric guitar, soon supported by a rhythm of lead and an organ in the background, making this part transition office with the long ride electric + the song interspersed brilliant guitar solos Martin Barre to bunk magic flute without which Jethro Tull Jethro Tull would not ...
"Cold Wind To Valhalla" continues with a gentle introduction to turn into an irresistible tourbillion, while "Black Satin Dancer", grand, returns to a progressive format (and this time, it is the piano that comes judiciously complement the decor), with the middle and stormy epic instrumental passage particularly successful.
The second side of the album is acoustic dominant, with ever as dazzling guitar; the long series "Baker Street Muse" (autobiographical for I. Anderson recounts his childhood in an alley of the famous street Londinium) alternates soft climates and passages more acidic, title divided into several sub-parts, never boring, a wonderful musical writing, a cornerstone of the training. "Requiem" and "Grace" (which each terminate the two sides of the album), are all in tenderness and delicacy, in the manner of "Cheap-Day Return" on "Aqualung", while "One White Duck / 010 = Nothing At All ", plays both ways, softness / rhythm duality that is found throughout this masterful album that Ian Anderson has never sang as well.
To conclude, "Minstrel In The Gallery" is a real feat of construction and composition, where there are different facets of the band, rock, blues, folk, folk music or English baroque, classical borrowing (or the silky strings played pizzicato David Palmer), the text being more reference to England in the second half of the 20th century than that of the Middle Ages despite the splendid pouch and exciting to listen to (good communicative energy, interpretation extraordinaire, beautiful melodies) registered better than most of his predecessors, also more subtle than heavy and conceptual "Thick As A Brick" or "The Passion Play" and more inspired than most albums that follow.
Another masterpiece of Jethro Tull!