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1. Birthday card At Christmas

2. Holly Herald

3. A Christmas Song

4. Another Christmas song

5. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

6. Jack Frost and The Hooded Crow

7. Last man At The Party

8. Weathercock

9. Pavane

10. First Snow On Brooklyn

11. Greensleeved

12. Fire At Midnight

13. We Five Kings

14. Ring Out Solstice Bells

15. Bouree

16. Winter Snowscape

Amazon.co.uk Review
While most festive-themed rock offerings are as palatable as turkey leftovers or January credit card statements, Jethro Tull's The Christmas Album is 2003's folk-rock feast for the ears, a veritable hamper of delicacy bulging with dependable old faithfuls (newly rendered versions of JS Bach's "Bouree", "Weathercock", "Fires at Midnight" and "Ring Out Solstice Bells"), jazzed-up carol curiosities ("God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman" really goes with a swing à la Modern Jazz Quartet, "We Five Kings" comes over a little bit Dave Brubeck) and sundry confectionary extravagances, like Martin Barre's shivery instrumental " A Christmas Snowcape".

While it's all reassuringly wrapped-up in the wintry Victorian romanticism of yore (the album cover, after all, is a charmingly subtle joke), The Christmas Album still questions--in curmudgeonly Ian Anderson fashion--what all this back-slapping bonhomie, alcoholic immoderation and High-street retail hysteria is all about. Thus, the frivolity of "Holly Herald" (two spritely carols rolled into one) is counterbalanced by a little Dickensian social conscience on "Jack Frost and the Hooded Crow", an imaginatively literate description of the despair of homelessness. Crisply produced in the manner of their vintage 1970s work and brimming with delightful instrumental wit and invention, The Christmas Album is a cracker you'll want to pull more than once. --Kevin Maidment

24 Reviews 5 star:  (18) 4 star:  (2) 3 star:  (1) 2 star:  (2) 1 star:  (1)           Average Customer Review (24 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   13 of 13 people found the following review helpful: Jethro Tull Back on form, 14 Oct 2003 By  Tim Hirst - See all my reviews This beautifully packaged new album is a very welcome and utterly justified piece of self-indulgence and celebration on Ian's part - wonderfully tongue-in-cheek, and proving that after 35 years, Jethro Tull can still surprise and delight - whilst at the same time maintaining that essential Tullness. The album consists of a combination of re-invigorated old classics and rare tracks, Tullified Chrsitmas Carols and great new pieces......as well as some expanded flute improvisations that have hitherto only been heard as part of the live set or on rare box sets. Ian has once again proved that he knows exactly what the fans want; The Christmas Album demostrates perfectly the band's propensity for not taking themselves too seriously, whilst still challenging the listener and providing a few suprises. The highlight for me is "We Five Kings" - the most self-indulgent track on the CD is an inspired musical anagram of primary school standard "We Three Kings" and Tull classic, "Living in The Past; and it works brilliantly. The interpretaion of Faure's Pavanne is wonderful, as is that old favourite, Bouree. Jethro Tull made Bach's Bouree their own many years ago - and they have managed to come up with yet another superb version of it here. I'm sure that this album will, in the fullness of time, be considered a classic - alongside Aqualung and Songs From The Wood (from which it takes much influence). No Tull fan can miss this album - it is excellent in every way, and it reminded me of why I love this band. This album is a great Christmas present from Jethro Tull to their fans...I cannot recommend it highly enough.  Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)   13 of 13 people found the following review helpful: A Christmas cracker, 10 Oct 2003 By  Stephen Jeal "Stormwatch" (UK) - See all my reviews    A great new seasonal CD from jethro tull. features a good selection of previous tull christmas tunes , a few brand new songs and some well known christmas songs recorded tull style. Highlights are "A Christmas Song" re-recorded with Dave Pegg returning to the fold on guest mandolin, "Solstice Bells" "Weathercock" and "Fire At Midnight" all sounding superb having benefited from new digital 24bit recording, also being reworked is the classic "Bouree" which has a new arrangement for 2003. A few new tracks also grace the album, the best being "Birthday Card At Christmas" which is the albums opener and "First Snow On Brooklyn". Nearly half of the album is made up of instrumental tracks and all feature some very nice flute work from Ian. The final track on the CD is a Martin Barre instrumental called "Winter Snowscape" which is a differant version to that which was released on his latest album "Stage Left". Give yourself an early christmas present and buy it now.  Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)   11 of 11 people found the following review helpful: Earthy and Ecumenical, Indeed, 8 Jul 2005 By A Customer To restate the brilliant review from earlier on, this CD is not your typical and smarmy, sickly-sweet Christmas album, despite the self-interested comments of the quizzical reviewer below. Rather, with this CD Jethro Tull have managed to capture in both verse and melody the spirit of giving, sharing, and perfunctory overindulgence that ostensibly go with the Christmas season, contrasted with the melancholy and flat-out destitution that the less-fortunate among us actually experience during this time of year. This interplay of content and style are presented against a backdrop of earthly Pagan solstice symbolism, all of which Jethro Tull have managed to integrate as a kind of ecumenical "Birthday Card at Christmas," which not incidentally is the title of the introductory track. This combination is daring and bold, if not outright brilliant, and in my estimation they have pulled it off strikingly well. These qualities clearly at hand, the time and place of airing are rendered profoundly irrelevant. Moreover, the musicianship, vocals, lyrics, production and overall execution (not to mention outstanding packaging) are commensurate with and at times exceed even Tull's impeccably high standards, showing this to be a band at the top of it's craft. Anderson's vocals, in particular, complete the album by sounding as warmly weathered as the bearded red-suit uncle himself. It's a decidedly Tull exploration of the seasonal space -- an effort that starts strong and improves with subsequent listens. May it continue to play well for you during the holiday season and throughout the year.  Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this) › See all 24 customer reviews...		Most Recent Customer Reviews An All Year Treat This is another fantastic album from Jethro Tull a truly excellent experience listening to the stunning music on this album,this album you can listen to all year round but I can... Read more Published 2 months ago by AJ It only happens once a year It's the 1st of December today. I can now put this album on until the last day of christmas. Since release this has been a tradition that will never leave my side. Read more Published 17 months ago by Mr. Steven Empson So disappointing This could have been a fantastic addition to any Tull fan's collection as a purely acoustic based album. Read more Published 19 months ago by Jon Stevens Flute-led Christmas folk-rock album It is rare for rock artists to record a whole album of Christmas music although they like to record singles or tracks for compilation projects, especially where a worthy cause is... Read more Published on 25 Nov 2005 by P D Harris Supermarket muzak I don't know why I had high hopes for this. When its release was first announced I had my serious doubts. Read more Published on 21 Mar 2005 by quizzk Sweet Armed with the open-minded realisation that they've earned the right to express themselves musically in any way they want, I left aside the selfish yearning for them to... Read more Published on 4 Jan 2005 by mr-ciao Top Tull I bought this album in 2003 when it was first released. I have played it continually through out the year and have enjoyed it what ever the season. Read more Published on 17 Dec 2004 by L. MILBURN Christmas Album For those of us old enough to remember Jethro Tull from the 70's and 80's, this new CD is a delight. Read more Published on 8 Dec 2004 by Kate Copsey Hated Greensleeves, but love it now