This greatest hits record came out in 1976 and contains songs from like 7 lps– they’ve been around forever– and they have kept releasing records and playing– and you can probably see them right now at the nearest convention for the brain-dead near you. I guess I thought I should keep this record around in case I ever had a “Tull Attack”– though that has never happened. I guess this all-white album cover with light grey print is no “White Album” or anything close, and it really pales next to most of my other early 70s records, including Jethro Tull’s “Aqualung,” which I wish I had instead of this.
“Teacher,” “Living in the Past,” and “Skating Away” (which sounds like Cat Stevens) are okay if you’re getting nostalgic for these guys, and I still like “Aqualung”– though I wish I never had to hear that solo again! “Locomotive Breath” is just okay. “Bungle in the Jungle” is dumb, and the rest is garbage.
But what does “M.U.” stand for? That’s the musical question. It could simply be “mixed up.” But that’s too easy. How about Mating Underwater? Or Mildewed Underwear? Or Map of the Underground? I kind of like that one– someone can use that if they want to.
DJ Farraginous 
I kind of had a brief “thing* for Jethro Tull in hi-skool myself, and this was the first album of theirs I got. I always wondered what M.U. stood for too, and always thought it was kind of a stupid title because of that. Now, I haven’t listened to *any* Jethro Tull in freakin *ages*, other than what I hear occasionally on the radio, but I have a feeling I’d probably actually still like it to some extent if I did. The band was usually pretty solid and not overly ‘overproduced’ or whatever, although sometimes the flute could get a bit annoying. I think I liked more of this album than you appear to.. “Bungle” is a stupid song for sure, but it kind of appealed to me as a hi-skooler, and I’d probably not totally hate it still now somehow. The only other Jethro Tull album I bought back then was Songs from the Wood when it came out, which had a lot of pseudo-celtic-pagan-esque folk-ish songs on it that are about as pretentious as it gets, but which appealed to my hi-skool tastes. I do still think it has some ok things on it, but – bleh – dont’ ask me to actually play it. Sometime in recent years I found a weird Italian copy of their Thick as a Brick LP which has a bizarre cover which folds out as if the record is being stored in a big newspaper with satirical news articles printed on it. I cant’ find any song list on it, though, and the record label doesn’t have any listed, and each side is just one big track, not broken up into songs. I’ve had this for a few years now, but haven’t been able to bring myself to actually listen to it! Maybe someday..
I hope Map of the Underground gets used because it might change everything for the better. I would use it if I wasn’t already 42.
According to Wikipedia the “MU” stands for “Musicians’ Union” which was some kind of comment or criticism of it– which is really a pretty unsatisfying answer to that mystery! That’s why I hate the internet. No more mysteries. No more unsolved puzzles. That annoying guy who knows all kinds of obscure facts and details and stories– what good is he now? Off to the glue factory!
I guess we could decide that that is bullshit– that Musicians Union thing– that’s wrong. Wikipedia, you’re wrong. MU does NOT stand for Musicians Union. There is only ONE PERSON alive who knows the answer to that question, and he’s busy jumping around on one leg wearing a raincoat, playing a flute.
Hi,
Pls find a rare collabration of Jethro Tull with Anoushka Shankar on youtube,
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=1udISjFOXhU
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=n3m95LP3A-Q
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=llvKJGkPtCw
In case you wish a copy of the India Tour DVD,pls do get in touch with me at royce2222@gmail.com