Jethro Tull Releases Expanded 1978 Live Album, ‘Bursting Out’
by Best Classic Bands Staff
The original Jethro Tull Bursting Out album cover
Jethro Tull’s first live album, 1978’s Bursting Out, has been reissued in an expanded 3-CD/3-DVD format, remixed by Steven Wilson. The new “Inflated Edition,” “bursting” with an array of extras, arrived June 21, 2024, via Rhino. Watch several live performances from the collection below. It’s available in the U.S. here and in the U.K. here.
The album was recorded at various locations during the European “Heavy Horses” tour in May and June 1978 and released as a live double album several months later on September 22. It contained material from ’78’s Heavy Horses as well as live versions of songs from Aqualung, Thick As a Brick, Songs from the Wood, War Child, and other albums from the Tull catalog.
In the expanded edition’s April 11 announcement, Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson notes: “A live extravaganza from the 70s Jethro Tull, this was recorded over several nights in different venues on a portable 8-track tape recorder and transferred to 2” multitrack when I got home after the tours. I had to listen all through to many shows and pick the best live versions. But much of it was, at least, from the concert in Bern, Switzerland, where dear Claude Nobs came to introduce the band in his inimitable style. Also featuring on this box set collection is the live concert from Madison Square Gardens recorded a few months later and shown live on BBC TV in the UK. A scary experience for the band as it was, we were told, the first time a live rock concert had been the subject of a live satellite broadcast.
“The band lineup at this time was a fine-tuned machine and, although missing the unwell John Glascock for the MSG show, it serves as a fine testimony for the many wonderful shows we did in the 70s before general touring fatigue and burn-out began a year or so later. Enjoy vintage Tull at its 70s best!”
On the original, Anderson (vocals, flute, acoustic guitar), was joined by Martin Barre (electric guitar, mandolin, marimba), John Glascock (bass guitar, additional electric guitar), John Evan (piano, organ, synthesizers, accordion), Dee Palmer (portative organ, synthesizers) and Barriemore Barlow (drums, percussion, glockenspiel).
Related: Our 2023 interview with Ian Anderson on Tull’s past, present and future
Details, and the complete track listing are below.
CD 1: Jethro Tull live: Bursting Out (Part 1) – A Steven Wilson stereo remix
Soundcheck recordings – A Steven Wilson stereo remix. Tracks 7, 10, 11 (full version) & 12-16 previously unreleased
CD 2: Jethro Tull live: Bursting Out (Part 2) – A Steven Wilson stereo remix
Soundcheck recordings – A Steven Wilson stereo remix. Tracks 11-13 previously unreleased
CD 3: Contains an edited version of the 1978 Madison Square Garden Show which was issued in 2009 but now mixed by Steven Wilson.
DVDs 1 & 2 have the remixed tracks in 96/24 stereo and 5.1 surround plus the flat transfers of the original album at 96/24 stereo.
DVD 3 has the full 93-minute MSG show, including 50+ minutes of video which was part of a transatlantic broadcast with the BBC and Radio 1. The audio is 48/24 stereo and 5.1 surround.
Watch Anderson present the official unboxing video
When it was first reissued on CD in 1990, Bursting Out was available as a double-disc CD in the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe, but as a single CD release in the United States, with three tracks (“Quatrain,” “Sweet Dream” and “Conundrum”) omitted to fit the 80 minutes CD length, while the double-disc 1990 CD version in the United Kingdom (and Europe) incorporated the first track for both discs (the Introductions) in the song that follows. In 2004, the complete album was released worldwide as a two-disc set with the Introductions as separate tracks. Listen to more favorites from the 2024 expanded edition below.
Jethro Tull Bursting Out (Inflated Edition) Track Listing
Disc 1
Claude Nobs – Introduction by Claude Nobs [2024 Remaster]
No Lullaby [2024 Remaster]
Sweet Dream [2024 Remaster]
Skating Away (On the Thin Ice of the New Day) [2024 Remaster]
Jack-in-the-Green [2024 Remaster]
One Brown Mouse [2024 Remaster]
Heavy Horses [2024 Remaster]
A New Day Yesterday [2024 Remaster]
Flute Solo Improvisation / God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen / Bouree (Medley) [2024 Remaster]
Living in the Past
Songs from the Wood [2024 Remaster]
No Lullaby*
Sweet Dream
Heavy Horses
Botanic Man
4.W.D (Low Ratio)*
*Previously unreleased
Disc 2
Thick As a Brick [2024 Remaster]
Hunting Girl [2024 Remaster]
Too Old to Rock ‘n’ Roll: Too Young to Die! [2024 Remaster]
Conundrum [2024 Remaster]
Minstrel In The Gallery [2024 Remaster]
Cross-Eyed Mary [2024 Remaster]
Quatrain [2024 Remaster]
Aqualung [2024 Remaster]
Locomotive Breath [2024 Remaster]
The Dambusters March [2024 Remaster]
Conundrum*
Quatrain
The Dambusters March*
*Previously unreleased
Disc 3: (Live at Madison Square Garden October 1978)
Sweet Dream Fanfare
Sweet Dream
One Brown Mouse
Heavy Horses
Thick As a Brick
No Lullaby
Flute Solo Improvisation
Songs From the Wood
Quatrain
Aqualung
Locomotive Breath
The Dambusters March
A Single Man
Too Old to Rock ‘n’ Roll: Too Old to Die!
My God
Cross-Eyed Mary
DVD 1
96/24 Stereo
Claude Nobs – Introduction by Claude Nobs [2024 Remaster]
No Lullaby [2024 Remaster]
Sweet Dream [2024 Remaster]
Skating Away (On the Thin Ice of the New Day) [2024 Remaster]
Jack-in-the-Green [2024 Remaster]
One Brown Mouse [2024 Remaster]
Heavy Horses
A New Day Yesterday [2024 Remaster]
Flute Solo Improvisation / God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen / Bourée (Medley) [2024 Remaster]
Living in the Past
Songs from the Wood [2024 Remaster]
No lullaby
Sweet Dream
Heavy Horses
Botanic Man
4.W.D (Low Ratio)
DD & DTS 5.1 Surround
Claude Nobs – Introduction by Claude Nobs [2024 Remaster]
No Lullaby [2024 Remaster]
Sweet Dream [2024 Remaster]
Skating Away (On the Thin Ice of the New Day) [2024 Remaster]
Jack-in-the-Green [2024 Remaster]
One Brown Mouse [2024 Remaster]
Heavy Horses
A New Day Yesterday [2024 Remaster]
Flute Solo Improvisation / God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen / Bourée (Medley) [2024 Remaster]
Living in the Past
Songs from the Wood [2024 Remaster]
No Lullaby
Sweet Dream
Heavy Horses
Botanic Man
4.W.D (Low Ratio)
Flat Transfer
No Lullaby
Sweet Dream
Skating Away (On the Thin Ice of the New Day)
Jack-in-the-Green
One Brown Mouse
A New Day Yesterday
Flute Solo Improvisation / God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen / Bourée (Medley)
Songs from the Wood
Thick As A Brick
DVD 2
96/24 Stereo
Thick As A Brick [2024 Remaster]
Hunting Girl [2024 Remaster]
Too Old To Rock ‘n’ Roll: Too Young To Die! [2024 Remaster]
Conundrum [2024 Remaster]
Minstrel In The Gallery[2024 Remaster]
Cross-Eyed Mary [2024 Remaster]
Quatrain [2024 Remaster]
Aqualung [2024 Remaster]
Locomotive Breath [2024 Remaster]
The Dambusters March [2024 Remaster]
Conundrum
Quatrain
The Dambusters March
DD & DTS 5.1 Surround
Thick As A Brick [2024 Remaster]
Hunting Girl [2024 Remaster]
Too Old To Rock ‘n’ Roll: Too Young To Die! [2024 Remaster]
Conundrum [2024 Remaster]
Minstrel In The Gallery [2024 Remaster]
Cross-Eyed Mary [2024 Remaster]
Quatrain [2024 Remaster]
Aqualung [2024 Remaster]
Locomotive Breath [2024 Remaster]
The Dambusters March [2024 Remaster]
Conundrum
Quatrain
The Dambusters March
Flat Transfer
Hunting Girl
Too Old To Rock ‘n’ Roll: Too Young To Die!
Conundrum
Minstrel In The Gallery
Cross-Eyed Mary
Quatrain
Aqualung
Locomotive Breath
The Dambusters March
DVD 3: Music Videos from Live at Madison Square Garden October 1978
Sweet Dream Fanfare
Sweet Dream
One Brown Mouse
Heavy Horses
Thick As A Brick
No Lullaby
Songs From The Wood
Quatrain
Aqualung
Locomotive Breath
The Dambusters March
A Single Man
Too Old Too Rock ‘n’ Roll: Too Old To Die!
My God
Cross-Eyed Mary
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4 Comments so far
Jump into a conversationLooking forward to its release as Jethro Tull has always been a massive favourite. Really don’t mind if you sit this one out. A total of 137 tracks.
Inflated Edition – clever title. How Bursting Out is so rarely mentioned on lists of best live rock albums has always been a mystery to me. Tull during the prime of their concert prowess.
Am I just just missing it? No “A Passion Play”? How can this Masterpiece be excluded from this collection? It is simply an INCOMPLETE Bursting Out (Inflated Edition).
Here are some recordings that feature the genius of Martin Barre through the lens of Ian Anderson’s compositions. His craft as a superb and original guitarist is obvious and unmistakable, yet Ian Anderson still found it acceptable to toss him aside without even any notice or notification — a forever stain on the genius that was Jethro Tull.