Label: Chrysalis Records (UK), CDP 32 1082 2
Style: Gothic Rock, Art Rock, Classic Rock
Country: Blackpool, Lancashire, England
Time: 45:13
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 283 Mb
Charts: UK #20, AUS #20, AUT #7, GER #14, NOR #13, SWE #50, US #7. UK: Silver; CAN & US: Gold.
The
album's title refers to the use of a minstrel's gallery in the great
hall of castles or manor houses, inspired by a balcony in the recording
space which is shown in a photo of the band on the back cover of the
original LP. The minstrel analogy is used thematically in the lyrics of
the title track and "Baker St. Muse". "Cold Wind to Valhalla" is based
on elements of Norse mythology, such as the afterlife hall of Valhalla
mentioned in the song's title and lyrics. The cover art of the album is
an alteration of the 1838 oil painting Twelfth Night Revels in the Great
Hall, Haddon Hall, Derbyshire by artist Joseph Nash, depicting a group
of minstrels (altered from the original painting to represent the five
members of the band) performing to a raucous crowd of revelers at the
Haddon Hall country estate.
Critics have described Minstrel in the
Gallery's lyrics and subject matter as showing an introspective and
cynical air, possibly the byproduct of Anderson's recent divorce from
first wife Jennie Franks. However, Anderson has denied the divorce as
inspiration for the album, saying that the album's subject matter is
"like everything else, you mix a bit of personal stuff with a bit of
fantasy."
Stylistically the album is varied, exemplary of Jethro
Tull's progressive-influenced hard rock performances, with long
instrumental passages, invested with elements of British folk and
archaic, pre-Elizabethan sounds. Team Rock called Minstrel in the
Gallery's musical style a "heavy metal take on the obsessively
ornamented style of A Passion Play".
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minstrel_in_the_Gallery)
01. Minstrel In The Gallery (08:16)
02. Cold Wind To Valhalla (04:19)
03. Black Satin Dancer (06:52)
04. Requiem (03:45)
05. One White Duck - 0-Nothing at All (04:38)
06. Baker Street Muse (16:42)
07. Grace (00:37)
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