AMG Review of Living in the Past [UK]

Bruce Eder
All Music Guide

Listen to this collection, put together to capitalize on the explosive growth in the group's audience after Aqualung, and it is easy to understand just how fine a group Jethro Tull was in the early '70s. Most of the songs, apart from a few heavily played album tracks ("Song for Jeffrey" etc.) and a pair of live tracks from a 1970 ~Carnegie Hall show, came off of singles and EPs that, apart from the title song, were scarcely known in America, and it's all so solid that it needs no apology or explanation. Not only was Ian Anderson writing solid songs every time out, but the group's rhythm section was about the best in progressive rock's pop division. Along with any of the group's first five albums, this collection is seminal and essential to any Tull collection, and the only compilation by the group that is a must-own disc. [A 19-track U.K. edition was also released.]