Jethro Tull: War Child Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		0.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.0

Jethro Tull: War Child Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 2, 2026

If War Child may arguably not be as well remembered or frankly even as well liked as Aqualung, the other album Parlophone is releasing day and date with this one, also with new 2026 Steven Wilson remixes (including Atmos), it did provide Jethro Tull with this perhaps unexpected trivial pursuit data point: maybe slightly shockingly, Tull only managed to get into the U.S. Top 20 singles twice, once for the 1972 re-release of Living in the Past, and then two years later with the daffily enjoyable Bungle in the Jungle from this album. Interestingly, and again perhaps subliminally suggesting the lesser repute this album has had, War Child did not have a previous multidisc Blu-ray edition from Rhino, as with the 40th Anniversary Collectors Edition of Jethro Tull: Aqualung.

The album's track list can be seen in screenshot 9.

Jethro Tull: War Child Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Unlike the one disc Parlophone release of Jethro Tull: Aqualung, this disc actually has a bit more video content, though it really still isn't enough for me to give it an official score. Aqualung basically offered a series of static menus with very brief interstitial animations getting quasi-thumbnails to widescreen framings. Here, though, there's a recurring slideshow (unfortunately of basically only three images that have motion control panning over them) that plays along with the album. Screenshots 1 through 8 document how things change (including codecs and track names). As mentioned above, screenshot 9 has a track list, and screenshot 10 is of the disc's main menu.

Jethro Tull: War Child Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Once again as with Parlophone's one disc release of Aqualung, the major audio calling card here is the array of new 2026 mixes by Steven Wilson, in Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0. Also as with Aqualung, Wilson has also provided instrumental mixes in LPCM 2.0. The Atmos track is a carnival ride at times, beginning with the glut of sound effects that kick of the album and which are very noticeably immersive, including with some exceptional height effects as the cacophony builds. Aside from what might be called "gimmicks" like that (part of the original album, of course, at least in terms of content), both of the surround tracks also offer clear discrete channelization, with (again kind of like moments in Aqualung), for example, the acoustic piano emanating from the rear left channel. Later sound effects, like Ian prepping his tea (?) before launching into Skating on the Thin Ice, are firmly anchored rearward. That particular song is also a great example of something I noted in my Jethro Tull: Aqualung Blu-ray review in terms of how Wilson isn't shy about moving his "pieces" around, sonically speaking. Ian is very front and center when the song starts, but with the addition of an echo effect, suddenly he's coming in from the rear channels as well. The roars at the opening of Bungle in the Jungle are rearward, while the whistling comes front the front channels, in another fun example of how directionally Wilson has arranged things. In the sounding like a broken record department (if anyone remembers what a record was), once again as with Aqualung I found the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix to be just a bit brighter than the Atmos mix. And finally as with the other Parlophone release, the DTS-HD Master Audio 4.0 version comes off as pretty thin and brash sounding (the high end can actually be a bit painful, or at least was to me), and again as with the other release, there's much more noticeable hiss on the quad version.

Jethro Tull: War Child Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There's really no on disc bonus content here as with Aqualung, with the possible exception of the instrumental mixes.

An insert booklet contains some background information on both the quad and Atmos mixes from Ian himself, as well as lyrics, the usual "informational" page that accompanies Rhino's Quadio Blu-ray audio releases, some advertising images, pictures of the master tape boxes (another Quadio tradition), and a touring chronology.

This comes packaged in an oversized cardboard gatefold sleeve measuring approximately 5 1/2" wide by 7 1/2" high.

Jethro Tull: War Child Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

War Child may not be as instantly visceral as some of Tull's other material from this same general time period, but for this longtime Tull fan, what was originally side 2 (hey, a callback to records!), including the fantastic Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day, is worth the price of admission alone. The new Atmos mix is highly enjoyable and should delight the album's fans. Recommended.