August 29, 1980 - A

A month after my last release and a year after "Stormwatch" Jethro Tull released their thirteenth(!) studio album, simply titled "A" on August 29, 1980. John Glascock had died shortly before their last album's release and Barriemore Barlow quit the band after dealing with depression due to his death. Keyboardists John Evan and Dee Palmer were both fired from the band and so the only remaining members from last album are guitarist Martin Barre and frontman Ian Anderson. They also shift their style of music towards a more 80s style with heavy use of synthesizers. This is a lot of drastic changes, and we must take a moment to lament the departure of Evan and Barlow, who both featured on some of Tull's best albums. Bassist Dave Pegg and drummer Mark Craney would become new members of Jethro Tull and although not an official member, Eddie Jobson (formerly of U.K.) plays keyboards and electric violin on this whole album! I'm not sure I like the new musical direction these guys are taking, as I adore their older, more progressive material, but I am intrigued to see Jobson work with Anderson and Barre. Let's check out the new Jethro Tull!

The album kicks off with "Crossfire" and Jobson plays some cool, fast keyboards that lead into the first verse. He slows it down for the verse bit continues his piano as Pegg plays a catchy bassline and Anderson sings in his usual style. Barre adds some decent guitar at times and they build into the chorus which has a tiny bit of flute, but it's still mostly driven by Jobson's 80s style keyboards. He spices up his piano for the next verse as both he and Barre play some cool stuff before they move to another chorus. After this chorus Barre goes off for a pretty sweet guitar solo and midway through Anderson joins hin with some excellent flute! This mixing of solos sounds pretty great and Jobson plays some more cool piano that brings things back to the verse. After a final verse they jam out the chorus a few times, but Anderson plays some really great flute inbetween as they slowly fade this one out. Up next is "Fylingdale Flyer" and Jobson plays some epic keyboards that make things sound more like an ELP song than a Tull one! Anderson alone begins to sing as the epic keys continue and while it doesn't sound bad it's a bit of an odd mix. The rest of the band comes in to make things sound a bit more like Tull and they move into an alright but pretty tame chorus. Anderson's flute syncs up with Jobson's keyboards in a cool bridge that connects to another verse. It's certainly a different feel than any of their 70s music but Tull show they can continue to adapt their flute rock into different styles. Jobson and Anderson play another solid part playing off each other, then it's time for another verse and chorus. Anderson sings a second chorus by himself that sounds pretty good and for the final minute we hear another nice instrumental part with some cool flute and epic keyboards. Pegg's bass sounds good as well but I hardly noticed Barre at all in this one. Track 3 is "Working John, Working Joe" and things sound more classic right away as we hear just Anderson singing and playing some nice acoustic guitar. Barre, Pegg and Craney come in to make a nice, slightly heavy riff and I am loving this throwback so far. Jobson joins on for the chorus and his computer-y keyboard riff sounds interesting as they attempt to blend their old and new styles. I think they do an okay job but I'd rather some John Evan piano than these new-age keyboards. The rest of the riff is pretty catchy but the keyboards continue into the next verse and I just don't think they add much. After another chorus Jobson plays some speedy different synths and Barre plays some nice guitar in am interesting new part, then they quiet it down and return to the opening, keyboard-less riff. Pegg and Barre both play some good stuff in this verse, then Jobson is back for another chorus. After this final chorus Jobson plays some more speedy synths as the rest of the band continues the chorus riff until things slowly fade to an end. The final song on this side is called "Black Sunday" and it's the longest song on the album at just over six and a half minutes. We hear a quiet, but solid opening featuring bass, guitar and flute that sounds pretty cool before Jobson takes over with some more Emerson-esque epic organ. It's not very typical Tull, but it sounds pretty sweet as Barre and Pegg play some epic stuff as well. Anderson comes in with a great flute riff and things follow him into a fast new verse. Ian sings nicely overtop of this solid rock riff as Barre plays some solid guitar and after a long-winded verse Jobson plays a short piano solo that sounds pretty freaking great! This classic piano sound fits this mood way better than forcing synthesizers and it sounds awesome! It leads back into another fast-paced verse and chorus and this time both Jobson and Barre solo together and they do a wonderful job playing off each other in another great solo! The epic opening synths return and Anderson sings a new slow verse, and his voice is echoed lightly by a robot-esque one. Jobson starts a nice piano riff, Anderson comes in with some sweet flute and Craney does a nice drum fill that leads into a guitar solo. Barre plays a solid rock solo and this leads into a flute solo for Ian that sounds great as well. They show us they still have a bit of prog in them as they connect everything nicely back into another speedy verse. Everyone is doing a great job on this one and they end things on an epic note and it seems like it could have been even longer, I certainly wasn't tired of it!

Side two begins with "Protect And Survive" and Anderson plays a nice fast flute riff right from the get-go. They form a fast-paced backing riff to back him and Pegg's bass sounds pretty good. The verse sounds much different as Jobson plays some more 80s keyboards that I again find to be not bad, just not fitting for what Jetheo Tull are trying to do. Anderson's singing and Barre's guitar form a nice, typical Tull verse but the keyboards just seem out of place. They return to the solid opening riff as we hear some more cool flutes then it's time for another verse. They move into a new section that has some more robot-like echoing of Anderson's voice that just sounds weird in this setting. I like all the aspects that remind me of old Tull, but I'm not a fan of this new musical direction overall. We hear some more great flute at the end but the keyboards don't ruin it, but I find they certainly sour it. The next song is "Batteries Not Included" and Jobson starts things off with an epic keyboard riff as he plays a few different keyboards. Barre comes in with some nice guitar and this loud, epic riff leads right into the first verse. This time it seems the other way around: this more 80s style riff sounds pretty good and it's Anderson's voice that doesn't seem to belong in another odd mix. The music is pretty good though as they jam out a few verses. They move into a new part led by a nice guitar riff and we hear a child say a few lines about wanting some batteries. Jobson's epic keyboards return and Barre plays some more cool guitar before they return to the main verse. It's another decent song, but most of this album seems like a forced clash between old and new rock. Track 7 is "Uniform" and Jobson finally plays some electric violin to start this one off, and it sounds pretty good. Violin seems much more suited to Tull than synthesizers as Jobson leads the way and Pegg plays some more solid backing bass. Anderson begins the first verse and I think things are mixing much nicer in this one with Jobson on violin. The chorus is short with Anderson singing the name of the song a couple times, but the main verse is pretty nice and much longer. After a couple solid verses Jobson goes off for a brief violin solo that sounds cool and Anderson follows that up with a flute solo that is really good! He plays some awesome, speedy flute on this solo and it sticks around for the next verse, making things sound even better! After this great verse Jobson and Anderson both go off for the final 30 seconds or so as things slowly fade out. Craney adds a couple nice drum fills as well as I thought this was easily the best of the three on this side thus far. Up next is "4.W.D. (Low Ratio)" which stands for 4 wheel drive. Craney starts by himself and does a nice little drum intro that leads into the main riff. Anderson plays some nice, faster flute as Barre and Pegg both play some slower stuff and it sounds pretty good. Anderson sings nicely to start the verse as Jobson leads the way with some great piano. Barre's guitar sounds great as well as they've made a catchy beat. The chorus is a bit odd with some more computer-y vocals that I'm not a big fan of bit afterwards Barre goes off for a brief solo that sounds really superb! It's a great little solo before Jobson nicely brings things back for another verse and chorus. Anderson plays some more cool flute and seems to end things on an epic note, but it ends as it began with Craney playing it out on drums. Track 9 is an instrumental called "The Pine Marten's Jig" and Anderson plays another great flute riff and Jobson is on violin again. Craney plays some nice snare drum as well as Ian and Eddie lead the way and again I find they combine much more beautifully when Jobson is on violin. Barre and Pegg finally join in but it's Anderson's flute that rightly leads this main riff as he sounds fantastic! After a great opening riff Barre changes the mood with a nice guitar solo and Jobson follows that with a short violin bit before it's Anderson's turn in the spotlight. As you'd expect at this point, he plays some wonderful flute and he seems to hit so many different notes! Barre follows this with another guitar solo as this is the Tull I'm talkin' bout! You don't need vocals when you have all this great music ad Anderson's flute takes us to a new bridge riff where we hear some speedy violin by Jobson! They resume their main riff and jam things out nicely and bring this fine instrumental to an end. The final song on the album is "And Further On" and Jobson returns to his synths for this one as they form a slow, epic opening. Jobson plays some nice piano as Anderson sings nicely overtop in this epic verse. The chorus is quiet, but still epic as Ian adds some nice flute. Craney plays some solid drums in the next verse as Jobson continues to lead the way on piano and after another quiet chorus Barre leads a new epic riff with some cool stuff. They really nail the epic piano on this song as I find it's very encapsulating. They play a final.verse and chorus and this seems like a solid way to end the record.

That is the end of "A" and I thought it was a good album, but I also thought that Jethro Tull seemed like they were trying too hard to get with the times. Eddie Jobson is a great keyboard player but I just didn't think his 80s style keyboards belong anywhere near the kind of music Jethro Tull should be writing. There were no bad songs on this album, but there was a lot of just alright songs and when your band is called Jethro Tull and you have some much amazing music in your catalog, I just find the standard is a little higher. Speaking of, how does this rank amongst the ranks of Tull? I think it's better than their weakest album "Too Old To Rock 'N' Roll; Too Young To Die!" but I don't think it was better than the next rung, the more commercial "War Child". "War Child" was still a solid album and so "A" will have to settle for second from the bottom. I'm not excited by this new musical direction, but we will see where these mainstays go next!