"A" by Jethro Tull: A more natural follow up to Heavy Horses?

Not sure

And no...

 

I can see Cheerio on any of 77-79 albums, with slightly different arrangement.
And why not Pu*** Willow on A?
Again with slightly different instrumentation it could happen.
But I have feeling that it wouldn't be that good.
Something like Working John, Working Joe early version from SFTW sessions is not as good as final version on A.

 

Indeed, I was talking the writing, not the production. The main point being, they address similar issues with other Anderson songs.

 

"A" sat on my shelf for years. I'd try it every now and then and it just didn't take. Too frenetic, cheesy synths...it just didn't sound like Tull to me. Even though Broadsword is synth heavy, it still had more Tull feel to it than "A".

Of late when I'm jonesing for Tull I've found the old standbys unfulfilling, therefore I've had Under Wraps and A in high rotation. Under Wraps still is just too much for me (though melodically it's got promise...it just needs to be redone musically with real drums and either not so much synth, or some updated sounds), but A has really grown on me. Side one is pretty fantastic and even though I can understand the disdain for side two, I think it fits and I find it just fine. Even enjoyable in moments, particularly 4 W.D. It's not often Ian goes for some groove and it's quite refreshing to hear! Probably my favorite on the album.

I put A alongside War Child. There is plenty of great music, solid songs, interesting melodies, they are just marred by that certain something.

 

I only got Stormwatch in the 40th Ann. edition. the tracks on 20 years of Jethro Tullbled me to expect something as folky as Songs From The Wood, but it was a definite step away from folk back to something more rock based. It seemed more like a companion to A, (which I've had for years as the CD/DVD pack).

There are folk elements on both Stormwatch and A but they are progressing in a new direction.

I don't have Walk Into Light, so I guess I should check it out to see how it fits in to the 80s period.

 

Speaking about Under Wraps, l think that the song Underwraps 2 is great. Can you imagine the entire album done in the old folky Tull style?

 

Walk Into Light is great with Under Wraps for me.

 

I never cared much for 'A'. I don't know if it's underrated anymore; there seems to be a strong contingent of Tull fans who love 'A' and BATB as much anything Tull ever did. While I've warmed to BATB, I still find 'A' the most bland Tull album ever. I don't know if the Tull/Jobson thing just wasn't a good fit or if it wasn't given enough time to gel. At any rate, I do think "Black Sunday" is the sole gem from 'A' and does hint at what could have been a really good album instead of a really mediocre (IMO) one.

 

Oh man, it would be phenomenal.
Lap Of Luxury
European Legacy
Later That Same Evening
Heat
Are all top notch songs. Can't imagine how good they'd be if remade. Probably as good as the jump from Under Wraps #1 to #2
Saboteur

You know, one of these days I may finally get around to checking out Ian's solo albums. One of these days. Perhaps.

 

Rule of thumb. If you like Under Wraps then you'll like Walk Into Light. If you don't like Under Wraps then you won't like Walk Into Light. The Secret Language Of Birds and Rupi's Dance are back to the old acoustic Tull formula.

 

That's about right.

 

I find A to be Abominable.

I'm a huge Tull fan, but their decline started with this Awful Album.

 

I forgot to answer the OP question! I was just looking for a thread that mentioned A and wanted to talk about how much I've been enjoying it lately... particularly after years of finding it less than desirable.

Nah, I don't find A to be more fitting sequentially than Stormwatch. I think the latter fits more sound-wise, thematically and melodically. "A" seems to be...I don't know...sort of an odd duck? I think Broadsword follows Stormwatch more than A, then Crest of a Knave. A and Under Wraps, to me, are outliers. Kind of like Too Old...it just doesn't quite "fit" anywhere.

Speaking of Too Old, I must say I find it more enjoyable as the TV special. At least you get the campy visual to go with the music. Combined, Too Old makes a sort of sense, finally.

 

Too bad Ian couldn't have done 'A' as a solo LP. (I've always liked it)
Maybe this wouldn't have been a one off then.
I stopped listening to Tull w/ both ears after A.
The only real contact was from friends who ended up being bigger
Tull fans than I. Funny cuz I was the one who first turned them on
to Jethro Tull.

 

I find A to be Awesome and the last in a long run of Astounding Albums.

 

I first started listening to Tull in 1981, though I didn’t hear A at that time. Although only released the previous year, it already had a low reputation among Tull fans as synth-heavy and ‘a bit limp.’

When I finally got round to hearing it, I thought it was OK but nothing to write home about. Subsequently, I warmed to it a bit more but it does seem a rather self-conscious attempt to update Tull’s sound for the 80s before anyone really knew what the 80s sound would be. In that, it has something in common with similarly tentative, under-confident records like In Through The Out Door, Tormato and Who Are You.

After the trilogy, Ian realised he needed to definitively change direction but he tried a bit too hard - dismissing most of the band members and jettisoning most of their folk-rock legacy in one fell swoop. Broadsword was a more successful balancing of old and new Tull elements but that album really should have been a double (the bonus tracks on the remaster definitely up the quality).

 

Disagree. I loved Walk Into Light and loathed Under Wraps. Theory disproven.

 

The TV Special version was a bit of a revelation for me. "Too Old" is not necessarily an album of bad songs, the 1976 version simply sounds a bit tired. Now when the band was forced to rerecord it quickly in the studio the whole album got an immediacy and spark that wasn't there before. Love this version!

 

When I was a teenager "A" was the King of the cutout bins, all the record shops around me had tons of copies for ages with the corners clipped off.

 

Doesn't everyone have their own Rock Island?
Their own little patch of sand?

Broadsword with bonus tracks is brilliant.

When Jethro Tull Entered the '80s With the Synth-Heavy 'A'

 

I prefer Walk Into Light over Under Wraps.


Step into joy.

 

Don't you know that there's an exception to every rule? Particularly in matters of taste.

 

Tough crowd. I think all JT records can be divided in 2 categories
1. Great
2. Very good.
For we Broadsword is great, and A and Under Wraps simply very good.
Will I buy "book editions" when they released for those three?
Absolutely,

 

For the record, I find A to be the last good, not great, but good Tull album until Roots to Branches was released 16 years later.

 

Good point about Pine Marten's Jig, love it. Stormwatch must follow HH here, MUST.