FEATURED ALBUM: Jethro Tull - A

[Poisoned Youth]

Review from ProgArchives (Muzikman)

A started out as an Ian ANDERSON solo album and turned into a full-blown JETHRO TULL project. Despite a mixed reception when it first came out in 1980, it stands up as a solid JT album today. With some remastering, tweaking, and a DVD with early videos and concert footage, you get the best of both worlds. One can appreciate the care that went into this presentation. Adding a DVD that is a greatest hits compilation (to that point) was a smart way to approach this sleeper. I refer to it in this light because I think it is indeed a good album and it deserves more credit for its worthiness as another prog-rock dandy that should find a place in your collection even if it has not been one of the critics' darlings.

Martin Barre's guitar work is superb per usual and Anderson is in fine voice on this album. Dave Pegg (bass) and Mark Craney (drums) form a great rhythm section for the ever- changing JWTHROI TULL lineup. Considering how quickly they had to make the transition into the band, they need a strong acknowledgement for their efforts, even if it is 24 years later. What made this album different from any other release was Eddie Jobson and his contributions with the keyboards and violin, giving the band a new refreshing sound. Rather than ANDERSON dominating the tracks, this sounds like a more balanced band. Barre's guitar playing is restrained rather than bursting with the explosive energy found on previous albums. I found this ironic in that it started out as an ANDERSON solo project, then how his role changed as it developed and matured into a full album. ANDERSON stepped back and let everyone else flex their musical muscles, which in the end, showed what a brilliant and flexible leader he could be. The results proved to be surprising. This may not be the greatest JT album but it is certainly very good.

LOL on the music video.

[Vic2012]

A damn fine album. I was susprised how much I liked it after reading mostly negative reviews. I bought the remaster with the Slipstream concert DVD. I like A a lot more than Stormwatch or the boring Broadsword album.

[progman1975]

Love it...Love it...Love it....3 Words....Eddie Fucking Jobson.....Craney also shines on the drums.....

[Sturgeon's Lawyer]

One of my alltime favorites. Jobson brought a freshness to the Tull formula, already aging, that never came again.

[Progatron]

Absolutely LOVE this album, I always include it as #5 in my JT Top 5, just so it gets some credit! It has its detractors but it has its fans also!

In fact, I love this album so much, it's what I had Ian sign for me when I met him.

"Fylingdale Flyer" is one of the best songs in the JT catalogue and Ian's lyrics for "Working John, Working Joe" are fantastic. Not to mention "Black Sunday"!

[zombywoof]

This is a great album. Perhaps even more on the proggy side than Stormwatch, Heavy Horses, etc. I don't quite get why people hated it at the time - I think it was quite a fresh step for Tull (though I do love the previous albums).

[AWG]

I always had a bad taste from this album because of the way Evans, Barlow and Palmer was unceremoniously canned before making it. Pretty crass move on Ian's part and could've been handled better. That being said, SOME of the tracks have grown on me. But it pales next to TaaB, APP, Aqualung, SftW, Benefit, MitG, These 6 are Tull's finest ever.

[Oreb]

A great one IMO - sort of a coda to the folk-prog trilogy and as such, for me, one of a run of classics, Tull's peak.

[PROGMONSTER]

Cool album. Fave tracks are fylingdale, uniform, pine marten, and further on

[MONDO PROG DRUM KIT]

Great album, & LOVED the tour!!

[Casey]

I like it, but there are other JT albums I like more. To me, it represented a course change into techno that I found a bit jarring after the previous 2-3 albums.

[llanwydd]

I didn't give it much of a chance when it came out but I thought the songs were too similar to each other. Either that or there was something similar running through every song that seemed both foreign and redundant. The exception is the final track which I liked a lot.

[trurl]

I like the album more than Stormwatch when it came out and I was (and am) a huge Eddie fan but the bass sound turned me off. Nothing against Dave Pegg, amazing player but there was a very sterile thing happening in the rhythm section and a lot of it was his bass.

[Paulrus]

This is a good transition album for Tull, from the 70s to the 80s. Big props to EJ, or course, though the fact that it started life as an IA solo album might also have helped. Anyways, it's one I still enjoy spinning from time to time.

[Facelift]

This is a great album. Perhaps even more on the proggy side than Stormwatch, Heavy Horses, etc. .

Not really sure how this could be - at least in the case of Heavy Horses, which (along with SFTW) was among the band's proggiest, in terms of the complexity of the music. Do mean that bringing back more keyboards and simplifying the rhythm section makes it more proggy?

As far as the album goes, I think the good stuff is quite good - the rest of it is a lot less interesting to me. In fact, a few songs I think are unlistenable.
IMO, the beginning of an end that took 30 more years.

[Progtopia]

Sort of a mixed bag for me as it is for Facelift. Jobson's parts are great, and "Fylingdale Flyer" is my standout. But it's a middle-of-the-pack Tull release for me.

[rickm]

Love it, great album. EDDIE JOBSON stellar.

[ProgPariah77]

Excellent album, then and now.

[ssully]

Pine Marten's Jig, the last great Tull instrumental. And 'Batteries Not Included', very underrated track....prog meets New Wave.

[roger.list]

Craney and Pegg in the A tour are wonderful, ...we need a double cd full concert live...

[Trane]

This should've stayed an Ian Andersion (diectionless) solo album... and TB&TB and UW as well...

A bad trilogy (their worst by far, if you ask me)

[Rand Kelly]

Pine Marten's Jig, the last great Tull instrumental. And 'Batteries Not Included', very underrated track....prog meets New Wave.

I completely agree Steve. BNI has always been my favorite on this album. I was actually hoping,somewhat naively that the Steven Spielberg movie would figure a way to use this song,but alas it wasn't meant to be.

[Rand Kelly]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...&v=R1LZbz1MWyw

[JIF]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...&v=R1LZbz1MWyw

My fave song from this album. I like the lyrical twist at the end.

[Vic2012]

I haven't played A in quite a while. The one song I can say I really don't like is 4 Wheel Drive (low ratio). It's kinda poppy, new wave-ish, I get it. I just don't like it. Now, the Slipstream DVD that came with the remaster is pretty good. A little short, and not enough live footage, but overall it's pretty cool. Love the video of Dun Ringill (the best track on Stormwatch).