Jethro Tull – A
hello all! we’re moving into the 80s in our Jethro Tull discography listen with A!
A was originally an Ian Anderson solo record – only Anderson and guitarist Martin Barre are here from the last few records – but the label insisted it be released as a Tull record. i can understand if there had been pushback. after three consecutive folk-inspired records, having something this synthetic was likely jarring, haha.
but the synthesizer-driven instrumentals wasnt the only thing that this album was adapting from the times. a good chunk of this record is about anxieties of late 70s as they turned into the 80s. the opener, Crossfire, is based on a real embassy crisis, and Fylingdale Flyer, easily the top track on the record for me, is about a hypothetical false alarm in a nuclear early warning system. Protect and Survive is about someone surviving post-nuclear blast.
at the same time, some of the tracks are very narrow in focus, much more on everyday life. Batteries Not Included is about a boy receiving a toy, 4.W.D. (Low Ratio) about a truck. much of it is every day stress – Working John — Working Joe is the one that leaves me the most stumped, personally. cant parse the politics on this one.
Pine Marten’s Jig and Working John — Working Joe feel most classically “tull” – Pine Marten’s Jig is an instrumental that drops a lot of the heavy synthesized instrumentation of the other tracks in favor of more fiddle and flute. Working John is almost comic when contrasted with the track after it, Black Sunday, a sweeping multi-stage synthesized epic, largely dealing with the anxieties of travelling.
i quite like this album. musically its a very fun record, and i like their approach to adapting synthesizers – i think the only track here that gets anywhere close to a dislike is Batteries Not Included, which can be a bit grating. i know this is a bit of an outlier for the time, but i do hope they return to this more “modern” sound.
faves – Fylingdale Flyer, 4.W.D. (Low Ratio)
dislikes –
A – 7/10
next week, we’re checking out The Broadsword and the Beast!
first: This Was | previous: Stormwatch | next: The Broadsword and the Beast
all my reviews for Jethro Tull
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