A

A few bands had already done it : entering the synth pop world (ELO adding even disco influences). It sounds great when Tubeway Army, Human League or John Foxx does it. But, can you imagine the Tull doing so ???

This album was originally to be a solo effort from Ian featuring new members of the Tull (Dave Pegg and Eddie Jobson who will also bring his friend Mark Craney on drums). Ian will ask Martin to join for a few tracks and he will play on the whole album.

When Ian Anderson (hence the title "A") played the work to the record company executives, their suggestion was to release it as a Jethro Tull album ! Since Barrie Barlow (drums), Evans (piano, organ) were not initially involved in the project, Ian will say tat he needed to contact official Tull members to check with them. But Chrysalis's boss announced publicly in the press that the new Tull line-up will feature Jobson and that other guys had been replaced". This summary can be found in the remastered edition of the album's liner notes.

It is quite a weak album. The weakest ever so far for the Tull (more to come).

Maybe an error ? Or a joke (Ian having such a great sense of humour) ?

I really had to struggle to find a good track here : probably "Black Sunday" or "And Further On" (hey, that's two) ! "Working John...) is not too bad either. The only good news about this album is that Eddie Jobson does a pretty good job on the violin. I purchased this album in a late packaging (in 2004) that includes a DVD (Slipstream) with some good old Tull tunes (clips and live moments). Since it is separate from "A" for review, I will post mine for "Slipstream" in the appropriate section.

"A" is really useless (even if some reviews consider it as a masterpiece). So, do not bother to spend any money on this one. Only buy it with the DVD inclusion (almost the same price as the standard CD - I guess they knew what they were doing) if you are a die-hard Tull fan like I am. Otherwise, just stay away.

One star. What did you do to us Ian ?