A

A good album from the evolving Tull. There are hints of the 80's "new look" that they would later take but the experimenting with electronics here didn't turn out bad at all. It is a transitional album so it is also not far removed from the previous releases. This is actually quite excellent in places. . The first side of A is the most skillfully written. 'Crossfire' is the opener and a competent pop rocker with a relatively catchy vocal melody. 'Fylingdale Flyer' is even better as well as 'Working John, Working Joe' with its convincing social statement, real emotion and feeling

The crown of the tree though is 'Black Sunday'. I'd say that it's slightly in the vein of Stormwatch, with a dark vocal melody. Later on it gets expanded with good solos and all kinds of brilliant atmospheric passages. One of Tull's best attempts at capturing that 'light pessimistic' vibe.

Of the second half, "Uniform" is decent enough with some interesting violin work but the most pleasing are the final two tracks "The Pine Marten's Jig", "And Further On". Not essential JT by any means but still a lot of very good moments. Worth picking up if you have enjoyed the band's work up to this point.