UNDER WRAPS

A very different sounding Jethro Tull - very electronic rock sound not similar to what came before. "Lap of Luxury" - I enjoy the sound of the track although I have almost got to take off my old Jethro Tull hat to appreciate this. "Under Wraps 1" - is that a beat machine I hear as opposed to drums? Oh Dear! Interesting track though. "European Legacy" - I don't mind the sound however as I said before I have to lose the Jethro Tull Prog hat. "Later that same evening" - I enjoy this track a great deal. It has a dramatic mysterious feel. "Saboteur" - straight ahead rock track in the 1984 vein. "Radio Free Moscow" - electronic driven rock again - lots of electric squawks and squonks. "Astronomy" - Nothing special at all. "Tundra" starts off sounding like good UK track however that morphs into a kind of ooooooooo electronic rock again. I don't dislike it however. "Nobody's Car" - what have we here? hot damn! more electronic rock. "Heat" - A bit of a rougher sound before almost turning Disco. The mid section of the track appeals to me but it's kind of short lived. "Under Wraps 2" - This is a track that I quite like but it's really short lived. "Paparazzi" - This is kind of sweet. "Apogee" - Not bad. "Automotive Engineering" - doesn't grab me in the slightest. "General Crossing" - again electric squawks and squonks - by this time I'm tired of the album.

Was this Tull's attempt at Dance music of horror of horrors - Disco? The mid 80's weren't kind to prog rock at all. Electronic drums do not do it for me in the first place. There seems to be a theme of espionage running through this album. This isn't a poor album to me but it's not what I would have expected from Tull. I'm going to shock myself and give this one a 3 rating - in a strange way it is an appealing album to me because although it represents what is bad about what can happen to a prog giant it is pleasant enough and if I'm in the mood for some compulsive foot tapping a may play this. It isn't bad at what it attempts to do but why oh why did Tull have to be the band to do it?