A

We have to admit that "A" can not be compared to masterpieces such are "Aqualung", "Thick As A Brick" or "Songs From The Wood" but, mind you, there are no many albums in genre that could be compared to those, so keep in mind that "Average or just good from Tull" is still far better than many other band's best efforts. And this is a very good album. Why?

Well, I'm not considering it as a start of the Tull's 80's period, it's more like end of the 70's. Their glorious era ended with "A", and not with "Stormwatch". The album shows heavy emphasis on the synthesisers (Eddie Jobson was the first proud owner of the Yamaha CS80 synth in the UK), but although heavily synth-driven, this album can not be piled with the 80's synthpop crowd. The reason is because it's particularly experimental, you can find same fine examples of complex drumming (real drums, not the programmed toys), and there are some nice tempo changes thrown in, they were experimenting with vocoders, and blending electronic, rock, folk music with some Eastern influences (in "Uniform"), violin is a nice addition, and I dare to say the lyrics are worth giving your attention. All that ingredients are spiced up with a slight touch of fine humour.

In a way, this album reminds me a lot of THE MOODY BLUES' "Long Distance Voyager", the album that I deeply respect for almost the same reasons stated above. "A" is just a slightly less mainstream and "disco-ish". What else do you want? 20-minute mellotron-based epic? In 1980?

Most of the great band from the 70's tried to find a new sound in the eighties and most of them failed. The same goes for TULL, but the very beginning of the transformation process from the 70's imaginative caterpillar to 80's mainstream butterfly is something worth having in your collection.

This is one of the finest examples of the progressive rock music evolution through the decades.