Published on Jul 26, 2004
After months of being used to the olde, folky sound that went
hand-in-hand with Jethro Tull, it would be an understatement of
epic proportions to say I was surprised to hear the opening couple
of seconds on the band’s 1984 album. At first, I thought I grabbed
an electronica/disco album by mistake! Only when I heard the flute
passages in the background was I assured that this was my favourite
rock band, taking yet another musical direction.
The first track, “Lap of Luxury” met with an astounding “what
the hell is this?” from yours truly. Instead of the usual dual
melodies of Anderson’s flute and Barre’s guitar, the song had
synthesisers, and, the bane of my musical enjoyment, electronic
drums. Of course, leave it to Ian Anderson to be the only one who
can use these drums effectively.
Along with the prog/folk musical feel, the timeless lyrics are
gone as well. Seen on songs like “European Legacy” and “Later, That
Same Evening” (to name a few) the lyrics seem to be based around
espionage or the Cold War. While the words themselves aren’t
terrible, a lot of the tracks seem very dated nowadays.
The thing that really strikes me about this album is hot
hit-or-miss each of the tracks are. There really is no
middle-ground. Songs like “Radio Free Moscow” and “Paparazzi” are
excellent rocking tunes, while stuff like “Tundra” and “Astronomy”
are dismal failures.
Even in this album, which is an oddity unto itself, there are
the odd tracks. The ones that stick our are “Nobody’s Car,” which
sounds pretty awful, and “Under Wraps #2,” which is actually a
return to the folk stylings that are sorely missed on this
album.
Overall, this is definitely not going to be everyone’s cup o’
tea. This album was heavily disliked in the American market, and it
was a heavy blow to their popularity overseas. I also do not
recommend this CD to any newbies to Tull, lest they end up
forsaking their classic ’60s and ’70s work. However, for die-hard
Tull fans, people who dig electronica or ’80s pop, or people who
are really open-minded, this album will be a good, if slightly
strange record to have in their collection.