The Jethro Tull Christmas Poll: Album vs Album - Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll vs Under Wraps

[treeduck]

These too TULL albums don't seem very popular among fans, which do you like best?

[zepphead]

Too Old To Rock n Roll may not be one of their best albums but it has some decent moments, it was a classic Tull lineup, and a band in their prime.

Under Wraps is just poor!

[treeduck]

12 minutes ago, zepphead said:

Too Old To Rock n Roll may not be one of their best albums but it has some decent moments, it was a classic Tull lineup, and a band in their prime.

Under Wraps is just poor!

And the artwork is cool too!

[treeduck]

15 minutes ago, zepphead said:

Too Old To Rock n Roll may not be one of their best albums but it has some decent moments, it was a classic Tull lineup, and a band in their prime.

Under Wraps is just poor!

While we're here Zep give us your full TULL rankings, the FULL TULL you might say!

[Nova Carmina]

I wasn't aware Under Wraps was a likeable album!

 

Too Old for me . . .

[custom55]

Too Old to R&R.

 

For this reason

 

Edited December 12, 2022 by custom55

[goose]

I revisited Under Wraps not too long ago and posted a song-by-song  review in a thread somewhere.  It has a few good moments, but overall it's pretty unsustainable.  I remember Greyfriar and I being pretty much the only TRFers to give it any credit at all. 

 

Too Old gets the easy win 

Edited December 13, 2022 by goose

[zepphead]

12 hours ago, treeduck said:

While we're here Zep give us your full TULL rankings, the FULL TULL you might say!

I have only ranked the Tull albums up to the point were I pretty much quit buying them any more (there are a couple of ok later ones but they would all be lower than these ones in my rankings)

 

1. Thick As A Brick
2. Aqualung
3. Songs From The Wood
4. Minstrel In The Gallery
5. Living In The Past
6. Heavy Horses
7. Benefit
8. Stand Up
9. A Passion Play
10. This Was ....... really a different sounding band but still important in the Tull history
11. Stormwatch
12. Too Old To Rock n Roll
13. War Child
14. The Broadsword And The Beast
15. A

[cygnify]

4 hours ago, zepphead said:

I have only ranked the Tull albums up to the point were I pretty much quit buying them any more (there are a couple of ok later ones but they would all be lower than these ones in my rankings)

 

1. Thick As A Brick
2. Aqualung
3. Songs From The Wood
4. Minstrel In The Gallery
5. Living In The Past
6. Heavy Horses
7. Benefit
8. Stand Up
9. A Passion Play
10. This Was ....... really a different sounding band but still important in the Tull history
11. Stormwatch
12. Too Old To Rock n Roll
13. War Child
14. The Broadsword And The Beast
15. A

 

I'd concur with most of that.  Though I would say that the only "post A" album I liked was Roots to Branches.  Has some moments; though the sound is very dated.  Saw Ian perform a couple years ago.  He was voice was.... not good.  (and that is the nicest possible way I can put that.)  The current idea of Jethro Tull is an abomination.  IMHO, it is not Tull without Martin Barre (who, btw, still puts on shows that are vastly superior to what is now called the Tull band.)

[Mosher]

I love Tull.

I like every Tull album and love most of them.

They only have one absolutely awful album. Thoroughly unlistenable. 

 

Under Wraps is terrible. 

I love Too Old. I never understood the dislike for that or for War Child.

I used to find A difficult, it's probably still my second least favorite (haven't given Zealot a fair shot yet), but A still has a lot to offer. 

There is nothing good on Under Wraps. 

[goose]

Here's that review I did...

 

Lap of Luxury is a solid song, and I enjoy it despite the 80s sound.

 

Under Wraps, as we'll see later, is a sad victim of the choice to embrace the early 80s new wave sound. It has all worst elements of the era's instrumentation (how does HYF get such a pass here?)

 

European Legacy is even better, with a great Tull flute riff. Could use real drums, of course. The 80s break is lol, but no more so than the ridiculous Casio noises found in HYF.

 

Later That Same Evening is another really good Tull song that would be vastly improved by the treatment songs from Crest of Knave got.

 

Saboteur is fine. Again, a decent song that would sound better with traditional Tull instruments. Reminds of the energy of Something's on the Move.

 

Radio Free Moscow...err. I'd rather be on a Mexican Radio eating barbecued iguana. Horrid.

 

Nobody's Car...yet another song that falls into an 80s synth death spiral. Dumb lyrics.

 

Apogee...is pure Space Junk, minus the hip irony of DEVO. Hard pass.

 

Heat is not so hot. Skip to the break, which is solid, but not worth enduring the whole song.

 

Paparazzi is OK.

 

Under Wraps 2 is a gem, and I can only sit here confused as to how they didn't hear this and immediately commit to re-doing the album minus the goofy 80s sound.

 

The bonus tracks that came with a later release are more of a penalty. No thanks.

 

[zepphead]

On 12/13/2022 at 3:16 PM, cygnify said:

 

I'd concur with most of that.  Though I would say that the only "post A" album I liked was Roots to Branches.  Has some moments; though the sound is very dated.  Saw Ian perform a couple years ago.  He was voice was.... not good.  (and that is the nicest possible way I can put that.)  The current idea of Jethro Tull is an abomination.  IMHO, it is not Tull without Martin Barre (who, btw, still puts on shows that are vastly superior to what is now called the Tull band.)

I totally agree with you. I just wish Ian would hang up his Tull boots. If he wishes to continue as a solo artist or form a new group then fine, but just don't sully the Tull legacy with

 the current inferior output.

Frankly some of the comments he has made to try to justify a continuation of Tull without Martin Barre are just embarrassing.

[Nova Carmina]

1 hour ago, goose said:

Here's that review I did...

 

 (how does HYF get such a pass here?)

 

 

Under Wraps 2 is a gem, and I can only sit here confused as to how they didn't hear this and immediately commit to re-doing the album minus the goofy 80s sound.

 

 

Re: point one -- good question! For my part, that was the first Rush album I was disappointed by. Woof.

 

Re: point two -- I concur. In fact, I heard "Under Wraps 2" before any of the rest of the album (on the 20th Anniversary Boxset, I think), so imagine my frustration when I got around to listening to original album, waiting for that spirit to emerge. 

 

Random point -- Tull does a good Christmas tune, btw (check out "Jack Frost and the Hooded Crow," for example)