The 1984 synth infected "Under Wraps" was the first Tull album I didn't fully enjoy and then feared they were on a downslope. But three years later this emerged. A killer LP showing them stronger than ever. Even if down to three original members - Ian Anderson, Martin Barre and David Pegg, supported by guest drummers Gerry Conway and Doane Perry - partly towards hard rock with noticable synth involvement here and there it's still very good Jethro Tull, bursting with beautiful catchy melodies as well as tophole guitar and flute. I don't get one weak track on this. To mention a couple - "Budapest" is an intriguing story ("...she wouldn't make love but she could make good sandwich...") with an awesome flute riff to complex guitar figures. First part of "Mountain Men" showing you can combine the plainly heavy with beautiful and catchy. "Jump Start" so well written, changing between calm and wild with lots of good guitar and flute. "Raising Steam" with its hauntingly bouncy refrain. And that just four picks out of a cornucopia of pleasing moments. Either you're a Tull fan that for some reason don't have it already or just a lover of touching pop/(hard)rock in general it's highly recommended. Released on vinyl, cassette and CD all over the world through the years. Premiere UK vinyl on Chrysalis (CDL 1590). Japan 2005 CD in limited edition paper sleeve came with "Part Of The Machine" as bonus track. I guess this US is early having A-1/B-1 matrixes with stamped "MASTERDISK" plus "HW" showing on a Columbia press. In any case the audio is excellent - very wide, pleasingly soft and well separated. It came on label as shown here and fully laminated cover with lyric/credit inner. (YZÄ*) (YÖHT*)
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