Repeating comments I made on @edisonbaggins' Life In Surround video review:
I'm a huge Tull fan; they were my favorite through my formative teen years. I bought A on vinyl when it came out, and even hitchhiked from OSU (Columbus OH) to Cincinnati (my hometown growing up) to see the A tour when they hit Riverfront Coliseum in October '80. It was a great show, although I was a bit put off by the white jumpsuits (quite a step down from the various eccentric British outfits complete with codpiece, that Ian used to sport). I also felt the loss of Barlow, Evans and Palmer from the late-classic lineup, and didn't fully appreciate the new members at the time, even Jobson. I rarely listened to A after that, and I never bought it on CD (same for most of the 80s Tull releases). When it was announced that the A book/box was coming, I wasn't even sure I would buy it. I'm glad I did! The album sounds much closer to classic later-70s Tull to me than it ever did before, helped I'm sure by Steven Wilson's remixes, even the stereo version on CD, which is what I usually get to listen to more. I mean, the Pine Marten's Jig pretty much out-prog/folks anything on Songs From The Wood; what a complex yet charming piece. And the concert is fantastic, sonically a big step above Bursting Out and the live material on the previous box/books (I'm not sure what kind of shortcomings Steven Wilson could have been referring to in his mix comments), and also performance-wise -- Ian and the band seem very invested and enthused; his voice is still strong and the versions of old warhorses Aqualung and Locomotive Breath sound fresher than any live versions I've heard since the early 70s.
I'm bummed that my OPPO chokes on a couple tracks from the concert on DVD2, as briefly discussed on the QQ forum; maybe it's a small minority of players/people that will have that issue, but I still wish they'd fix it and issue a corrected disc, as they did for the Thick As A Brick book/box. But that's a small complaint for a very impressive release, which is a great value as always for these Tull reissues. Now let's see if the Broadsword book/box promised for next year can convert me into a fan of that album!
I'm a huge Tull fan; they were my favorite through my formative teen years. I bought A on vinyl when it came out, and even hitchhiked from OSU (Columbus OH) to Cincinnati (my hometown growing up) to see the A tour when they hit Riverfront Coliseum in October '80. It was a great show, although I was a bit put off by the white jumpsuits (quite a step down from the various eccentric British outfits complete with codpiece, that Ian used to sport). I also felt the loss of Barlow, Evans and Palmer from the late-classic lineup, and didn't fully appreciate the new members at the time, even Jobson. I rarely listened to A after that, and I never bought it on CD (same for most of the 80s Tull releases). When it was announced that the A book/box was coming, I wasn't even sure I would buy it. I'm glad I did! The album sounds much closer to classic later-70s Tull to me than it ever did before, helped I'm sure by Steven Wilson's remixes, even the stereo version on CD, which is what I usually get to listen to more. I mean, the Pine Marten's Jig pretty much out-prog/folks anything on Songs From The Wood; what a complex yet charming piece. And the concert is fantastic, sonically a big step above Bursting Out and the live material on the previous box/books (I'm not sure what kind of shortcomings Steven Wilson could have been referring to in his mix comments), and also performance-wise -- Ian and the band seem very invested and enthused; his voice is still strong and the versions of old warhorses Aqualung and Locomotive Breath sound fresher than any live versions I've heard since the early 70s.
I'm bummed that my OPPO chokes on a couple tracks from the concert on DVD2, as briefly discussed on the QQ forum; maybe it's a small minority of players/people that will have that issue, but I still wish they'd fix it and issue a corrected disc, as they did for the Thick As A Brick book/box. But that's a small complaint for a very impressive release, which is a great value as always for these Tull reissues. Now let's see if the Broadsword book/box promised for next year can convert me into a fan of that album!
