Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson Revisits The Band’s Controversial ‘Under Wraps’ Album

ConsumerJethro Tull’s Ian Anderson Revisits The Band’s Controversial ‘Under Wraps’ AlbumByDavid Chiu,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. David Chiu is a freelance music writer based in New York.Follow AuthorJun 02, 2026, 08:15am EDTMartin Barre and Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull perform on stage at Congresgebouw, The Hague, Netherlands, 24th September 1984. (Photo by Rob Verhorst/Redferns)RedfernsOf Jethro Tull’s 24 studio albums in their nearly 60-year career, 1984’s Under Wraps is considered the most polarizing among the band’s fans. A departure from Tull’s distinct folk/progressive rock from the 1970s, the album marked a noticeable shift towards state-of-the-art electronic rock typically associated with 1980s music. More than 40 years after Under Wraps’ cool reception, the band’s singer, flautist and leader Ian Anderson says he is happy with the overall outcome of the record, especially for its lyrics and melodies. Yet he does admit one disappointing aspect about Under Wraps. “The only thing that let it down in hindsight was the electronic drum machine that I programmed in order that we would all play to that,” Anderson explains, “because we were working in a studio that I had just built at home, which didn't have any facility for recording live drums. To do it in an external studio with a live drummer seemed an added chore, given that we had written the songs and we'd done some rehearsals. We were ready to play it live, but we played live in the studio to the drum machine.”For the 40th anniversary of Under Wraps, Anderson had an opportunity for a do-over of sorts. With assistance from musician/producer Bruce Soord, Under Wraps was recently released as a 5-CD/1-Blu-Ray box set featuring the album remixed twice containing new drum samples and original drums. Subtitled as The Unwrapped Edition, the new set also includes Ian Anderson’s 1983 debut solo album, the equally electronic-sounding Walk Into Light, along w...