Thick as a Brick
| Thick as a Brick | ||||
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| Studio album by Jethro Tull | ||||
| Released | 10 March 1972 | |||
| Recorded | December 1971 | |||
| Studio | Morgan Studios, London | |||
| Genre | Progressive rock | |||
| Length | 43:46 | |||
| Label |
Chrysalis (Europe) Reprise (America, Japan and Oceania) |
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| Producer | Ian Anderson, Terry Ellis | |||
| Jethro Tull chronology | ||||
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| Alternative cover | ||||
The cover of the 1997 25th anniversary re-release. Note the vertically elongated front page image and the completely different leftmost panel.
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |
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| Robert Christgau | C− |
| Musichound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |
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| Record Collector |
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| The Rolling Stone Album Guide (1979) |
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Thick as a Brick is the fifth studio album by the British rock band Jethro Tull, released in 1972. The album is notable for only including one song, which spans the entire album. Thick as a Brick was deliberately crafted in the style of a concept album, as well as a "bombastic" and "over the top" parody of the then-prevalent vogue for concept albums. The original packaging, designed like a newspaper, claims the album to be a musical adaptation of an epic poem by the fictional 8-year-old genius , though the lyrics were actually written by the band's frontman, Ian Anderson.
The album was recorded in about three weeks in December 1971, featuring music composed by Anderson and arranged with the contribution of all band members. The live show of 1972 included the playing of the full suite, with various comic interruptions. Thick as a Brick is considered by critics the first release by Jethro Tull entirely consisting of progressive rock music and received mixed reviews upon its release. Nonetheless, it was a commercial success and topped various charts in 1972. Today it is regarded as a classic of progressive rock and has received several accolades. Ian Anderson produced a follow-up to the album in 2012, focused on the adult life of the fictional Gerald Bostock.
Band frontman Ian Anderson was surprised by the critical reaction to their previous album, Aqualung (1971), as a "concept album", a label he firmly rejects to this day. In an interview on the radio show In the Studio with Redbeard which spotlighted Thick as a Brick, Anderson's response was to "come up with something that really is the mother of all concept albums". Taking Monty Python as an influence, he began to write a piece that would combine complex music with a sense of humour, with the idea it would poke light-hearted fun at the band, the audience, and the music critics.
Anderson has also stated that "the album was a spoof to the albums of Yes and Emerson, Lake & Palmer, much like what the movie Airplane! had been to Airport" and later stated that it was a "bit of a satire about the whole concept of grand rock-based concept albums". Although Anderson wrote all the music and lyrics, he co-credited the writing to a fictional schoolboy named Gerald Bostock. The humour was subtle enough that some fans believed that Bostock was real. Reviewing the 40th anniversary reissue, Noel Murray suggested that many listeners of the original album "missed the joke".
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Wikipedia