Review Summary: The father, or mother as Ian Anderson said, of all concept albums.
“Thick As A Brick” is the fifth studio album by Jethro Tull and was released in 1972. The line up on the album is Ian Anderson, Martin Barre, John Evan, Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond and Barriemore Barlow.
1972 was a great year for progressive rock, the year when progressive music had finally conquered its rightful niche and the rule supreme in the minds of the critics and among the musical preferences of the rock oriented public. Having consolidated its position and providing most of the groundbreaking ideas in the previous two or three past years, but never wished to reside in peace upon their laurels, mature progressive groups went on forward, to conquer new heights, to blow their resplendent bubbles further and further, pumping out mastodonic great epics and endless suites without seeming don’t have an end. In those few years, the world had seen the birth of great progressive works such as the cases of “In The Court Of The Crimson King” of King Crimson, “Fragile” of Yes, “Nursery Crime” of Genesis, “Meddle” of Pink Floyd”, “Acquiring The Taste” of Gentle Giant, “H To He, Who Am The Only One” and “Pawn Hearts” of Van Der Graaf Generator, “Emerson, Lake & Palmer” and “Tarkus” of Emerson, Lake & Palmer and “Aqualung” of Jethro Tull, only to mention some of the best, some of the most known and the most emblematic.
But it was in 1972 that were born some of the best and most remarkable progressive albums ever made, such as “Close To The Edge” of Yes, “Foxtrot” of Genesis, “Octopus” of Gentle Giant” and especially “Thick As A Brick” of Jethro Tull. In reality, more than anything else, it was “Thick As A Brick” that started to transform the progressive rock music, with the innovation of the concept albums. Blowing away all the competition, Anderson made a concept album with only one theme that occupied the entire both sides of the album. It was a quite innovative move at the time. While sidelong compositions were slowly becoming the norm of the day, nobody else had yet dreamed of dividing one single tune over two sides of a LP. What is most interesting is that it all started with the controversy between Anderson and the critics, about if “Aqualung” was a truly concept album. He always maintained that “Aqualung” never was a real concept album but only made of a bunch of songs. Anderson’s response was that Jethro Tull was to come up, on their next studio album, with a real concept album, something new that will be the real mother of all concept albums.
The concept of the album was collaboration between the band and an eight years old child, who wrote a very complex poem for a contest, which talked about the challenges of getting old. It was about a fictional kid named (Gerard “Little Milton” Bostock). In those times, and even today, many believe that Gerald Bostock was a real person. The child was disqualified because the judges considered that his poem was a little bit immoral because it talks about the sexual life of a father and son, and the problems of their relationship. So, the judges preferred to give the prize to a twelve years old girl, who wrote a simple essay about the Christian ethical values entitled, “He Died To Save The Little Children”.
Anderson picked up the child’s poem and created a notable piece of music. “Thick As A Brick” is an album with a very complex musical structure and where many musical instruments were used. Besides the use of the usual classic rock instruments, many others, very uncommon in rock music, especially in those times, were added, such as, harpsichord, xylophone, violin, trumpet and a string section. The combination of both things, the lyrics and the music, was really excellent and “Thick As A Brick” became one of the most original and beloved albums by all progressive rock fans.
The original LP cover was a spoof of a local newspaper with news, stories, competitions, adverts, etc. It was a mock newspaper that satirizes the British society of then and its hypocrisy. The false newspaper, with twelve pages, also included the entire lyrics of the song. References to the lyrics are scattered throughout the articles. Unfortunately and in many cases, this cover had to be reduced or even completely suppressed because of the printing costs.
Conclusion: “Thick As A Brick” is an excellent and a very special album in the history of the progressive rock music. It never becomes monotonous and with the passing of time, its relevance and legend continue to grow. Considering that the group was faced with the daunting task of trying to keep up with the momentum of the brilliant and groundbreaking “Aqualung”, they fared very well. And sincerely, it wasn’t an easy task to do. However and as all we know, they were able to overcome any barriers to pursue their continuing and successful run, with their audience growing more and more, in the future. In reality, “Thick As A Brick” is an accessible album for those who aren’t properly interested in progressive rock music and yet is deep and complex enough to satisfy the biggest prog heads. It’s heavy and loud, soft and quiet, and everything in the between. This is a case of a truly consensual progressive musical work.
Music was my first love.
John Miles (Rebel)
