Jethro Tull: Thick As A Brick - 1972

 

Apparently, with several prog rock bands going big on "concept" albums featuring lengthy, side-long behemoths instead of tracks, Ian Anderson - once a folky blues rocker, now considered a proggy - decided that "if they wanted a concept album, then that was what they would get". He duly, with his trusty band, released this two track monster of a prog rock cornerstone. 

What was quite unique about this was that, although there was Yes and ELP's side-long compositions, there really wasn't much else around like this, not at all. Compare this with say, David Bowie or T. Rex's three minute songs of the time and you have something utterly different. You would have thought that it would be the last thing that an old punk-new waver like me would want to listen to, but, guess what - I bloody well love it! I have really surprised myself with that but it is most certainly true. 

The whole thing is a masterpiece of musical sequences now released in superb, remixed format (by remixer par excellence Steven Wilson) which boasts a simply sensational sound. I won’t bore you all by analysing every last little bit of the album, so I will just overview it. In true prog style you get short passages that merge into each other but are often markedly different, although they all merge together perfectly with a beautiful cohesion. 

What you don’t get is proggy Keith Emerson-style keyboards but instead we are treated to a wealth of Anderson flute, riffy rock guitar, lovely deep bass lines, folky acoustic guitar, folky vocals and suitably incomprehensible lyrics. 

Although there are obvious prog characteristics in the album’s conception, for me it is a creation that veers towards English folk rock, very much betraying Anderson’s taste. It was no surprise that a few years later the band would release a full-on folk album. In the meantime, I seriously love this and am happily surprised to be admitting it. Part One is better than Part Two, though. 

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