Thick as a Brick
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| Thick as a Brick | ||
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| Studio album by Jethro Tull | ||
| Released | March 3, 1972 (UK) May 10, 1972 (US) |
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| Recorded | December 1971 at Morgan Studios, London | |
| Genre | Progressive rock | |
| Length | 43:50 | |
| Label | Reprise (original US) Chrysalis/Capitol (US re-issue) |
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| Producer(s) | Ian Anderson | |
| Professional reviews | ||
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| Jethro Tull chronology | ||
| Aqualung (1971) |
Thick as a Brick (1972) |
Living in the Past (1972) |
| Alternate cover | ||
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| The cover of the 1995 25th anniversary re-release. Note the vertically elongated front page image and the completely different leftmost panel. | ||
Thick as a Brick (1972) is a concept album by the British rock band Jethro Tull. Its lyrics are built around a poem written by a fictitious boy, "Gerald Bostock" a.k.a. "Little Milton". The album on LP vinyl runs as one seamless track on both sides of the record. The song is notable for its numerous time signature and tempo changes, as well as a large number of themes throughout the piece, resembling a typical classical symphony in this regard, rather than a typical rock song.
Band leader Ian Anderson was surprised by the critical reaction to the previous album Aqualung as a "concept album", a label he firmly rejected. With Thick as a Brick, the band set out to create an album deliberately integrated around one concept: a poem by an intelligent English boy about the trials of growing up. Beyond this, the album is intended to be a send-up of all pretentious "concept albums". The formula was successful, and the album reached number one on the charts in the United States.
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[edit] Cover
The original LP cover was a spoof of a twelve by sixteen inch (305 by 406 mm) multipage local newspaper with stories, competitions, adverts, etc., lampooning the parochial and amateurish local journalism that still exists in many places today. The "newspaper" also includes the entire lyrics to the song. The spoof newspaper had to be heavily abridged for conventional CD covers, but the 25th Anniversary Special Edition CD includes a partial facsimile; some content is missing, such as the original connect the dots activity and part of the "front page".
[edit] Track listing
- "Thick as a Brick" (Ian Anderson/Gerald Bostock) – 22:45
- "Thick as a Brick" (Ian Anderson/Gerald Bostock) – 21:05
[edit] 25th Anniversary Edition bonus tracks
- "Thick as a Brick" (live at Madison Square Garden, 1978) – 11:50
- Interview with Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson, Martin Barre, and Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond – 16:30
[edit] Credits
- Ian Anderson – vocals, acoustic guitar, flute, violin
- Martin Barre – electric guitar, lute
- John Evan – piano, organ, harpsichord
- Jeffrey Hammond (as "Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond"): Bass guitar, vocals
- Barriemore Barlow – drums, percussion, timpani
- David Palmer - brass and string arrangements
