(16) Jethro Tull - Thick As A Brick (1972)

"Thick As A Brick" is a concept album, and the fifth studio album, by the English progressive rock band Jethro Tull released in 1972. Its lyrics are based on a poem written by a fictitious boy, Gerald Bostock, said to have been adapted to music by Jethro Tull although the band's Ian Anderson in fact wrote the lyrics himself. The album features only one song, lasting nearly 44 minutes.
Mixing hard rock and English folk music with classical influences, set to stream-of-consciousness lyrics so dense with imagery that one might spend weeks pondering their meaning assuming one feels the need to do so the group created a dazzling tour de force, at once playful, profound, and challenging, without overwhelming the listener.
The music on here drowns in it's own sophistication, refinement and high-class; the musicianship and it's high-class is something that shouldn't be taken too lightly, and should be the envy of many a musician and a listener. It starts off with acoustic guitar, followed by the flute, then Ian's vocals. The piece takes off from there. From there you will find tremendous melody, some hard rock, folk, jazz, and classical influences combined with many different shifts in tempo and time, and the band pulls no punches, as musical ideas keep flowing and flowing into each other like one huge piece, until the climactic end. It's divided into two halves. To be quite honest, the whole thing sounds like one gigantic classical piece, only with rock added.

Tracklist

1.  Thick as a Brick, Part I  - 22:40
2.  Thick as a Brick, Part II  - 21:06

Released:  10 March 1972
Recorded at:  Morgan Studios, London
Genre:  Progressive Rock
Length:  43:46
Label:  Chrysalis
Producer:  Ian Anderson
Written by:  "Gerald Bostock" (Ian Anderson)

Personnel
Ian Anderson – lead vocals, acoustic guitar, flute, violin, trumpet, saxophone
Martin Barre – electric guitar, lute
John Evan – piano, organ, harpsichord
Jeffrey Hammond - Bass guitar, Vocals
Barriemore Barlow – drums, percussion, timpani
David Palmer – Brass and string arrangements