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My very first impression: Not a masterpiece like its illustrious prequel, but an enjoyable album in its own right. I like the way the themes of "Thick as a Brick" are incorporated in the opening tracks.
Joined: January 06 2008
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Posted: April 04 2012 at 08:07
Ludjak wrote:
Warthur wrote:
Not heard it yet, but... are they seriously going with that album artwork? I get the concept, that it's meant to look like a website, but they could at least go with a website that doesn't look like a shoddily designed Geocities page from over 10 years ago...
I think that it's part of the joke - this is supposed to look like a Dreamweaver 4 template, this time making fun of rural community websites. Like newspaper, like website.
Yes, but the original cover made a really careful compromise between accurately reflecting what a community newspaper looks like whilst at the same time being aesthetically appealing. The new one is literally the worst cover art I have ever seen; there are a million ways it could have stayed authentic whilst not looking like total ass.
Joined: January 06 2008
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Posted: April 04 2012 at 08:05
infandous wrote:
Obviously, it's lacking that 70's experimental nature and enthusiasm, but I was surprised as just how good it all sounded. I didn't care for the spoken word parts, but I almost never do for that sort of thing in music anyway. The vocals were surprisingly good, though obviously not like the old days.
Waaaait... you mean there's also a sequel to The Hare Who Lost His Spectacles on here?
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Joined: October 22 2005
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Posted: April 03 2012 at 15:10
Bought it today.
I've listened to it once, so far. Yes, there are plenty of TAAB references, but musically, it seems more like a trip through Tull's, but also Ian Anderson's musical history. I hear songs that sound similar to Heavy Horses period, Crest Of A Knave, Roots To Branches, and more.
I like it a lot so far. But I have to give it a few more spins.
BTW, I can understand whylisteners might think martin Barre is on the album. Florian Opahle does a great Barre impersonation.
Joined: February 18 2004
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Posted: April 03 2012 at 15:10
Just having my first listen now. Its very clean sounding but disappointingly lacks any real power although on the positive side it also it lacks compression and isn't hurting my ears. This is much closer to rock opera territory than to folk prog. I think Ian has actually remade Tommy and fooled people into thinking its a sequel to something else!
Joined: July 02 2008
Location: Australia
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Posted: April 03 2012 at 07:50
Adams Bolero wrote:
AtomicCrimsonRush wrote:
Love Barre's guitar work here.
Martin Barre doesn't play on the album; he left to pursue some solo projects last year. 28 year old Florian Opahle from Germany is the guitarist. He has been playing in Ian Anderson's solo band for years.
Dang, I forgot that. Better check the details of this. Though I like just listening to it at this point a few times.
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Posted: April 03 2012 at 07:26
AtomicCrimsonRush wrote:
Love Barre's guitar work here.
Martin Barre doesn't play on the album; he left to pursue some solo projects last year. 28 year old Florian Opahle from Germany is the guitarist. He has been playing in Ian Anderson's solo band for years.
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Joined: July 02 2008
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Posted: April 03 2012 at 07:12
Wow I love track 7 Adrift and Dumbfounded. Very progressive, heavy, great keys and awesome guitar. Anderson on fire - This is a classic track. Listening to it 5 times in a row...
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Posted: April 03 2012 at 06:52
I am into this - listening now! Nice flute trhroughout, good narrative from Ian and he sounds amazing vocally on singing. Nice to hear him sing "Thick as a Brick" at the beginning. Love Barre's guitar work here. A heavier guitar. Banker Bets and Banker wins is one of the best tracks for years from the mighty Tull. The instrumental are great. The narrative is very prominent on the album like on Passion Play. There is a storyteller style for sure. I am up to about the 10th track on first listen and it is terrific. Better than I thought it would be so thats a good thing.
Just listening to the cd now, sounding good to me, sure its a cash cow for Anderson but i don't care, good luck to him and anyone who finds it enjoyable
Joined: January 31 2008
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Posted: April 03 2012 at 06:14
Textbook wrote:
I do suspect Ian of doing a cash grab here. He knew very well the album would sell better and generate more press with this name. He should have called it something else, anything else and then said in interviews that it was a revisitation of themese and concepts on Thick As A Brick.
You'd imagine the album was just called 'Whatever Happened To Gerald Bostock' and then the money-people made him change it to 'Thick As A Brick 2' so he added in a few more TAAB moments.
Let the maps of war be drawn !
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Joined: January 31 2008
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Posted: April 03 2012 at 06:11
On my first listen I was really skeptical. After reading all the lyrics and watching the DVD, all subsequent listens have been more enjoyable and it grew on me a lot.
Its like Dot Com era Tull, only with most of the bad parts taken out. It sure isn't a good sequel to TAAB, because it sounds more like Chateaux D'istaster and Heavy Horses at times than TAAB, but it grew on me a heck of a lot, and I think I'd rate it as the best Tull album (I'm pretending its a Tull album from now on, its Tull in my iTunes and on my CD shelf) since Broadswoard.
I expected to hate it, it was just bland. Now its grown on me an awful lot and I actually think its very good.
Let the maps of war be drawn !
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Joined: October 08 2009
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Posted: April 03 2012 at 03:27
It's a bit sad to note how the media circus around this album release that I expected just doesn't seem to be eventuating though. It makes me wonder if it's a reflection of that fact that people just don't care about Jethro Tull anymore or whether prog is so far under the radar now that even a sequel album to one of the biggest selling albums by what was one of the world's biggest bands circa 71-73 doesn't even warrant a mention. Remember, TAAB isn't some nerdy beard-stroking obscurity, it was literally a number one album. But no, no one seems to give a sh*t.
If David Gilmour or Roger Waters suddenly popped out Dark Side Of The Moon 2, that would probably fare a little better in this regard but I thought TAAB would be a bigger deal to the industry than it apparently is.
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Posted: April 03 2012 at 03:19
I do suspect Ian of doing a cash grab here. He knew very well the album would sell better and generate more press with this name. He should have called it something else, anything else and then said in interviews that it was a revisitation of themese and concepts on Thick As A Brick.
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Posted: March 30 2012 at 14:27
DisgruntledPorcupine wrote:
infandous wrote:
Cesar Inca wrote:
DisgruntledPorcupine wrote:
Cesar Inca wrote:
DisgruntledPorcupine wrote:
My verdict: great album. Exceeded my expectations by a lot. Obviously didn't compare to the 1st, but complaining about that is just plain silly.
Considering how well some bands have been aging (UNIVERS ZERO, VDGG, LE ORME, PRESENT, THINKING PLAGUE, HTM through OBLIVION SUN), it is reasonable and not silly to complain about how badly (or not so well) other bands do.
None of those bands have anything as highly regarded as TaaB. And you think new VdGG is comparable to Pawn Hearts? If anyone expected TaaB2 to be as highly regarded and brilliant as the 1st, then that's just silly. Complaining because a band didn't match the quality of their top 5 album on progarchives many years later is just a silly thing to do.
But again, Ian Anderson himself opened the Pandora's box of comparisons when he started the writing and recording of this TAAB sequel: comparisons are very natural, and in fact, an imporant elements of human reasoning. In terms of "being regarded", let us just say that regarding is a merely personal, subjective thing. Pendragon and Kayak are more jhighly regarded than HTM, Art Zoyd or Hands, and I totally disagree with that, but that's only my personal view. And definitely, I wouldn't disregard albums such as Pawn Hearts, Still Life, Felona e Sorona, Present, Heresie so gladly... but again...
Plus, the point of who made better albums back in the 70s is not as relevant here as the fact that one album was made in teh classic old age of the 70s (TAAB) and the sequel in the present times: so, the parallel with other bands that continued to move on and kept in better shape felt liek a natural reflection. I won't regard myself more smarter or more intelligent than others for following this line of thought, so I will appreciate it if no one said that this is a silly thing to say and think. "Thick As A Brick" happens to be my all-time fave prog album, but that is something very collateral to what I posted in this very thread.
That's all I'm saying, and I will say no more about thsi subject since some of my PA fellows use words such as "silly".
Kind regards.
Absolutely. There is no reason NOT to compare this album to it's predecessor and other bands of that time that are still making good music. If it wasn't called TAAB 2, we wouldn't be having this discussion at all.
So you expected it to be as good/better than Thick as a Brick? Okay.
There's a difference between comparing it with TAAB and complaining about it not beeing as good as its predecessor. I've seen a lot of comparing of the two albums in this thread and in other threads about this subject. Heck, even you're comparing the two albums, Jordan, by saying they don't compare. But who's complaining about the difference in quality between the two albums? There's very little of that going on in these TAAB2-threads IMO.
But there is comparing, and that was inevitable, since Anderson chose the name TAAB2 for this project, which was something he didn't have to do, and probably shouldn't have done. It gave the album a lot of PR it wouldn't have got with a name which doesn't automatically make you think about one of Tull's most endeared works, but it also made it impossible not to compare it with the original TAAB, which in turn makes it impossible to judge the new album totally on its own merits.
Edited by The Bearded Bard - March 30 2012 at 14:41
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Ludjak wrote:
