THICK AS A BRICK 2 (AKA: TAAB2)

I would almost call this a masterpiece, but for two things: first, Ian Anderson had the audacity to call this "Thick As A Brick 2", inviting comparisons to the original made 40 years ago. Secondly, while all the new musicians are competent, everything seems to be subdued.

Anderson insists that TAAB was a parody of progressive rock at the time it was made. Yet now it is still one of the most popular prog works of all time. It still sounds as fresh and fantastic as it did back then.

TAAB2 does not come close to that masterpiece, and is not one long track like it's predecessor. Hell, it's not even technically Jethro Tull (Martin Barre does not appear on this album !?!).

But at age 65, Ian Anderson, at the urging of Derek Shulman (yes, that guy), has revisited the character of Gerald Bostock (the child who supposedly wrote the words for TAAB), and created this album. There are more prog rock elements to this album than anything Anderson has recorded since the eighties. But is this a parody as well? It's hard to say.

Lyrically, Andserson's words are as sharp as ever, as he imagines all sorts of different paths Bostock's life could have taken. But it's the music that is important here. He weaves many phrases and riffs, mostly twisted and half hidden in the new songs. And he also seems to be revisiting musical themes and ideas from throughout his career. I hear things that remind me of the early blues Tull, the seventies prog Tull, Heavy Horses Tull, Stormwatch Tull, Crest Of A Knave Tull, and the later Catfish Rising and Roots To Brances Tull.

It's almost like this is a recap of Anderson's history.

And I love it. Parody or not.