THICK AS A BRICK

My first album review-I have chosen to review this album because this is the one that really got me into progrock. Now, I know that TAAB is more of a "progressive" effort from a band that is not considered to be a 100% progressive rock band, but this is one of the best examples of what progressive rock is all about.

I will try to be as objective as possibe in my review, but this is very difficult with music. "Thick as a Brick" is basically one long song (over 40 minutes) but it is really many songs or musical ideas seamlessly strung together. All of these "songs" that make up the whole song work together very well; none of the "songs" feels out of place. The album begins with that great acoustic guitar hook that really pulls you into the album. For the most part that is the mellowest part of the whole album. Once the part of the song which most people have heard on the radio ends, the album really takes off. I am not going to get into each part of the ablum, but overall there is a nice flow. The album transitions between moments that really rock and other moments that are more peaceful and beautiful.

The musicianship on this album is phenomenal. To me, each instrument stands out. Of course Ian Anderson's vocals and flute playing are top-notch. The keyboards have that great progressive rock sound and really fill out the music, making it sound more dense. The bass and guitar are also amazing and the rapid-fire drums top it all off.

Yet another great thing about this ablum is that it is musically dense; that is, there is no fluff or filler. I really enjoy Pink Floyd, but it seems that a lot of their longer songs have long segments of non-musical soundscapes. Now, I am not dissing Pink Floyd and I do think that these soundscapes are effective in creating moods, but I really like how Jethro Tull packed so much music into 40 minutes.

Now, as for the lyrics, they are complicated sounding, but really they are mostly non-sensical. Some of the lyrics are actually really funny ("as the wiseman breaks wind and is gone"). The reason for this is that the "concept" of this album is that the lyrics were written by an eight-year old who was disqualified from a writing contest. Also, the lyrics have a Monty Pythonesque feel, which was the intent of the band.

I will end this review by saying that this is a beautiful, funny, moving, hard-rocking, play-it-loud kind of album that EVERYONE should hear. I don't really think that one needs to acquire a taste for this album because it really sucks you in and never lets go until that last line "And your wisemen don't know how it feels, to be thick...hm...as a brick."