***** Jethro Tull -- Thick As A Brick
For the most part, between this and the previous year's Agualung, most people should have a pretty good feeling for what this band is about. While Aqualung was a collection of songs with a similar theme, this album is two songs, each "one side" (vinyl days, remember?) long. It's not really as heavy as the other album, but it's a fairly complete overview of the strengths of the band. Combining heavy rock with traditional English music, Jethro Tull is reasonably unique in the music world...there's never been another band like this, and that may well be a good thing. Thick As A Brick demonstrates the band at their peak, and while other efforts (like Songs From The Wood and Passion Play) would play on similar ground, there was nothing quite up to this level again. This 1998 re-master adds an eleven minute live version from 1978 and an interview with Ian Anderson, Martin Barre and Jeffrey Hammond.
Reviews by A. D. Jensen
