THICK AS A BRICK 2 (AKA: TAAB2)

This is the sequel to the well-loved Thick as a Brick, released 40 years later. A lot has happened, including Ian Anderson apparently retiring the Jethro Tull name (with Martin Barre parting ways). So unless things change and Martin Barre returns, thereby bringing back the Jethro Tull name, Ian Anderson will likely be recording as a solo act, as in this sequel. So he gets a German guitarist Florian Opahle (who wasn't even 30 yet when this came out) and some other musicians, making it a five piece. This is a concept of what might have happened to Gerald Bostock, the fictional kid responsible for the original (actually Ian Anderson, as it's so obvious the lyrics have Ian Anderson written all over it). That meant as he became an adult, he could have ended up several different paths, and that's addressed by each of them. Let's be honest here: the album never reaches the amazing heights of the original, it doesn't quite have the energy of the original, the music has a more calm vein, more in tune with later Tull, like Catfish Rising. It's still very good, though, in fact it still has that Tull spirit going on, which is a good thing. Occasional themes from the original pop up, as well as passages that resemble the original, as well as parts that remind me of Heavy Horses, and even a reference to "Locomotive Breath".

This sequel isn't likely to set my world on fire, and it's in no danger of taking over the Tull classics, never mind the original Thick as a Brick, but it's nice to have.