THICK AS A BRICK

Simply perfect. I was shortly introduced to this record by a flute player friend of mine, and was puzzled by orchestration in the short passage I listened to (I think it was celtic-like part near the end of the song), especially about the clever orchestration; so I borrowed it from him and listened to it carefully at home.Man that was a strike!!! Maybe I've never been so amazed by a record in the first listening (although I understand most people needs to listen to it two or three times, I got it from the very start); and every time I played it, I discovered I could find new textures, subtle secrets hidden in those beautiful, beautiful melodies. And one day, the entire work was in my head, like an indivisible masterpiece.

A lot has been said before about this record, so I'll focus on on point, the structure: I don't think that, in this album, structure is repetitive AT ALL. The acoustic part is repeated, yes, as a way to carry the song into different ages, like a 'break' between acts; and in fact it is never strictly repeated: after the drum solo and jamming dissonance at the beginning of Part 2 (which I think is the only dark spot in this work of art), the acoustic line comes back, but only for two lines, since the line changes inmediately to a warmer melody (if possible) acompanying the lyrics "In the clear white circles of morning wonder..." and yes, it's back at the very very end of the song, to symbolise the repetition of the cycle. About the "See there, a son/man is born..." part, it is repeated to represent the birth of the child (first) and the adult (later), but again, it's a "false repetition": first part is a 10/8, and second a 12/8, with the addition of 2 notes to the main riff, which completely changes the groove of the part. The "childhood heroes" part is repeated with completely different arrangements at the end of the song, and "cutting" the duration of the line (removing the pauses after every verse) to make it more listeneable and moving. There are also lots of "repetition tricks" here and there: for instance, during the astonishing drum solo, a few silly notes can be heard, corresponding to the melody of "You curl your toes in fun..."; and specially in the overwhelming ending (my favourite part of the entire song, I dare to say), where the "See there..." riff comes back with almost infinite variations, surrounded by numerous pieces "stolen" from other parts of the song; the final rush is filled with a melody you previously heared at the very beginning of Part 2, and it didn't seem to make much sense then, but it sure does now!! And then the apotheosis: 1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2-ONE-TWO-THREE!!!! And before you've noticed, all the instruments are gone and you're left back with that simple (but extremely beautiful) acoustic guitar line. Ecstasy. I don't expect to find another record which makes me feel the way this does, but if I do... hell, I'm lucky!!! Five stars seem little, can't I add one or two more?