THICK AS A BRICK

All that needs to be said about this magnificent album may have been said. This is Tull's magnum opus. It easily outshines the rest of their catalogue and that's saying something impressive. Thick as a Brick easily bests Close to the Edge and Selling England by the Pound in my humble opinion. Not only that but it has one of the great album covers and inserts. Oh for the days of vinyl when records were decked out with extravagant art, real zippers, and of course entire newspapers. The articles are quite witty and dry. Musically be prepared for a flurry of time signatures (there's even a hemiola in there too!), and a veritable banquent of musical themes. Honestly, I've never found Tull to be overly progressive, most of their stuff is straight up rock and roll, but not this. This is progressive as progressive should be. The musicians themselves really shine too. Barrie Barlow has always been my favorite Tull drummer, I don't care how much he might hate Ian and the boys nowadays. John Evans of course demonstrates why he is Tull's best piano player. And naturally nothing need be said concerning Ian and Martin, they're as good as it gets. Really this could be the best Tull line-up if only we had Peggy on the bass.

Bottom line: a true feast for the ears.