THICK AS A BRICK

Probably my second favourite album of all time, absolutely timeless classic, tull's best album, a masterpiece of progressive music. Ian anderson has created a piece of music that has all the bases covered, it can appeal to a wide range of people, it contains fantastic musicianship, it contains interesting and clever lyrics, it's funny, incorporates a good range of musical styles and concepts and is just fun - not only that but the packaging is first rate and contributes to the album significantly.

For those who don't know the album is about a boy's poem for a writing contest and how he is disqualified as can be read on the newspaper article on the front cover of the album. The song starts off innocent enough staying close to tull's folk roots with some beautiful flute then at roughly the 3 minute mark we're treated to a wonderfully energetic and dynamic jam where everyone shines, anderson's lyrics come to the fore, john evans and martin barre offer equally brilliant melodies - indeed a trend on the whole album while barrie barlow holds everything together brilliantly on skins along with jeffery hammond on bass. Make no mistake the musicianship on this record is top notch. And so the song presses on going from lyrics sections to jams without ever being boring.

My highlights on the album would have to be the end sections of both halves with andersons trademark witty lyrics and also about the 7 minute mark on the second part where it delves into a darker area with some fantastic acoustic guitar work and trilled flute.

Overall a fantastic album where pretty much everything is done right, this is recommended to any prog fan, it is one of the shining moments of progressive music and is always a great listen it's so rich and full that it will take a long long time to get stale if it ever does.