THICK AS A BRICK 2 (AKA: TAAB2)

I totally agree with Muzikman's fair and unbiased review of Thick As A Brick 2. This album will take a number of listenings to get aquanted with it, as most of my favorite albums have done. there's some good stuff on this recording and previous familar melodies and phrases make their appearances tthroughout the work. I am very curious as to why Martin Barre is absent. This is too close to being a Tull project and it's hard to imagine his non-involvement. Did he not want anything to do with "living in the past" or rather "reliving the past" or just think it was a bad ides? The other answer is that he wasn't asked to partisipate (Doane Perry is also absent, but current Tull members Dave Goodier and John O'Hara are.) Very strange. The way in which this album is credited , at least here in the United States, as "Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson" is also a mystery. Why isn't just listed as Ian Anderson, or the Ian Anderson Band? Did Chrysalis insist on the Tull reference from a marketing POV? Although most of us think of Tull as Anderson + Barre, there is no reason for it not to be a Tull album outright. Anderson owns the name and band members do not share equally in royalties. For filing purposes this causes a bit of a dilemma, especially in music stores or departments, but I've decide to disregard the Tull reference and place it within my music collection under Anderson's solo work. I guess I'll visit Barre's offical website and see if he has any comments.