Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Anderson, Ian
Label: EMI Records
Release: 2012
Running time: 53:38
Rating: 4/5
Contrary to popular belief, the Scottish flutist, singer, troubadour, farmer, cat breeder and social satirist Ian Scott Anderson, a man who’s been around the block a few times and then some, is not the alpha and omega of the legendary prog rock champions Jethro Tull. He knows that perfectly well himself, even though deciding to record a sequel to the most beloved Tull album, the conceptual masterpiece »Thick As a Brick« (1972), was by far the most controversial move of his glorious career, one that has seriously stirred up, and in places outright angered, most of the longtime fans.
The reasons why are simple enough, and you can tell from the title of his new solo album alone. Almost eight years have passed since Ian’s last solo album, and Jethro Tull have been a completely dead band in the studio for more than a decade now. He then parted ways with longtime guitarist Martin Barre, who didn’t want to take part in his latest, almost science-fiction-like project: creating a sequel to the ultimate Tull concept masterpiece, which turns exactly forty years old this year. Plenty of longtime fans were appalled, of course, since after more than four decades of successful collaboration, the two creative paths have split for an indefinite period.
From that moment on, Ian, who isn’t so narcissistic that he’d forget Jethro Tull without Barre in the lineup have no right to the name Jethro Tull, decided to release »Thick As a Brick 2« on his own. He invited drummer Scott Hammond to join the project, Barre was replaced by German Florian Opahle, and the other two traditional spots were filled by Ian’s by now longtime Tull partners in crime, bassist David Goodier and keyboardist John O’Hara.
Before the release, quite a few fans wondered what Ian would do about his increasingly wheezy vocals, which lost their former freshness and depth long ago, though not his exceptional sense of drama. The crafty troubadour makes up for his thoroughly worn-out voice, which he smoothed over at least a little with production tricks while Ryan O’Donnell helps out with backing vocals, all the more successfully with fantastic flute playing that can still serve as a model for every aspiring rock flutist of the new generation. Despite all these strengths, though, the second chapter of »Thick As a Brick« is missing something important – Mr. Barre’s guitar contributions. His long shadow hangs over Opahle’s playing the whole time, which is technically impressive but often a bit empty in terms of atmosphere.
»Thick As a Brick 2«, with the telling subtitle »Whatever Happened to Gerald Bostock«, is a continuation of the original »Thick As a Brick« concept from 1972. The story is set exactly forty years after the puritanical jury made the controversial decision to strip the eight-year-old child genius Gerald Bostock of the top prize and disqualify him from the competition because of the lyrics’ obscenity and social unsuitability. The new concept deals with his fate over the forty years since. Gerald is now an apathetic, sullen man in his fifties, a member of the conservative party and a regular taxpayer to the neoliberal ‘mother’ England. The biting concept is eloquent proof that Ian’s black humor hasn’t let him down over the years, even though the new concept can’t compare to the freshness of the original from four decades ago.
The album cover is likewise a modernist allusion to the original concept. The printed front page of a newspaper has turned, after four decades, into the front page of a newspaper website, where alongside the main story about Ian’s band playing a show there are several less important stories. Ian also allowed himself a bit of self-irony, appearing on the cover in an ad for a gig by an aging rock star who is warming up with his band for the start of a world tour. As is his tradition, the lyrics are full of sharp, socially barbed humor that pokes at the most sensitive spots of modern neoliberal society.
The concept is occasionally tied together with shorter narrations from Ian in between, which is an interesting spice on the one hand, but on the other can get a bit annoying after several listens in a row. With the exception of »A Change of Horses«, all the tracks on the album are shorter than five minutes, which means Ian didn’t dare return to twenty-minute prog rock epics. Certain musical motifs from the original »Thick as a Brick« return, as expected, but Ian doesn’t overdo it with them. The return of the classic motif is marked by the opening »From a Pebble Thrown«, with which Ian and the gang want to pick up where the previous concept left off. Fans of instrumental prog folk will get their fill on »Pebbles Instrumental«, which sounds like a hybrid of classic Jethro Tull and what Ian has been making for the last fifteen years. The addition of an accordion fits nicely among the guitar passages. Opahle tries hard to imitate Barre’s guitar parts and is a good imitator in technical terms, but he lacks the passion and seasoned toughness of the aforementioned guitar legend.
The narrative »Migh-Have-Beens« wonders about Gerald’s fate before he chose a career (whether he’ll become a corrupt banker, a soldier in Afghanistan, a politician, a homeless gay man, an evangelical preacher, a salesman or a boring family man). On the cynically biting, acoustic-tinged »Upper Sixth Loan Shark«, Gerald is cast as a corrupt investment banker. »Banker Bets, Banker Wins«, marked by a melodramatic chorus, is another successful hybrid of the ‘old’ and ‘new’ Tulls, with plenty of fiery, nostalgic passages on flute and electric guitar, and once again presents Mr. Bostock as a representative of the neoliberal banking elite. »Swing It Far«, where Gerald is portrayed as a homeless gay man selling himself on the streets to rich politicians, businessmen and clergymen, even tugs a little toward the »Benefit/Aqualung« era of the early seventies, thanks to the gloomy mood of its symphonic arrangements. Ian’s vocal on the chorus is deliberately distorted through an effect.
»Adrift And Dumbfounded«, where soldier Gerald finds himself in the middle of Afghanistan, is marked by a juicy Hammond organ line and acoustic passages in between, while Ian’s vocal is once again full of glowing sarcasm. There are again certain instrumental finesses that Tull haven’t tackled in decades, and the crafty interplay between flute, organ and piano is an especially nice touch. »Old School Song«, as its name already suggests, opens with the classic, recognizable »Thick As a Brick motif, marked by a galloping rhythm and crafty flute antics. The prog folk treat »Wooton Bassett Town« brings back the cold, gloomy atmosphere of the good old »Aqualung« days, which deserves a round of applause. Wooton Bassett is a small English town Ian picked as a metaphor for the small-town provincialism the grown-up Gerald has been caught in. The town became especially notorious after becoming the first English town to receive the so-called royal patronage from the Queen, which Ian additionally used for conceptual satire.
On the energetic »Power and the Spirit« and the pastoral »Give Till It Hurts«, he mocks parish narrow-mindedness, led by TV preachers, for the first time in a long while. »Cosy Corner« catches Gerald by surprise in the role of a provincial salesman in the middle of an ultra-conservative, sanctimonious society. »Shunt And Shuffle«, yet another short track that breathes classic Tull, wakes up some hard rock elements that quite a few people will miss at least a little on this album, since they’re far from plentiful. At eight minutes, the ambitious »A Change of Horses« is the longest and most complex achievement on the album and, under different circumstances, would have deserved the title of Tull classic. Despite the title, it’s (thankfully) not a would-be famous sequel to the classic »Heavy Horses«, even though the folk elements, thanks to passionate flute and rowdy accordion, are at their strongest right here.
The penitential, biting »Confessional« is marked by a mighty layer of Hammond organ, crafty flute and an energetic guitar riff. On »Kismet In Suburbia«, marked by a gentle acoustic melody, Ian cynically wonders about the fate of various (mostly Muslim) immigrants in the suburbs, who in an increasingly fascistoid European Union are becoming the go-to culprits for all of society’s woes. On the closing »What-Ifs, Maybes and Might-Have-Beens«, where all of Gerald’s potential life fates merge into one, the central acoustic motif of »Thick As a Brick 2« is repeated, while the ending is in the classic, nostalgic style of the 1972 original.
The sequel to »Thick As a Brick« will keep Tull diehards arguing for a long time to come. Between the 40th anniversary of this masterpiece and a decade of studio laziness, it was clearly Ian’s main (and totally unnecessary) goal to grab as much attention as possible. On the one hand, we’re dealing with a musically high-quality and atmospherically surprisingly convincing piece of work that, under different circumstances, could even be called the best Jethro Tull album since the end of the seventies, and it successfully proves that Ian isn’t over the hill yet, as it’s his best solo effort so far. On the other hand, the sequel to the original concept, ‘thick as a brick,’ is a slap in the face to longtime fans and prog rock lovers, since the 1972 masterpiece, partly because of Barre’s absence, remains in a class of its own, which means it would have been much better if this had come out under some other name. Meanwhile, those of us prog rock fans who’ve seen it all are already waiting with bated breath for »Close to the Edge 2« from whatever is left of Yes, »The Wall 2« from David Gilmour or Roger Waters, »The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway 2« from Peter Gabriel and »Tarkus 2« from Keith Emerson, since Ian is far from the only aging prog rocker lately making controversial decisions and putting numerous longtime followers in an awkward spot, like it’s a bet.
Lineup
Ian Anderson – vocals, flute, acoustic guitar
John O’Hara – keyboards
David Goodier – bass guitar
Florian Opahle – guitar
Scott Hammond – drums
Production
Ian Anderson
Tracklist
1. From A Pebble Thrown (3:04)
2. Pebbles Instrumental (3:30)
3. Might-have-beens (0:50)
4. Upper Sixth Loan Shark (1:13)
5. Banker Bets, Banker Wins (4:27)
6. Swing It Far (3:28)
7. Adrift And Dumfounded (4:25)
8. Old School Song (3:06)
9. Wootton Bassett Town (3:43)
10. Power And Spirit (1:59)
11. Give Till It Hurts (1:12)
12. Cosy Corner (1:24)
13. Shunt And Shuffle (2:12)
14. A Change Of Horses (8:04)
15. Confessional (3:08)
16. Kismet In Suburbia (4:17)
17. What-ifs, Maybes And Might-have-beens (3:36)
