Thick As A Brick 2 - Ian Anderson

Thick As A Brick 2 (Ian Anderson, 2012)

DIVERGENCE:
    Pebbles Thrown
1. From A Pebble Thrown - 3:06
2. Pebbles Instrumental - 3:30
3. Might-Have-Beens - 0:50
    Gerald the Banker
4. Upper Sixth Loan Shark - 1:13
5. Banker Bets, Banker Wins - 4:28
    Gerald Goes Homeless
6. Swing It Far - 3:28
7. Adrift And Dumbfounded - 4:25
    Gerald the Military Man
8. Old School Song - 3:07
9. Wootton Bassett Town - 3:44
    Gerald the Chorister
10. Power And Spirit - 1:59
11. Give Till It Hurts - 1:12
    Gerald: A Most Ordinary Man
12. Cosy Corner - 1:25
13. Shunt And Shuffle - 2:12

CONVERGENCE:
    A Change of Horses
14. A Change of Horses - 8:04
    22 Mulberry Walk
15. Confessional - 3:09
16. Kismet In Suburbia - 4:17
    What-Ifs, Maybes, And Might-Have-Beens
17. What-Ifs, Maybes, And Might-Have-Beens - 3:36

Forty years after Jethro Tull released what was perhaps their masterpiece in the mock-concept album-length song Thick As A Brick, bandleader Ian Anderson releases a sequel.  From his droll liner notes: "If someone had suggested that I might release a Prog concept album in the year 2012, I would have thought him seriously, dangerously even, off his trolley. But that is precisely what happened."  Channelling the vintage electro-acoustic folk/rock/classical style of the original, Anderson and his band deliver a rich and adventurous musical journey worthy of following up its classic namesake.

Not necessarily another long song like its predecessor, TAAB2 is more of a song cycle or rock cantata, if you will. There are plenty of musical pauses throughout to allow the listener breathing room, and many sections are joined with spoken word passages. Musical unity and certain repeated or altered themes make the album into a single, coherent work. Most commonly recurring is a variation (sometimes an inversion) on the chord progression from 1978's "Heavy Horses", and there are several other musical tributes to Anderson's past expertly interweaved. That is not to say this is just an oldies party:  the music throughout is fresh and new, fitting comfortably with the classic Tull sound but carving its own territory.

Indeed, Anderson's bandmates gets several opportunities to stretch out, trading solos (even the bass!) in the proggy "Pebbles Thrown", riffing away with jazz-metal abandon in the instrumental bridge to "Adrift And Dumbfounded", or navigating the knotty changes in "A Change of Horses". The band involvement gives this a Jethro Tull feel, and there are plenty of ornate arpeggios, calming melodies, rollicking power chords, and mind-tickling fancies for all.

Lyrically, this album is a straightforward presentation of the possible career paths of child prodigy Gerald Bostock from the original album. Anderson images Bostock as a greedy financier, an abused homeless man, a stoic soldier, a corrupt clergyman, and a humdrum middle-class shop owner. From their diverse paths, the Bostocks all wind up in the same pickle: alone and wondering at life in their retirement. It's a journey filled with cheekiness, chicanery, and some chilling truths, but all delivered with a jolly laugh. This one ranks right up there alongside my all-time favorite Tull albums - right-o!

Arbitrary rating: 4.5 out of 5 Bostocks in the same pickle