Thick as a Brick 2 explained

Thick as a Brick 2
Type:Studio
Artist:Ian Anderson
Cover:Ian Anderson - Thick As A Brick 2.jpg
Released:2 April 2012
Recorded:March 2011, November 2011
Genre:Progressive rock
Length:53:45
Label:Chrysalis/EMI Records
50999 6 38726 2 0
F2-38726
Producer:Ian Anderson
Prev Title:Ian Anderson Plays the Orchestral Jethro Tull
Prev Year:2005
Next Title:Homo Erraticus
Next Year:2014

Thick as a Brick 2, abbreviated TAAB 2 and subtitled Whatever Happened to Gerald Bostock?, is the fifth studio album by Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson, released in 2012 as a sequel album to Thick as a Brick, Jethro Tull's 1972 parody concept album. It entered the Billboard chart at No. 55.

Concept overview

According to Anderson, TAAB 2 (which he pronounces) focuses on Gerald Bostock, the fictional boy genius author of the original album, forty years later. "I wonder what the eight-year-old Gerald Bostock would be doing today. Would the fabled newspaper still exist?"[1] The follow-up album presents five divergent, hypothetical life stories for Gerald Bostock, including a greedy investment banker, a homosexual homeless man, a soldier in the Afghan War, a sanctimonious evangelist preacher, and a most ordinary man who (married and childless) runs a corner store; by the end of the album, however, all five possibilities seem to converge in a similar concluding moment of gloomy or pitiful solitude.[2] In March 2012, to follow the style of the mock-newspaper cover (The St Cleve Chronicle and Linwell Advertiser) of the original Thick as a Brick album, an online newspaper was set up, simply titled StCleve.

Reception

AllMusic gave three stars to the album, calling it: "cleaner and streamlined, not as indulgent or idealistic as [Anderson's] younger work, boasting a more sensible structure, yet it still bears all of his signatures from the flute to rambling folk-rock".[3]

The album debuted at No. 55 on the Billboard chart, at No. 13 in the German Albums Chart,[4] at No. 12 in the Finnish Album Chart,[5] at No. 19 in the Austrian Album Charts,[6] at No. 30 in the Norwegian Album Charts,[7] at No. 31 in the Swiss Album Charts,[8] at number No. 74 on the Canadian Albums Chart,[9] at No. 35 on the UK charts,[10] at No. 76 in the Dutch Album Chart[11] and at No. 99 on the Spanish charts.[12]

Live performances

See main article: Thick as a Brick - Live in Iceland. Anderson performed the entire album live on tour in 2012.[13] In August 2014, Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson released CD/DVD/Blu-ray Thick as a Brick - Live in Iceland. The concert was recorded in Reykjavík, Iceland on 22 June 2012 and featured complete Thick as a Brick and Thick as a Brick 2 performances by the Ian Anderson Touring Band.[14]

Track listing

The original Thick as a Brick consists of only two long tracks comprising a single song, while the TAAB 2 lists 17 separate songs merged into 13 distinct tracks (some labelled as medleys), although also all flowing together much like a single song.

DVD

The 2-disc edition includes a DVD-9 with the following contents:

Personnel

Musicians
Production

Charts

Chart (2012)Peak
position
Billboard Top 200[15] 55
Top Rock Albums18
UK Albums Chart[16] 35
Hungarian Albums Chart[17] 2

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson On Thick as a Brick 2, the Grammys And More . American Songwriter . 2 February 2012.
  2. Web site: New CD Release by Ian Anderson Revives the Prog Genre . 11 April 2012.
  3. Web site: Stephen Thomas Erlewine. Stephen Thomas Erlewine. Thick as a Brick 2 - Ian Anderson Songs, Reviews, Credits . . 2012-04-10 . 2015-12-27.
  4. Web site: Die ganze Musik im Internet: Charts, News, Neuerscheinungen, Tickets, Genres, Genresuche, Genrelexikon, Künstler-Suche, Musik-Suche, Track-Suche, Ticket-Suche – musicline.de . musicline.de . 17 May 2012.
  5. Web site: finnishcharts.com – Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson – TAAB2 – Thick As A Brick 2 . finnishcharts.com . 17 May 2012.
  6. Web site: Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson – TAAB2 – Thick As A Brick 2 – austriancharts.at . austriancharts.at. 17 May 2012.
  7. Web site: norwegiancharts.com – Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson – TAAB2 – Thick As A Brick 2 . norwegiancharts.com . 17 May 2012.
  8. Web site: Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson – TAAB2 – Thick As A Brick 2 – hitparade.ch . hitparade.ch . 17 May 2012.
  9. Web site: CANOE - JAM! Music - SoundScan Charts . https://archive.today/20041226005640/http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Charts/ALBUMS.html . usurped . 26 December 2004 . Jam.canoe.ca . 2015-04-21 . 2015-12-27.
  10. Web site: The Official Charts Company – Thick As A Brick 2 by Ian Anderson Search . 6 May 2013. The Official Charts Company.
  11. Web site: dutchcharts.nl – Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson – TAAB2 – Thick As A Brick 2 . dutchcharts.nl . 17 May 2012.
  12. Web site: spanishcharts.com – Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson – TAAB2 – Thick As A Brick 2 . spanishcharts.com . 17 May 2012.
  13. Web site: "Thick as a Brick" Played in Special 2012 Tour . 18 September 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130628000646/http://www.jethrotull.com/news/taabtour2012.html . 28 June 2013 .
  14. Web site: Jethro Tull . Burningshed.com . 2015-12-27.
  15. Web site: Thick as a Brick 2 - Ian Anderson Awards . . 2012-04-10 . 2015-12-27.
  16. Book: MAHASZ – Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége . 2013 . mahasz.hu . 9781291292961 . 29 August 2012.
  17. Web site: UK Chart Yearbook 2012. Mahasz.hu. 2015-12-27.