Pick of the Week: Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson
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TAAB2: Thick As A Brick 2 (Special Edition)
My first reaction to "Thick As A Brick 2," otherwise known as "TAAB2," was where is Martin Barre? He has been playing with Ian Anderson and Jethro Tull forever! Well, Barre is busy recording a two-disc solo album. I do not think he has ever missed a Jethro Tull studio album he was involved in because of solo work. There may be more to this than meets the eye and there probably is. Irregardless, Anderson soldiers on to bring Gerald Bostock, the main character in the story up to date, now 40 years later at 50 years old and what his story would sound like now.
Intrigued yet? If you are a lifetime fan of the band such as I, well of course you are, if not you probably could care less, then again if you are progressive rock fan certainly your outright curiosity will get the best of you and then you must listen!
The 40th anniversary of the original album is celebrated with "Thick As A Brick 2" and a lineup that includes Anderson at the helm providing all the writing, vocals, flute and his mini acoustic guitar; John O'Hara (Hammond Organ, piano, keyboards); David Goodier (bass guitar, glockenspiel); Florian Opahle (electric guitar); and Scott Hammond (drums, percussion). Some of you may recognize guitarist Ophale from Anderson's solo work or his orchestral projects back in 2003. He is no newcomer to the world of recorded music and performing. Considering he received master class instruction from the legendary jazz-rock-fusion guitarist Al Di Meola, it comes as no surprise to me that he was a more-than-adequate replacement for Barre. Barre is a great player and it is disappointing to see him absent from this album, however, you have to give credit to all the musicians involved as they did a superlative job with Anderson's new incarnation of the album.
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Anderson is a bit eccentric and his words that make up his music and song are direct reflection of his personality and experiences. He does have a vivid imagination and is a gifted songwriter and musician. So how does this second version stand up to its forerunner? Firstly, the vocals are a few notches down as they have been over the last several years but that is just fine. Anderson has adapted to his lost range and brings a new-found resonance and a poetic sense to his delivery. He has a defined talk-sing type of voice now that actually suits the music quite well. The energy is entirely different on this album, there are flashes of brilliant musicianship and Anderson and the boys cut loose here and there but the overall atmosphere is one of reflection with an added pensiveness as Bostock makes his way through all the pitfalls of society today. It becomes obvious that this is a man living out of time and would have been better suited in old England sipping tea in the garden.
I gave TAAB2 several spins along with a listen to the 5.1 Surround Sound (mixed by Steven Wilson) and it all sounded crisp and clear. Anderson's voice is punctuated by well-placed instrumentation as you would expect and the story rolls along in stride with every note. This will be the kind of album that grows on you with each listen and I think many folks will agree this is some of his best work in the last decade. Jethro Tull's last studio album was the 2003 "The Jethro Tull Christmas Album," which was excellent I might add. And actually the last normal JT studio release was "J-Tull Dot-Com" in 1999, the only release in their entire catalog that I did not care for.
TAAB2 offers up tasty treats such as "Upper Sixth Loan Shark" and "What-ifs, Maybes And Might-have-beens" and "Banker Bets Banker Wins," which has an extremely catching guitar riff running through it. It all sounds familiar, in a comforting way if you are a fan, and most importantly sounding like something Ian would write. He spins a yarn like no other in music today and is the true minstrel in the gallery once again.
TAAB2 will not go down as a classic like its predecessor or albums like "Aqualung" or "Passion Play" but it can be appreciated as a solid release for Jethro Tull 2012 with an entirely different lineup. Even without Martin Barre playing guitar it still sounds like a Tull album because, let's face it, Ian Anderson is the man that makes it all tick. This entire album most definitely is a "Change of Horses" and it works out all very well making this a welcome addition to the Jethro Tull catalog.
Keith 'Muzikman' Hannaleck is founder of www.muzikreviews.com; comments or questions on this or any other review, info@muzikreviews.com.
