Jethro Tull's 'Thick as a Brick' and the Deconstruction of the 'Concept Album' Myth
Jethro Tull's 'Thick as a Brick' and the Deconstruction of the 'Concept Album' Myth
Album Title: Thick as a Brick
Artist: Jethro Tull
Tracks: 1. Thick as a Brick, Pt. 1 / 2. Thick as a Brick, Pt. 2
Release Year: 1972
Key Members: Ian Anderson (vocals, flute, acoustic guitar, violin, saxophone, trumpet) / Martin Barre (electric guitar, lute) / John Evan (keyboards, piano, harpsichord) / Jeffrey Hammond (bass) / Barriemore Barlow (drums, timpani, percussion)
Top News of the Newspaper
The St. Cleve Chronicle & Linwell Advertiser (Date of issue: Friday, January 7th 1972 No. 1003 Price 3p Weekly)
This album begins here.
'THICK AS A BRICK'
Last-Minute Uproar: Judges Disqualify 'Little Milton'
The Society for the Promotion and Cultivation of Literature (SLAG) announced late last night the decision to disqualify 8-year-old winner Gerald (Little Milton) Bostock. This follows hundreds of protests and threats received from across the country after the reading of his epic poem 'Thick as a Brick' on BBC television last Monday.
----------------- Summary of the article below -----------------
An unprecedented disqualification scandal surrounding 8-year-old genius Gerald Bostock (known as Little Milton) is shaking all of England.
The incident began when Gerald won first place in a contest sponsored by the Society for the Promotion and Cultivation of Literature (SLAG) and read his winning epic poem, 'Thick as a Brick,' on BBC television. Immediately after the broadcast, protests flooded in from across the country regarding its radical and obscure content. Taking the situation seriously, the panel of judges sought a diagnosis from a child psychiatrist, who concluded that 'the boy's mental state is extremely unhealthy and includes blasphemy against God and country,' leading to the decision to strip him of the award he had just received.
Replacing him as the first-place winner was a 12-year-old girl who wrote about Christian ethics, but the Bostock family is bewildered by this decision. His father, David, has appealed regarding the family's financial hardship, as they were relying on the prize money and scholarship, while Gerald himself has locked himself in his room, shocked by the event.
Principal Martin of Moordale Primary School, which Gerald attends, praised him as 'a possessor of poetic talent unlike any in the school's history,' while pointing out that his mature behavior was difficult for those around him to understand.
Furthermore, the scandal was fueled by a bizarre accusation from 14-year-old Julia Feely, who claimed that 'Gerald got me pregnant.' This scandal, targeting an 8-year-old boy, has developed into a problem of school management responsibility, and the situation has reached a state of confusion. The local newspaper, 'The St. Cleve Chronicle,' has decided to publish the text in question in its pages to present the words of this boy, who has been rejected by society, to the world.
Lies on the Obi, Truth in the Liner Notes
In 2001, Toshiba EMI released a paper-sleeve reissue of Jethro Tull's fourth album, 'Thick as a Brick.' The obi strip read: 'A grand total concept album that pushes the style of the previous work even further, based on the poem by 8-year-old Gerald.'
The term 'concept album' was not used in 1972, but it was used in the 1995 edition. And this type of wording has been passed down with each subsequent edition, becoming an 'established theory' rooted in the Japanese music media.
I do not know when the phrase 'based on the poem by 8-year-old Gerald' was added, but this obi was even carried over to the 2015 edition.
However, when you open the liner notes of the 2001 paper-sleeve CD, the commentator, Hideyo Ito, wrote exactly as the primary information stated: mentioning the fictional setup while noting that 'everyone had long believed it without doubt.' The CD also included a 16-minute and 28-second interview with Ian Anderson, Martin Barre, and Jeffrey Hammond as a bonus track, with accurate translations provided by translators Elifer Kodama and Akiko Boucher of Unical International.
In this interview, Anderson states clearly: '"Aqualung" was widely regarded as a concept album. So I thought I'd have a bit of fun with everybody. Let's say this was written by a twelve-year-old boy. I'll give them the ultimate concept album, and sort of take the piss out of that genre a little bit.'
There is a contradiction within the same product: the outer obi is a lie, and the inner commentary is the truth. The obi text is under the jurisdiction of the record company's sales and marketing department, and it seems the author had no decision-making power over the obi after submitting the manuscript. Furthermore, even a quarter of a century after 2001, the Amazon product description still contains the following text: 'Gerald's Innocent World--Product Description--Media Reviews, etc.--The 5th album released in 1972. A grand total concept album that pushes the style of the previous work, "Aqualung," even further, based on the poem by 8-year-old Gerald. A masterpiece whose composition of grand suites and outstanding performance skills tells of the fulfillment of the time. Reached #5 in the UK and #1 for two consecutive weeks in the US.'
Ian Anderson on Concept Albums
1971's 'Aqualung' was a collection of songs themed around religious hypocrisy and social alienation, but critics persistently called it a 'concept album,' which Anderson consistently denied. 'It was not a concept album — it was a collection of songs.' If critics wanted a concept album, he would make the ultimate concept album and laugh at the genre itself—that paradoxical motivation gave birth to this most meticulous album.
The Newspaper as a Holistic Device
In understanding this work, the packaging is as important as, if not more important than, the music. The 12-page fictional local newspaper titled 'The St. Cleve Chronicle & Linwell Advertiser' was created by Anderson, Jeffrey Hammond, and John Evan, taking longer to produce than the music itself.
Anderson says: 'I bought lots of local newspapers and studied them. I got inspiration from stories that were so dull they had to be written because there was nothing else to write about. That was part of the fun, and it's certainly what made this a concept album.'
After thoroughly studying local newspapers, this paper, created to be 'intentionally rough,' is packed with league tables for a non-existent sport called 'Fennel,' fictional reader submission columns, lukewarm advertisements typical of local papers, crossword puzzles, and connect-the-dots for children. Page 7 contains the full lyrics of the poem as the literary page of the local paper.
Among them, one cannot overlook the album review published on page 7. This column, titled 'MUSIC REVIEW / NEW TULL L.P.,' is written under the pseudonym Julian Stone-Mason—an anonymous critique of his own work by Anderson himself. While generally affirming the album, the content is harsh, stating that 'the time signatures and improvised lyrics are enough to drive one mad,' and concludes that 'it is a record that can be appreciated if listened to with maturity, but it cannot be fully evaluated from the perspective of the pop world as a whole.' The author criticizing his own work anonymously—this dual structure most directly demonstrates the meta-nature of this work.
There is also a trick in the 'DO NOT SEE ME RABBIT' section on page 9. This article, written as a wartime memoir by a fictional character named Squadron Leader Alan Digby-Smythe, is based on the British superstition that 'rabbits' were an ominous taboo among RAF pilots during World War II. However, there is more to it than that. In a 2001 interview, the members spoke about how the stage production changed significantly starting with the tour for this album. They abandoned their previous style of T-shirts and jeans, transitioning to a theatrical stage show using costumes—and John Evan stood on stage wearing a rabbit suit. 'DO NOT SEE ME RABBIT' was a multi-layered headline where the RAF superstition and an inside joke within the band about 'not seeing the rabbit (John)' overlapped.
The 43-minute structure
This work is a single, continuous 43-minute piece of music spanning both sides of an LP. While flute, acoustic guitar, and electric guitar serve as the central axis, instruments ranging from harpsichord, glockenspiel, and timpani to violin, lute, trumpet, saxophone, and a string section are also employed.
The style was to rent a studio for two weeks, keep it ready for recording every day, and record while composing the songs. Anderson has stated that the actual recording period was only eight to ten days.
The lyrics were written by Anderson. The content of the poem depicts themes of resistance to authority, the hypocrisy of social norms, and the friction between the individual and institutions from the perspective of a young boy. The device of Gerald, who wins a poetry contest only to be disqualified for 'mental instability,' is a satire on a society that excludes those who challenge the established order. The fact that the abbreviation for the literary contest's organizer, THE SOCIETY FOR LITERARY ADVANCEMENT AND GESTATION, is 'SLAG' (a derogatory slang term in English) is also an expression of this critical awareness.
Between intention and result
The fact that this album reached number one on the Billboard 200 for two consecutive weeks means that a work conceived as a parody was accepted in the market as completely 'genuine.' It was recorded as the most successful example of the concept album genre that Anderson had intended to 'make a mockery of.'
'It was a spoof, a parody, a complete fiction,' says Anderson, but Jethro Tull continued to develop their theatrical stage expression throughout their subsequent career.
[Column] The intention behind Anderson's three terms
spoof—The act of mocking a genre by perfectly imitating its form while still holding affection for the subject. Aimed at the concept album genre itself.
parody—Making a mockery of a specific style or work through exaggeration and distortion. Aimed at the critics who called 'Aqualung' a concept album.
complete fiction—A declaration of the fact that the newspaper, the boy Gerald, the organization hosting the SLAG award, and the content of the articles are all fabrications.
When the 2001 interview was officially translated into Japanese, it was a full 29 years after the album's release. Now, a quarter of a century later, the boilerplate text in the product description remains unchanged.
This work is, in fact, a concept album—what proves this most succinctly is the fact that the author has continued to say it is 'not,' and the reality that this denial has gone unheeded for over half a century.
[Column] The Japanese title 'Gerald's Innocent World'
The original title 'Thick as a Brick' is an English idiom meaning 'as stupid as a brick.' Like the nickname 'Little Milton' that Anderson gave to Gerald, it is imbued with irony toward established authority and social norms.
However,the Japanese title 'Gerald's Innocent World'has a lyrical ring to it, like a collection of poems by a fictional boy. The irony and humor of the original title have vanished without a trace, creating the impression that the work depicts the worldview of a pure and innocent boy.
This Japanese title has been used consistently since the first Japanese pressing in 1972. The person who named it believed that the boy named Gerald actually existed and that his poems were real—this is the oldest evidence that Anderson's trick was completely believed from the very beginning.
And to this day, this Japanese title continues to be used by the manufacturer. It was the manufacturer itself that officially included the interview in the 2001 paper-sleeve reissue. Knowing that everything was fictional, they did not change the Japanese title. They did not change the obi strip text either. The 'ignorance' of the person who named it in 1972 has eventually turned into 'leaving it as is while knowing the truth'—this Japanese title quietly tells the story of that fact.
Manager's commentary
I would like to think about this objectively for a moment.
A concept album is essentially a work format in which multiple songs function as parts to realize a unified theme or story. Pink Floyd's 'The Wall' and Genesis' 'The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway' are typical examples.
By the way, the English Wikipedia page, while noting that opinions among critics are divided, begins by stating: 'A concept album is a musical album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical.' Moreover, the name Jethro Tull does not appear on this page at all.
Judging by that definition, generally speaking, this work is not even a concept album. There is only one song. One could argue that there is a single 43-minute track, and the 12-page fictional newspaper is merely decoration for it.
Anderson declared, 'This is a concept album,' but from the manager's perspective, it does not even fit the definition of a concept album in the first place.
In the end, this work is just a ridiculously long, boring song.
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