Ian Anderson to release sequel to TAAB, April 2012

Thanks! For a minute or two I was worried about the original getting a 5.1 release.

 

Mixed feelings caution. I can't get excited about this until I've heard the album. From the YouTube clip the vocal on TAAB2 has shades of William Shatner. That's not good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7jZMCBEsZM&feature=player_embedded

 

I hate that Ian states the following at the start of the trailer:

>>In 1972, I wrote and recorded the Jethro Tull album "Thick As A Brick"...<<

First of all, no writing nor recording took place for this album after 1971... It got released in the UK at the beginning of March '72 but was slated for as early as February!

...Then according to his own past interviews, TAAB, as we know the album, was pretty much a collective creation FROM (and not "for") the band called Jethro Tull... And as good as the material is, much of it was made up in the studio as they went along!

 

When they played Aqualung live a few years ago Ian said they had never previously played "Up To Me" or "Hymn 43" onstage, which wasn't true. Hey, he's done a lot in the decades since those albums so his memory isn't perfect.

 

This Steve Wilson fellow.... is it the same guy who is Porcupine Tree?

 

I'm not expecting this to be that great but I'm really excited to hear this just the same. This seems to have a "metal" flair in it (not sure if that's good or bad).

 

Same guy from Porcupine Tree, Bass Communion, IEM, No-Man, Blackfield, the upcoming Storm Corrosion, and his solo recordings.

Also the same guy who's done the new mixes/masters for the fantastic King Crimson reissues, Aqualung, Caravan, and probably something else I'm forgetting.

 

I'm thinking the whole thing might be a big spoof, ala the Gerald Bostock hoax.

 

My assumption is that Shulman would release or produce it. Can't imagine why he would care one way or the other unless he had some skin in the game. That's not a knock against him, but he's in the business.

 

Nope.

http://www.stcleve.com/index.html

Interesting to me that it's Ian, not JT - meaning he owns it.

Smart chap, that Ian Anderson...

 

Or, he may be working at Ian/Tull's label. (What is it now? Fuel 2000?) And yes, I assume that even if he doesn't want to get back to performing himself, he may think that if there needed to be a new Tull album, "TAAB Pt 2" would attract more interest than "Here's Some New Songs."

 

This is weird in a few ways...After insisting for years that Tull wouldn't do another album, here he is doing a Tull album without the band. And something else is missing besides Martin: I assuming he's doing another newspaper, and much of the original was written by Jeffrey.

Can't imagine how anyone expects Tull to reconvene in 18 months either...

 

It would be amazing if Ian Anderson could match the magic he created during the Aqualung/TAAB era. Is it possible to create a classic rock album in 2012?

 

Yeah, lots of folks thought Gerald was real too. I'll believe it when I see it.

 

Yes this number sounds like perfect PR... What I also find strange is how that clip features an actual BAND with Tull-out-in-the-field-type promo shots and all, where this is marketed as a solo Ian Anderson thing...

 

G'day,

Another Thick As A Brick album? Interesting.

I wonder if it will be a reworking of the style of the first one, just like Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells 2 followed the same structure as the original. You know, acoustic ditty to open and close, etc.

--Geoff

 

The bits in the clip do indicate that he is reworking familiar themes from the original. And I gotta say it sounds pretty good (and VERY Tull).

 

Why not get excited about this - or at least cautiously optimistic? After all, it's got to be better than all the recorded output of IA and Tull over the past 9 years (which, if you're keeping score at home, is nothing). I love Martin, but given the lack of anything new from him, IA, or Tull over the past decade, I'll take what I can get. At least it's something new... and quite frankly, the last couple of IA solo efforts have impressed me more than the last few Tull ones.

For someone who gave up on Tull tours over the past decade, I can say this has me interested in seeing this show. The only thing I'm worried about (and yes it's a big one) is, of course, IA's voice.

 

Agree.

I'm not terribly worried about his voice. They'll fix it in the studio if it sucks. His voice was fine on the Christmas album.

 

I questioned that too but I didn't think that much of it. I guess its just the Ian Anderson Band or Ian Anderson with His Band or some such thing they're going for.

 

Pretty curious about this; I'm happy he's releasing it at all. They are getting up there after all!

 

Up for pre-order at amazon.com.

http://www.amazon.com/Thick-Brick-J...=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1328147548&sr=1-2

 

I do hope the album art is a little different than what Amazon has up!

The samples on the video sounded fantastic. I can't wait!

 

Gosh yeah!... But knowing "Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson"'s wit and sense of humour, we might be in for some pretty good updated St Cleve's Chronicle "stories"... One of the titles up there goes "Ageing rock stars to play warm-up gig..." :O))

 

Thick As A Brick 2 Special Edition
Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson (Artist) | Format: Audio CD/DVD
Price: $24.45
Bonus DVD includes: 5.1 Surround Sound of entire album tracklisting (Mixed by Steven Wilson). The making of the album (25 min). Interview with Ian Anderson talking about the album. Interview with Steven Wilson. Lyric reading (25min). Artwork
http://www.amazon.com/Thick-As-Bric...=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1328184526&sr=1-2


Thick As A Brick 2
Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson (Artist) | Format: Audio CD
Price: $14.20
http://www.amazon.com/Thick-Brick-J...=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1328187657&sr=1-1
In 1972, Ian Anderson wrote and recorded the Jethro Tull Progressive Rock classic album Thick As A Brick . The lyrics were credited at the time to the fictitious child character, Gerald Bostock, whose parents supposedly lied about his age. The record instantly became a number one Billboard Chart album and enjoyed considerable success in many countries of the world.

So, forty years on, what would Gerald Bostock aged fifty in 2012 be doing today? What might have befallen him? The anniversary part two album will examine the possible different paths that the precocious young schoolboy, Gerald Bostock, might have taken later in life through alter-ego characters with song-section identities illustrating the hugely varied potential twists and turns of fate and opportunity. Not just for Gerald but to echo how our own lives develop, change direction and ultimately conclude through chance encounters and interventions, however tiny and insignificant they might seem at the time.




So!
Come on ye childhood heroes!
Won't you rise up from the pages of your comic-books
your super crooks
and show us all the way.
Well! Make your will and testament.
Won't you? Join your local government.
We'll have Superman for president
let Robin save the day.