I can't believe this album! I was given a copy by my cousin and I haven't stopped playing it since last Friday night. But not at school and when I'm doing my homework.
I can't believe this album! I was given a copy by my cousin and I haven't stopped playing it since last Friday night. But not at school and when I'm doing my homework.
TAAB is highly regarded on the forum,and rightly so!
One of Tull's very best,and a prog rock classic album.
ENJOY!
The highlight in Ian Anderson's career, imo. He's done a ton of good songs over the years but TAAB is a whole different level of creativity.
^^^Originally Posted by rcarlberg
+1
Well make sure you go out and get the remixed albums now. They have double the tracks the original cd albums have. Get A passion play, war child, aqualung, benefit, stand up deluxe, too old to rock n roll. All great but make sure they are in a book like cover otherwise you will miss out on many gems. I'd hold off on stormwatch, heavy horses and songs from the wood until the remixes come out next year. They are greats too
One of the best albums ever!
Well, except, precisely, the album this thread is about, which has no bonus material. (Still worth it for the booklet, and the 5.1 mix of course if you own the equipment).
Calyx (Canterbury Scene) - http://www.calyx-canterbury.fr
Legends In Their Own Lunchtime (blog) - https://canterburyscene.wordpress.com/
My latest books : "Yes" (2017) - https://lemotetlereste.com/musiques/yes/ + "L'Ecole de Canterbury" (2016) - http://lemotetlereste.com/musiques/lecoledecanterbury/ + "King Crimson" (2012/updated 2018) - http://lemotetlereste.com/musiques/kingcrimson/
Canterbury & prog interviews - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdf...IUPxUMA/videos
Wouldn't it be great if there were still bands of the caliber of Tull left for us long-time prog junkies to discover? The closest thing for me was when I discovered all the krautrock bands in the 90s. Another whole musical universe that I had little idea existed beforehand. And then Magma and Zeuhl at the beginning of the new millennium.
New, young bands are the only answer I think. High risk but also possible high rewards!
I love how long it took to record TAAB... wasnt it some ridiculously short time frame? I guess there was an interview - I havent heard it in years - about Ian laughing at Yes taking months to record and they did that one in a week or less?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thic...rick#Recording
Speaking of TAAB...
Musica Ficta sounds like they enjoyed a bit of Tull. Udi? You mastered this one. Those guys Tull fans?
https://altrockproductions.bandcamp....a-child-a-well
And if you like that, then move to Passion Play - darker, but also a tremendous piece of longform epic prog goodness! Also get the Wilson remix as the second disc, with the bonus music from the original sessions that were turfed, is as good (if not better), than the actual album. IMO of course.
Absolutely! You should do as this gentleman says.
I was going to mention the A Passion Play remix as well. The Chateau D'Isaster sessions now remixed and together in their entirety are a great addition to that album. To show you how different the music industry was in the early 70s (and I suppose the record buying public as well), Thick as a Brick (1972) and A Passion Play (1973) both went to #1 in the U.S. when they were released. Can't imagine something like that ever happening again.
"And your little sister's immaculate virginity wings away on the bony shoulders of a young horse named George who stole surreptitiously into her geography revision."
Occasional musical musings on https://darkelffile.blogspot.com/
Still my all-time favorite Tull album. Great stuff indeed.I can't believe this album! I was given a copy by my cousin and I haven't stopped playing it since last Friday night. But not at school and when I'm doing my homework.
TAAB is definitely a very important release - by JT or anybody. Parts of it are brilliant, but I have to say I find other parts a little bit tiresome, especially the synth-heavy bits towards the end of the first half.
I understand that recording the whole thing as "one song" was intended as a kind of joke in response to Aqualung being labelled as "prog". Still, I think the standard 3- or 4-minute song format worked better for this band.
I haven't heard every Tull album, but of those I am familiar with, my favourite is Songs From the Wood, which also seems to be a fan favourite.
P.S. I'll say this for TAAB: there are not that many prog albums, or indeed many albums at all, in which jockstraps get a mention.
Last edited by bob_32_116; 12-01-2015 at 11:35 PM.
That was pretty much my reaction when I first heard it 20 years ago. Absolutely my favorite Tull album, and the only album I can listen to all 45 minutes of without ever wanting to stop it.I can't believe this album! I was given a copy by my cousin and I haven't stopped playing it since last Friday night. But not at school and when I'm doing my homework.
"Arf." -- Frank Zappa, "Beauty Knows No Pain" (live version)
IMO, Wolf People fit that bill perfectly. Fain had that kind of grip on me for the year it was released. I still haven't stopped singing their praises. Top drawer stuff, IMO.
As far as Thick as a Brick is concerned, that is a deep well you can back to time and time again. Drink deep, it won't disappoint.
Wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the world.
+1 do it.
"Why is it when these great Prog guys get together, they always want to make a Journey album?"
- fiberman, 7/5/2015
If you think Thick As A Brick is good, you check out the albums that immediately followed it, specifically A Passion Play, War Child, Minstrel In The Gallery, Songs From The Wood, Heavy Horses, Stormwatch, A, and Broadsword And The Beast. They're all great records.
Not to nit-pick, but I think I read somewhere that the first synths on a Tull release appeared on A Passion Play
I don't know if current versions have it but my copy of TAAB has interviews with Martin Barre and Jeffrey Hammond (I think) together, and Ian Anderson on his own. Anderson mentions that he was writing it on the fly and presenting it to the band in bits and pieces. Topped off with a funny story about John Evan's rabbit costume.
This is one album where I'd suggest you find the vinyl, just to be able to read the lyrics and the whole St Cleves Chronicle, because it's not only hilarious (even the mall adds are a pure kick, as they answer each other), but it depicts England in 71 somewhat very faithfully ...I can't believe this album! I was given a copy by my cousin and I haven't stopped playing it since last Friday night. But not at school and when I'm doing my homework.
Ian Anderson called it "the mother of all concept albums" half-jokingly (and later derided it), but I really think that very few albums that were so thoroughly thought out from head to toe
my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.
Hey rapid here's a taste of 1974
https://youtu.be/fz8BZxMJhtI
Does not do a lot for me I'm afraid, always found it overbearing and clunky, much like its immediate predecessor. More of a first 3 albums plus the Living in the Past comp kind of guy. Just much better tunes.
The whole post-modern 'oh we were just doing it as a joke, oh terribly ironic and clever of us' schtick is a bit tiresome as well....seems like a cheap get-out clause to me. Why not be proud to be prog? If you say you're doing something just as a joke it devalues it somewhat I think.
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