Jethro Tull Reissues ‘Thick As a Brick’ For 50th Anniversary
by Best Classic Bands Staff
Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson with a copy of the 50th anniversary vinyl edition of Thick as a Brick
50 years after Jethro Tull released Thick As A Brick, the album is still revered as one of rock’s and progressive rock’s most pioneering titles. It featured a rock first: one continuous song on both sides. Thick As A Brick came about following the release of Tull’s immensely successful previous album, Aqualung. Upon its release, the latter was regarded as a concept album in the music press, and in response the band set about to respond to rock critics with the ultimate concept album, culminating in Thick As A Brick. The title was originally released on March 3, 1972.
To celebrate its 50th anniversary, Thick As A Brick has been reproduced in its original format, inside a 12-page newspaper. The vinyl edition, released on July 29, 2022, is a half-speed master of Steven Wilson’s 2012 remix. In addition, the rare and coveted 40th anniversary CD/DVD special collector’s edition, out of print for nearly ten years, has also been made available. The reissue arrived on Jan. 20, 2023.
Jethro Tull in a 1972 promotional photo.
From the June 21, 2022, announcement: Unlike any other record on the market, the album is set inside a broadsheet newspaper, The St. Cleve Chronicle & Linwell Advertiser. The fictional newspaper includes many news articles packed full of continuing jokes, a crossword, connect-the-dots and much more. It was originally written by Ian Anderson, Jeffrey Hammond and John Evan, with the newspaper taking longer to put together compared to the music. As reported in the paper, the lyrics were credited at the time to the fictitious child character, Gerald Bostock, whose parents supposedly lied about his age. Amongst the many articles is a frank review of the album itself. Thick As A Brick was the first Tull album to feature drummer Barrie Barlow, who featured alongside Ian Anderson, Martin Barre, John Evan and Jeffrey Hammond.
The album has been half-speed mastered from the original tapes for the very first time, providing the ultimate audio experience of the progressive rock classic.
Let Anderson tell you about it.
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Thick As a Brick CD/DVD Contents
New stereo and 5.1 mixes by Steven Wilson
Original 1972 recording at Morgan Studios by Robin Black
The book contains:
The original newspaper was rebuilt for the 12 x 12 format on 16 pages of newspaper-style paper (but more durable).
The 2012 newspaper printed on gloss paper
An article by Classic Rock’s Dom Lawson about Thick As a Brick
An Ian Anderson interview conducted by The Reverend George Pitcher
Many rare 1972/1973 photos from photographers Didi Zill and Robert Ellis covering ‘street’ and live situations and 2012 tour photos by Martin Webb
Memories of the recording from engineer Robin Black
Recording and touring memories from Martin Barre, Ian Anderson and Jeffrey Hammond
A Q&A with tour manager Eric Brooks with tour memorabilia and the full 1972 itinerary
Related: Our Album Rewind of Thick As a Brick
On Jan. 20, Tull announced their 23rd studio album, RökFlöte, which is set for release on the April 21, 2023 via InsideOutMusic.
4 Comments so far
Jump into a conversationCongratulations! TAAB is a real classic, quite young at its 50 and on this year we celebrate also the 40 years of The Broadsword and the Beast, another great album.
Who’s “We” Ian? As there is no more actual “Jethro Tull,” there’s only you, with whoever you deem worthy to play with you, meanwhile leaving loyal musicians, like Martin Barre, who helped to create your fame and legacy, by the wayside.
I have been waiting for this announcement. So excited to complete my anniversary editions
This shouldn’t be so confusing Rhino.
I found someone selling TAAB – the 2012 40th Anniversary CD/DVD, with 104 page book and reprint of the newspaper edition.
It appears Rhino is simply re-producing this 2012 issue in the same, exact product in everyway.
Am I correct? If so, I won’t need to wait until the “new 50th” release of January 20, 2023, although heard there was some mastering issues with the 2012?!
Thank you.
PS. I did Rhino’s contact form to ask just this. But they seem too busy to respond!