Jethro Tull's Ridiculously Elaborate Album Cover

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[@rochat]

I found Thick as a Brick in vinyl in great shape at a thrift shop a few years ago for $.30 and the puzzles are even untouched.

[@Markus_Andrew]

Very lucky find indeed!

[@pongo4966]

Massive W

[@ONOBITCH]

Nice! I just picked up a vinyl copy in horrible condition for $3 yesterday. All the newspaper pages are there, but it kinda smells like a septic tank. Pops and crackles pretty bad at points, but no skipping, so I'm happy with it.

[@TheRakku]

It is very surprisingly how hard it is to find good digital scans of the full album art. I only got to read the whole thing after I got my own copy. Collecting vinyls has made me appreciate album art even more than I did before, and honestly the insides that most will never see are often my favorite parts.

[@guitarlad89]

The plural of vinyl is vinyl.

[@unacuentadeyoutube13]

​@@el_barto961well, not everybody is a fluent English speaker that knows every word. He/she may just be unfamiliarized with that gramatical thing, just as I am

[@In.New.York.I.Milly.Rock.]

​@@el_barto961 cry about it then

[@leonleon3773]

there is a copy of the newspaper which came with the 40th anneversary cd I have a copy, it's folded so it opens up roughly 2 cd covers wide by 3rd covers long & is the whole newspaper, hope you can find it the print must be from the original source

[@goodun2974]

The LP copy of the Who's Live at Leeds that I bought in 1972 came with a big "Maximim R&B" poster advertising them playing at the Marquee cClub and also contained all kinds of newspaper clippings and accounts of where the band played and how much they were paid for gigs,, and how much money they owed for (smashed) equipment to the local music stores.....CD's and digital downloads omit all that wonderfully odd stuff.

[@patrick5838]

I don't like being old...65...but am glad I lived through this era. I still listen to the full TAAB album at least once a month. It has stood the test of time.

[@mrledhead68]

@@XanderDDS ha!

[@RockandRollWoman]

I love it, and I also like TAAB2. It's hard to pick a favorite Tull album. It changes. And that's how good they are!

[@RockandRollWoman]

​@@XanderDDShahaha. I saw Tull live last night - couldn't possibly sit it out. Never too old to rock and roll!

[@xant8344]

I'm 25 and Tull is one of my favorite bands. This and Minstrel in the Gallery are two of the best albums I've ever listened to

[@goodun2974]

I was listening to thick as a brick on headphones in 1974 when I was 16 and a stockbroker friend of my father's who was visiting asked if he could have a listen. I handed over my phones and he listened to one whole side of the record, and commented on the depth of the lyrics.

[@StaffyLeeMusic]

In 30 years of collecting records, finding a near mint copy of this back in the 90's with the crossword NOT completed is still a highlight. This album and the artwork is the epitome of how to present an album.

[@goodun2974]

I don't recall seeing a copy of "Thick as a Brick" where someone had attempted to do the crossword puzzle, but it was common to see that somebody had drawn in Daffy the duck's " little friend" in the connect the dots puzzle.

[@perfectlycorrupt420]

I've never clicked on a video so fast lol. I've been WAITING for you to do a Tull video!❤❤

[@jamesallard7223]

In a recent conversation with a pal, he seemed quite surprised when I mentioned that the album cover was probably the last great gasp of Pop Art and due to the shrinking from LP to CD, we will likely never see its like again. It had never occurred to him that an album cover would be literal Art. That said, I love watching this series, and hope you continue to enjoy what you are doing, and may you be financially secure (as much as one can be in this era as of this post).

[@mcolville]

I never really "got" Thick As A Brick in spite of being a huge Tull fan until just last year when they reissued the Newspaper edition in its entirety and I sat down to listen to the album and read the paper. I dunno why that "unlocked" the music for me, but holy crap it's brilliant. And I *think* I detect specific movements in the work aping King Crimson, Yes, and Genesis's style. I've never seen anyone write about this though, so I may be imagining it. :D

[@jagle6085]

Your interpretation is really interesting, I'm gonna pay more attention to it next time I listen the album

[@thecandlemaker1329]

Not sure about these three bands, but the "son is born" sections have always reminded me of ELP!

[@classicrob16]

The layered quality of this satire can't be overstated. Not only did Ian make a prog concept album by creating its own universe around his album. He also satirised the prog movement by making it in universe writer a cynical upper class 9 year old constantly being lost in profound sounding metaphors. And to top it off it's musically amazingly complex yet very easy to listen to.

[@nojons_]

I’ll never forget when I first found this in a record store, only having listened to it and seen the front cover on streaming. It was an instant buy for me

[@o-mega7515]

I'm SO glad you made a video on this one. It's easily some of the most unique album artwork/packaging ever made. On a side note, is the crossword possible? Doesn't seem like it.

[@mrledhead68]

Music experience was always the vinyl cover. I miss going to store, unwrapping, needle down and combing every inch of art, liner and lyrics. You became part of the musician's story and something bigger than yourself.

[@RockandRollWoman]

It was a ritual, and it took some time to experience it fully. We also listened to a new album several times before making a judgment. And so we have deep cuts. Is that even a thing now?

[@guy5529]

Thick As A Brick actually released less than a year after Aqualung Aqualung released on March 19, 1971 Thick As A Brick released on March 3, 1972

[@nixonkutz3018]

In all these decades I've known the music, I was never aware of the ambitious album packaging. Thanks for a unique look at a unique bit of art - a timely meditation on the ongoing disappearance of both physical media and community-based news media

[@AverageAlobamaEnjoyer]

I dead ass spent the entire album just looking at the album cover, it’s that elaborate.

[@TheHAMM14]

I have this original album, some of the puzzles are filled in but still has all the pages. My dad bought it when he was younger. By far one of my favorite albums

[@torna2508]

I love the cover stories section. You should do more.

[@daffyrwt]

Holy fuck, I've heard of Thick as a Brick, but didn't know about the actual album art... that's so amazing. This is why I was so inspired by album art as a graphic design major in the mid 00's. I wanted to design album art so bad, but sadly the industry changed and album art is an afterthought nowadays. Yes vinyl album art is better cuz it's bigger, but there were some really good album art for CDs back in the day.

[@larrycooper7261]

I bought my copy of "Thick As A Brick" when the album first hit the market. 50 years later and I still have, and listen, to it. It's truly a classic!

[@oskarileikos]

What I think is incredible and also quite fitting is that it took way more time for Ian Anderson, John Evans and Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond to make the cover art than it did for the band to record the incredible piece of music...

[@luisdavid_1990]

I saw Jethro Tull Thick as a Brick anniversary tour back in 2013. Even if Anderson does not have the same vocal range nowadays, i must say... Their live presentation shocked me. Such a powerfull performance, and his flute is killer as ever was!

[@ReubenCornell]

Shout out for the square aspect ratio, to match album artwork.

[@Bongbeat]

Please do more Jethro Tull!!!!!!!!!

[@WilliamHaisch]

“Hey Aqualung!” -Ron Burgundy

[@JaredEMitchell]

Incidentally I found a vinyl copy of this album in a thrift store about a year back. Much easier to read the cover on it, haha.

[@R3TR0R4V3]

This album is a masterpiece.. My favorite Tull album. If you want it on vinyl, get a 1st UK pressing though.. It blows everything else away, including the new 50th anniversary pressing.

[@kerryrobinson9947]

I bought this album when it first released. I read the album/newspaper as I listened. 👏👏👏👏

[@raven_of_zoso455]

I'm a wee 33 year old bloke, so I didn't get to experience the peak of music that was 1966 to about 1974. Thick As A Brick stands to me like an obelisk of British prog, amd it is one of my very favourite albums ever. I've must have heard the entire thing hundreds of times. I even know the entire lyrics by heart (too bad this is rarely featured on karaoke bars). The song is such a perfect blend of British folk and that early 70s heavy metal, and wrapped up in this elaborate abstract universe, being both naive and cynical at the same time. It's perfect music. Too bad my entire generation is incapable of appreciating, yet understanding this masterpiece. What's so great about the strives for constant gratification through a safe key-progession of synthetic noises that is all modern mainstream music. And don't get me started on lyrics. They really are thick as a brick. Music needs a bit of contrast, elements of dull and ugly wowen into the facric of exciting and beautiful. That's why old Leo didn't put bikini-models and Lambos in the background of Mona Lisa. That's something these old prog bands understood perfectly well. But I guess that's also why it is considered a genre that is a bit of an acquired taste. Could you imagine if they swapped Kayne West and Ed Sheeran with Gentle Gigant and King Crimson on today's lists? I think I would even consider going to the trouble of curating a radio for myself then. Probably not. As the last one I had got an unfortunate encounter with an axe when they cut Since I've Been Loving You by Led Zeppelin in half just to play more idiotic commercials. Right before my favourite guitar bit. True story. I was a bit drunk and in my workshop, but I don't regret my spontaneous yet passionate decision. I bloody hate commercials.

[@RavGav72]

Awesome video! I was just really hoping to hear some of that brilliant song/ album alongside the video.

[@jethrofloyd67]

Oh man I have had a rough day but that made it all better! I've always loved the creativity and cross-referenced jokes within the fake articles. You're absolutely right that half the experience is lost in streaming, having an entire experience with the music and the artwork was foundational to how I discovered music.

[@RRM_Personal]

So glad you're finally talking about one of my favorite bands 💕

[@mikehawkins4752]

I've spent untold hours in the last 40+ years since this album came out entertained by it and have always thought it was one of the best covers ever.

[@Mule4ever123]

Great video! Just went and checked out nebula as well. Cant wait for all that new content

[@bulkvanderhuge9006]

Yea, I still have that Newspaper LP. We lost all of that with the advent of CDs. Pink FLoyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" came with Two Posters inside it, and "Wish you were here" came with Stickers.

[@slobberkissintl3548]

Back when I thought it was a good idea to submit elaborate demos to record labels, I tried some pretty wild stuff 😆 I made a smell box for Thrill Jockey. A smell box is when you get one of those aluminum shortbread cookie tins that usually end up full of sewing items, and you forage and scavenge for things with a strong smell... pine needles, orange peels, french fries, cinnamon bark... you're basically making ramshackle potpourri. Then you seal it up and mail it. I sent a few of them. The only feedback I got was from the band Cerberus Shoal. They'd been on tour so their box sat around at the house marinating a while after it was delivered. I think they enjoyed it? Thrill Jockey was mum 🤐 Maybe i should try again?

[@MreenalMams]

Wow amazing that you made a square video for a video about album arts.. i didn't even know it was possible to make a square video..

[@eherrmann01]

I saw this vid in my feed yesterday and hadn't watched it yet. Today, I came across an original copy of the album at a record shop, complete with the full newspaper! Needless to say, I snatched it right up!. I haven't seen this album in years, and was really quite surprised to find an intact copy. For $10 no less!

[@boogerie]

I always wanted to read more about Julia, "Gerald's chum with whom he writes poems"

[@teddyfurstman1997]

The Newspaper parody angle of Thick as a Brick is just genius. Jethro Tull is just awesome. I also love physical media in Vinyl and CDs and also got a recent Criterion of Moonage Daydream. You should do a video on the Brett Morgan David Bowie film at some point.

[@andreacalzoni2439]

I have the original vinyl thanks to my father, who bought it back in 1972. I remember I took it for the first time when I was 12 years old, in 1997, because I was fascinated by that cover. I used to listen to it every day, and while listening I read that newspaper. As a young Italian boy who had studied some English at school, it was one of the ways I got into the English language. And that album was my introduction to Jethro Tull and to the music I have been loving through all my life. And now I feel so old writing this stuff, am I taking stock of my life already? Well anyway...

[@jakewantstoseestuff]

I own a copy of this, purchased from a used vinyl shop in my town. It appears to be complete and is in surprisingly great quality.

[@headshot471]

Would be sicc to get a full in depth analysis of this album

[@thewinenut9800]

There was a CD special release of the album that had the newspaper printed as a newspaper on newsprint. The CD also came with an interview recording with Ian Anderson. Olias of Sunhillow next please.

[@JRJY]

Reminds me of the Framley Examiner!

[@jonothanthrace1530]

The most extreme version of the "album disguised as print media" phenomenon is The Guess Who's Artificial Paradise, which was packaged in a parody of a Publisher's Clearinghouse-style junk mail envelope, complete with multiple pages of coupons, ads, etc. That might make for a good episode of Cover Story!

[@GIBKEL]

One of my favorites…. cheers for highlighting this great lp and cover. Radiohead’s King of Limbs did a similar newspaper with the 45 rpm release.

[@Stevew443]

I was fortunate enough to see the Thick as a Brick concert back in 72 when I was in college. It still ranks as one of the greatest concerts I have ever seen in my life. I still listen t Thick as a Brick quite often although my original album has been lost many years ago.

[@MoviesNStuff]

Please do a video on Tales from Topographic Oceans! Or maybe even Van Der Graaf Generator

[@the6ig6adwolf]

Ever considered doing a video about the Frank Zappa song Billy the Mountain? (album: Just Another Band from LA) It's a hilarious, elaborate 24 minute track performed live and it definitely deserves a deep dive and some attention.

[@goodun2974]

"Billy was a Mountain/ Ethel [his little wooden wife] was a tree growing out of his shoulder....." 😉👍

[@ministerofdarkness]

Jethro Tull's Masterpiece!! PLAY LOUD

[@SpookyLuvCookie]

Thanks. Always a treat.

[@yannykravitz788]

I love this! As a massive fan of genesis could you do more on prog on this series… hinting at selling England by the pound and other genesis albums !!!

[@drew9719]

I actually want a video on how you create a video, even with how you visualize the editing and realize how to craft a video around a certain topic. Its grabs my attention and just never lets go

[@CatalinaKelempan]

ooohh i love this album so much!! i ran to watch this video immediately when I had the timee❤❤❤❤

[@baritony8763]

This is my favorite Tull album and NOT because of the newspaper. That is in itself something to write home about.The music has ultra-unusual & changing time signatures, as well as great melodies throughout fluid musical segments. It connects the end of side 1 with the beginning of side 2. As a musician the complexity intrigues as well as impresses me, while it's musical context holds up for the ear as an extremely feel-good sound fest. Yes, I'm considering Aqualung and Songs from The Wood and my second favorite---War Child. And oh yes,the lead in Aqualung's title track could be the best in rock history.Give it a focused listen.Jimmy Page walked into the studio while Martin Barre was laying it down. Still, it was Barre's baby.

[@bardofsteel]

wasn't Stand Up by Tull also a popup book within an album?

[@Paul_Wetor]

Just a popup flat of the band, not a book.

[@MoonRunesDaB0i]

I actually own a first press of this I got from my grandfather. Incredible album

[@tecpaocelotl]

Physical media is amazing. Last album I bought was A Tribes Called Quest "We Got It from Here... Thank You 4 Your Service" when it was new. It had more images on the album that is lost on online media.

[@jonothanthrace1530]

I got the 25th anniversary CD edition of TAAB and it came with a copy of the newspaper in the slipcase.

[@J.C...]

I remember reading the cover of my Dad's copy of this when I was a kid 🤣👌

[@marcocardia3960]

I loved the video, especially since I'm a Frank Zappa, i never knew the extent of Jethro Tull's satire A similar album that I would love to see you cover is The Mothers's album We're Only In It For The Money, the album being a parody of hippie culture, and the packaging being a complete parody of Sergent Peppers

[@thecandlemaker1329]

I thought you were dead, Frank!

[@marcocardia3960]

@@thecandlemaker1329 damm it you got me, actually he invented cloning,i´m A Frank Zappa not THE Frank Zappa, he is somewhere in a basement making synclavier music and sometimes being an edge lord on Twitter.

[@thecandlemaker1329]

@@marcocardia3960 Well, you might be interested to learn that when THE Frank Zappa was on his deathbed, he really wanted to talk to... Ian Anderson! Unfortunately, Mr. Anderson never called him. In his own words, he didn't want to become the last person to talk to Frank Zappa.

[@marcocardia3960]

@@thecandlemaker1329 Thank you! I never knew that, Zappa hid a big heard under his cold public shell

[@goodun2974]

Somebody else in the comment thread here asked for a video segment about Billy the Mountain from "Just Another Band from LA".

[@wheelie63]

why we loved Albums. especially this one. wb

[@feather3563]

I never even knew it had all that stuff inside when you opened it! I don't have a physical copy so I've just been looking at the cover as a jpeg lol

[@Shadowbannddiscourse]

When I saw Jethro tall's name and just an album mentioned. I thought it was gonna be thick as a brick. Because that album within itself is pretty trippy. Not just musically, but concept wise. In the way that cover was laid out as well. And the story about the kid and all that. I haven't watched this whole video yet. But man hilarious. I used to have that album. I had the newspaper and everything and I bought it long after the 70s. I've been a tull fan since I was a kid in the 80s. Now im gibna watch the video

[@candelise]

Albums were RELEASED in those days not DROPPED, young whippersnapper!!!!!!

[@johnpaulcross424]

One of my favorite albums from the 70’s, still looking for an original pressing with the cover

[@earthlingjohn]

Purchased 2 copies when this was released so that I could stack them on the record changer and let side B drop without needing to stumble 'cross the room, many other albums were purchased the same way...Moody Blues, It's A Beautiful Day, E.L.&P., Pink Floyd...

[@earthoid]

I saw Tull perform Thick As A Brick in Virginia before the album was available to purchase so it was all new material for the entire audience. We were all in a kind of shock and were fairly quiet while our brains tried to figure out what was happening to us. Then Tull played the oldies and we could all get back to being a normal rock audience again. Don't get me wrong, it was all great but TAAB was very different from what was expected. I still have the "newspaper album" that I bought shortly after the concert.

[@thecandlemaker1329]

Richard Wagner had a nice term for this concept: Gesamtkunstwerk ("the entire artwork"), which means integration of different artistic media to support and enhance a piece of music. Also, Anderson did something similar, although on a much smaller scale, for his solo album TAAB 2 (a sequel to Thick as a Brick, as you might have guessed). While the second album is not as good as the original, due in no small part to Anderson's dramatically reduced vocal range, it's still very much worth a listen.

[@nattmazzoni]

I wish so much I could find this album with the original complete newspaper as the cover on my country, I love this album so much, it's one of my all time favorites

[@bisket2003]

YESSSSSS ! as a guy who has the album and recently took it out to listen and ready the stories, this is fukkin great!!!

[@mountart2]

Lennon's Some Tine In NYC was another really good marriage of an art and music album concept, where Lennon not only showed the topical ripped from newspaper articles but sang about them on the record. A bit more serious, but a great concept none the less.

[@timelessdays]

A random suggestion would be The Return of the Durutti Column by the Durutti Column. It was sandpaper lol

[@ACE-sx8mo]

I bought this album in 1972 and still have it. Knew it was special but could not grasp the full meaning. Spent hours trying to interpret the lyrics. How was a teenager in Seattle supposed to know what "queueing for sarnies at the office canteen" meant? I understood the context of queueing at a canteen and I just now googled "sarnies". Full circle, 50 years later!

[@fed1up]

Where the hell was Biggles when you needed him last Saturday I only had the cassette, with the front cover. I didn't know about the rest of the package for years.

[@Texeq]

Its one of Tulls best albums. A great listen - all the way through of course.

[@AC-ih7jc]

6:54 Holy f*ck...I grew up in Hicksville!

[@larrylebowski8386]

It’s so classic. So perfect for the times. The days of really good music.

[@ladismont8377]

Don´t forget The 4 Seasons "The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette" cover (1969)

[@justatroglidite5859]

Never thought I would see Jethro Tull on the channel so I was pleasantly surprised today.

[@jonothanthrace1530]

1:09 I refuse to believe that Ian Anderson was oblivious to Aqualung being a concept album, unless the packaging of the album was entirely out of his hands. Between the tracks themselves, the fake bible passages on the back cover, and the fact that the sides of the LP had their own titles, Aqualung is not regarded as a concept album by accident.

[@GretaM-rb4ro]

I really want you to do a cover story on Exile on Main Street by The Rolling Stones. I’ve always thought it was an awesome album cover but never knew what it meant.

[@boblatzer]

Perhaps the most continuously read newspaper in the world.

[@urbex5371]

I just got this record in a box of vinyls that my friend had given me, the puzzles are untouched but there is a doodle on it, but the condition is great nonetheless.

[@nicholasfokas4292]

6:51 “HICKS-VILLE LOVES J. Tull” huh, I’m guessing the concert that’s from happened close by to where I am! I wonder what concert the photo is from and happened to that banner ?

[@justasoundguy9341]

I have a vinyl copy of this album. It’s still in good condition. The puzzles haven’t been filled in, although the cover is a bit yellowed. The one funny thing about my copy though is a previous owner drew a mustache on Little Milton. 😂

[@Markus_Andrew]

I had this one, and I read it cover to cover. Even did the crossword and the "join the dots" puzzle 😂 It's such a shame that the advent of CDs spelled the end of these kinds of album covers. There were also Led Zep's covers for "Led Zeppelin III" and "Physical Graffiti" which had movable inserts, and their "In Through The Out Door" album which came in a brown paper bag like a dirty magazine (a proper protective cardboard sleeve was inside). The Rolling Stones' "Sticky Fingers" album had a working zipper on the front, and Emerson Lake and Palmer's "Brain Salad Surgery" album had two front panels which opened outwards to reveal a different picture underneath (panels and interior artwork both by H. R. Giger). I'm sure there were other examples which I've forgotten about.

[@goodun2974]

The sleeve for the original LP of "Sticky Fingers" was a pair of panties made out of paper!

[@rumblehat4357]

The original cover of the Sweet’s “Give us a Wink” had a winking eye when you pulled the sleeve.

[@boyangeorgiev569]

What about the second part of the album Tull made - "TAAB 2" - on the back cover there is an internet address for a second part of the newspaper, but the site doesn't function.

[@samuelecallegari6117]

In 2012 it was functioning

[@MadTamB]

I found a copy in Spain years ago, so bought it. When we were drunk one day someone found it and did the dot to dot.

[@jeffreyslotnikoff4003]

I'll grant that side one of 'Thick As A Brick" is an incredible listening experience, but side two is simply overkill. By the way, I saw Jethro Tull in 1972 at the Philadelphia Spectrum (no longer named such), where they performed live this album. Unfortunately, that's all the details of the concert that I can remember...

[@Joybuzzard]

I have this album, my former step-dad stole my mom's record collection but he left them all behind at a house he was staying at and the landlord asked me to clean out everything left behind. The paper is really cool, the album is like nothing else.

[@2cozmick25]

Had this lp since its release and i've actually never red the cover, hmm, i guess next yime i take it out i'll take a read

[@gwolsen1]

Thanks!

[@umusuuk]

I should check if my CD copy has all the pages in its booklet.

[@muffinman4353]

Minstrel in the gallery...... Listen to it once again.

[@mscrabson]

Thick As A Brick is the only album where I never skip any tracks

[@jbucktheman]

This is why vinyl is the best. Artists are able to make ambitious projects like making a damn news paper.

[@stevejohnson1321]

You can still buy the CD, which probably doesn't include the non-rabbit fur.

[@ChainsGoldMask]

Check out The Greatest Story Ever Told by The Lawrence Arms. Not as elaborate as Thick As A Brick, but worth sifting through.

[@RockandRollWoman]

And now we have Thick As A Brick 2, updating us on Gerald Bostock 40 years later. "According to Anderson, TAAB 2 ... focuses on Gerald Bostock, the fictional boy genius author of the original album, forty years later. "I wonder what the eight-year-old Gerald Bostock would be doing today. Would the fabled newspaper still exist?" The follow-up album presents five divergent, hypothetical life stories for Gerald Bostock, including a greedy investment banker, a homosexual homeless man, a soldier in the Afghan War, a sanctimonious evangelist preacher, and a most ordinary man who (married and childless) runs a corner store; by the end of the album, however, all five possibilities seem to converge in a similar concluding moment of gloomy or pitiful solitude. In March 2012, to follow the style of the mock-newspaper cover (The St Cleve Chronicle and Linwell Advertiser) of the original Thick as a Brick album, an online newspaper was set up, simply titled StCleve." Wikipedia It's great music too.

[@pagano60]

The story that I heard was that critics liked the lyrics of Jethro Tull's earlier song lyrics but faulted the music. Anderson thought by attributing the words to a schoolboy (at least at first) would make critics favor the music over the lyrics.