EMI

The original Jethro Tull album Thick as a Brick featured a mock newspaper, The St. Cleve Chronicle, on its cover. (It’s now a mock-website, www.stcleave.com. ) Subtitled Whatever Happened to Gerald Bostock?, for the 8-year-old boy genius at the heart of the “controversy” and concept of the 1972 album, TAAB2 offers two hypothesizes as to Bostock’s fate. Anderson submits his theories with his usual glum charm. His tales are portraits of people surviving on life’s margins. Lyrics, however, don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing and Ian Anderson’s got it goin’ on. The original album was one long track divided by two sides. This follow-up slices up the songs into three- to five minute chunks with musical themes recurring. “Old School Song” updates a familiar riff from the ‘72 release. The chance to revisit a fan favorite sparked Anderson’s creativity. Songs like “Adrift and Dumfounded” and “Wootton Bassett Town” are what he does best.