The Jethro Tull album inspired by Monty Python: “Tongue in cheek and good humour”
Progressive rock usually has a reputation for being a little bit too serious. No matter how much fans can appreciate the musicianship, it’s hard to listen to a group like Pink Floyd for hours on end and not feel a little bit cynical about all of the bleak lyrics that Roger Waters poured over every one of their songs. Rock and roll can still be tongue-in-cheek when it wants to, and even among the most gifted musicians in the world, Jethro Tull wasn’t afraid to pull from Monty Python on albums like Thick as a Brick.
Even by prog standards, though, Jethro Tull was a little bit of a hard sell for some passive rock fans. ‘Aqualung’ was being played everywhere for a damn good reason, but a group that was made up of songs with dense topics and a man that plays the flute was probably going to be a little obscure if the most intense that you ever listened to was a few Black Sabbath tracks.
It’s not like that’s an unfair assessment, either. These were musicians playing for other musicians half the time, so hearing their take on Bach’s ‘Bouree’ was not exactly going to be tearing up the charts. This was the album era, though, and that meant people following groups to get the full experience.
Led Zeppelin were already one of the biggest bands in the world despite refusing to release singles on their biggest projects, so it’s not like the market wasn’t open for some experimental moves. Whereas prog musicians like Rush were gaining a cult following through their incredible technical ability, Thick as a Brick was almost a piss-take on progressive rock.
Since everyone was so serious all the time, the entire album is a complete farce about a massive piece that supposedly was written by a child spread across two slabs of vinyl. The playing is still off the charts, but even Ian Anderson knew things were getting out of hand when he decided to make an entire album based on just one song.
Whereas this kind of move would have been critical poison if they didn’t pull it off, a lot of fans completely understood the joke, with Anderson saying, “So we, tongue in cheek and with good humour, delivered duly a concept album which was deliberately overblown with kind of a crazy way over the top almost Monty Python-esque parody of what a concept album is supposed to be. But it was done with a sense of humour and warmth that I don’t think alienated the critics or the public. It kind of hit the spot.”
Considering Jethro Tull was already becoming known as one of the most idiosyncratic bands in the prog-rock scene, it was nice to see them knock themselves down a couple of notches. Yes, they could still play, but this was a reminder that just because people played circles around every other group on the scene didn’t mean they were the next coming of Mozart or anything.
In fact, many non-prog acts could probably benefit from taking a few lessons from listening to this album. Because for as much as anyone might hold their songs close to their chest, sometimes they need to be told that rock and roll is about having fun, not being an Olympian athlete on your instrument.
