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Was this the greatest concept album ever made… or the greatest joke ever played on rock critics?

In 1972, Jethro Tull released Thick as a Brick, a single 44-minute song wrapped inside what looked like a twelve-page British newspaper. The headline story? An eight-year-old poet named Gerald “Little Milton” Bostock whose epic poem had just been disqualified for being too disturbing for polite society.

Except there was no poet. No scandal. No newspaper. It was all a brilliantly straight-faced parody.

Inside the album sleeve you’ll find stories about missing non-rabbits, scandalous poetry contests, classified ads that make no sense, and a review of the very album you’re holding. The whole thing was written largely by Ian Anderson and the band, who set out to make what Anderson called “the mother of all concept albums”—part masterpiece, part prank.

But here’s the twist: in trying to spoof progressive rock’s pretensions, Jethro Tull accidentally created one of the most beloved concept albums in rock history.

Grab a copy and listen along with us. Questions, comments, recommendations?
We’d love to hear from you at Albumartthecoverstories@gmail.com or check our Spotify Song List with a song from each album we have covered: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2NrDU39yE9CJcHU6YJT8jj?si=Y1JAE4LWTDmKEDE9QGlB2A&pi=ly2xwE-ERRu-2