Editing Thick as a Brick (section)

==Background==
Jethro Tull's frontman and songwriter [[Ian Anderson]] was infuriated when critics called the band's previous album, ''[[Aqualung (Jethro Tull album)|Aqualung]]'' (1971), a "concept album". He rejected this, thinking it was simply a collection of songs, so in response decided to "come up with something that really is the mother of all concept albums".{{sfn|Rees|1998|p=48}} Taking the [[Surrealism|surreal]] British humour of [[Monty Python]] as an influence, he began to write a piece that would combine complex music with a sense of humour, with the idea it would poke light-hearted fun at the band, the audience, and the music critics.{{sfn|Rees|1998|p=48}} He also intended to satirise the [[progressive rock]] genre that was popular at the time.{{sfn|Smolko|2013|p=160}} His wife Jennie was also an inspiration, to whom he credited having devised the character and lyrics of "[[Aqualung (song)|Aqualung]]". She had written a letter to Anderson while he was away touring the album, ten lines from which Anderson used as inspiration for the new material.<ref name=C0472>{{cite web|url=http://www.tullpress.com/capr72.htm|title=Ian Anderson shows you how to lose your way through 'Thick as a Brick'|first=Steve|last=Ditlea|date=April 1972|work=Circus|access-date=3 March 2020}}</ref>

Anderson has also said that "the album was a spoof to the albums of [[Yes (band)|Yes]] and [[Emerson, Lake & Palmer]], much like what the movie ''[[Airplane!]]'' had been to ''[[Airport (1970 film)|Airport]]''{{-"}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.azcentral.com/thingstodo/arts/articles/20130625ian-anderson-jethro-tull-phoenix-symphony-hall.html |title=7/10: Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull at Symphony Hall |last=Keresman |first=Mark |work=AZCentral |publisher=[[The Arizona Republic]] |date=7 July 2013 |access-date=21 May 2016}}</ref> and later remarked that it was a "bit of a satire about the whole concept of grand rock-based concept albums".{{sfn|Nollen|2002|p=83}} Although Anderson wrote all the music and lyrics, he co-credited the writing to a fictional schoolboy named Gerald Bostock. The humour was subtle enough that some fans believed that Bostock was real.{{sfn|Rees|1998|p=48}} Reviewing the 40th anniversary reissue, Noel Murray suggested that many listeners of the original album "missed the joke".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.avclub.com/thick-as-a-brick-and-the-pleasures-of-the-very-very-v-1798234840 |title=Thick As A Brick and the pleasures of the very, very, very long song |first=Noel |last=Murray |newspaper=[[The A.V. Club]] |date=28 November 2012 |access-date=15 November 2012}}</ref>