Thick as a Brick

Anderson was infuriated that critics called Aqualung a concept album and decided to come up with the mother of all concept albums. Monty Python was an influence, and he later described the result as a spoof of albums by Yes and Emerson, Lake and Palmer. The lyrics are credited to a fictional schoolboy, Gerald Bostock, though Anderson wrote them. It was the first album with drummer Barriemore Barlow.

After two weeks of rehearsal in the Rolling Stones' basement studio in Bermondsey, recording began in December 1971 at Morgan Studios. Only the opening section had been worked out in advance. Anderson wrote the rest during the sessions, preparing music early each morning for the band to learn that day, and recalled about two weeks of recording plus two or three more of overdubs and mixing. The sleeve was a 12-page mock newspaper, The St. Cleve Chronicle and Linwell Advertiser, dated 7 January 1972. Anderson recalled that it took longer to produce than the music.

Release was held back a week to 3 March because of production problems during the 1972 miners' strike. The album reached the top five in Britain and number 1 in Australia, Canada and the United States, where it went Gold. Reviews were mixed at the time. Ben Gerson of Rolling Stone called it one of rock's most sophisticated and ground-breaking products, while Chris Welch of Melody Maker wrote that the joke at the expense of a local newspaper wore thin rather rapidly. The tour that followed played the whole piece, with men in capes sweeping the stage and a telephone that rang mid-performance. Anderson played it complete again in 2012, the year he released the sequel Thick as a Brick 2. Prog readers placed it fifth in their 2014 list of the 100 greatest prog albums.