A PASSION PLAY

Another giant of an album released by Jethro Tull following the great "Thick as a Brick" album with another one track wonder concept album. This is the first work of Tull to incorporate a synthesiser into the music. Some solid sax work as well on this effort. It is not as playful as "Thick as a Brick" was - in many ways it is a much darker album. Whereas I thought that the lyrics on the previous album were a work of genius the lyrics here aren't as profound but the music kind of makes up for that. This work was a little harder for me to get into than the previous album however when I did it was a very rewarding experience. This is by far the more serious of the two single track albums. Unlike many I do like the "Hare" section and it also serves to break the track as a sort of fun intermission - probably saving the main parts of the music from become a single tedious work. The reason I use the term tedious is that this work takes a lot more from the listener to get into - it is quite a bit more demanding than "Thick as a Brick" was. There are many rewards to be found in seriously sitting back and absorbing this album. From me a hesitance in my rating but after a lot of though a solid 5 stars - it isn't "Thick as a Brick" however when I compare it to what else was available up until 1973 then it becomes clearer to me and I believe 5 stars fits.