A PASSION PLAY

A decent album, but it unfortunately had to follow right after the legendary Thick as a Brick. This album still has many great moments, and also some hints of heavy metal leanings that would take more fruition as we get into albums like Minstrel in the Gallery (though the band still remains more of a pioneer to heavy metal than actually being heavy metal).

The playing-yer-ass-off aspect seems to lack a little bit, but then again, I only feel that when comparing this album to Thick as a Brick, which isn't right (completely). The ability shown by the band is either a bit less or seems to be a different brand. The material is good overall, but it is my opinion that the band didn't have quite enough to last for 45 minutes of time. I like that they were willing to cover more humorous ground ("the hare.. has lost his SPECtacles?").

It can be a fun album, but it feels a bit more scatterbrained. When such a long song is made, we need to maintain our sense of direction. That or have more clear divides, like we could safely say "This could easily be cut in four different pieces" or something along those lines. Sometimes the ideas just keep going, and I wonder where we are going. For the potential the album had, it would've easily been 4 stars. It's not bad, but it is a 3-star album.