A PASSION PLAY

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2.5 stars really!!

If this was not J T this might have been a good album but this is JT!! And it is completely over the top - As TFTO for Yes and BSS is for ELP - and it just went too far and finally came out as ridiculous. If someone wants to hit me after reading this please avoid the head and below the belt. But the uneventful, boring and downright silly Hare piece (a failed attempt at creating a musical Monty Python IMHO) plus the rest of the album is a little too deconstructed and disjointed for me.

But one has to give him points for the daring adventure Ian tried to experiment. The following project will abort because of the major criticism he got because of this album and some of it was of course fully merited. As this is an extreme and controversial (love it to death or loathe it for life) album t is very hard not to advise the Tull newbie to avoid this album, because they might just fall for it as well as hate it!

D'Isaster!

I know this album is constantly slated, but it is entirely justified. It really is astonishing how a band can follow up such a wonderful album as "Thick as a brick" with something as lacking in direction as "Passion play".

The ingredients which made "TAAB" so good appear to be here. The long single track, the storybook lyrics and the good sleeve are all present and correct, but the music is sadly lacking in inspiration. Whereas "TAAB" had witty lyrics, strong melodies, and a general coherence, "A Passion play" is lacking in all these areas. The lyrics are dull, the music wanders aimlessly, and there's little to distinguish one section from another. There's more of a jazz tingle to APP than any other Tull album, the trademark folk influences being only present in fleeting glimpses.

Even the supposedly humorous "The hare who lost his spectacles", fails to hit the mark. For some bizarre reason, this track within a track is split in half on the LP by forming the end of side one and the beginning of side two. The tale however is tedious and far from amusing, being a rather pointless shaggy dog story.

The "Chateau D'Isaster tapes" showed that Tull were well on their way to creating a worthy follow up to "TABB" before they abandoned that project and returned to the UK. Had they persisted with what they were creating then, the course of history could well have been different, and "A passion play" (or whatever it might have been called) could have become another magnificent album.

My abiding recollection of this album is of sitting down to listen to it with a friend who had just bought it on its day of release. We were full of anticipation having been swept away by TAAB. Halfway through side 2, he'd had enough, removed the stylus from the LP, and declared, "crap isn't it!". Sums it all up really.

Another one of the greats from Ian ANDERSON and Co. "A Passion Play" is really divided into 2 segments. The first is in the same vein musically and in structure of "Thick As A Brick", while the second part begins to take the shape more of a stage musical and storytelling. This is where I find JETHRO TULL to have been at their height of their musical career. As you would expect "Passion Play" digs deep into the mystical music that is associated with JETHRO TULL and contains some of their best flute and instrumental work. This is a very mature masterpiece displaying some very delicious progressive moments.

Almost perfect, perhaps the most controversial album by JETHRO TULL, but anyway it is interesting all along its lenght... of course the critics regarded this one as the failed attempt to compose such a "Progressive album"; instead to me this album is not pretentious and the choose of the keyboards is remarkable as well: a great use of analogical synthesizers and the Mini-Moog above all. "The history of an hare who lost his spectacles" is a theatrical piece by an histrionic Jan ANDERSON... except on a few discontinuous parts, the rest of the album is memorable.

The most progressive effort by JETHRO TULL, and for this reason alone this album is well worth checking out at least!!

After the marvelous Thick As A Brick album, Jethro Tull comes with this jewel. It definitely sounds like the previous record, but I find Passion Play having more subtle and refined parts and more mellow bits than Thick As A Brick. Plus, they really sound like Van Der Graaf Generator here, as reveal the many organ and sax parts. The 2 epic tracks are VERY progressive and rhythm changing, and the charm resides in the miscellaneous echoed saxes parts and the catchy, melodic & well played piano. Ian Anderson's voice is OUTSTANDING. There are many excellent organ parts, like on the previous album. The bass and drums are not lazy at all, at least during the loaded bits! Anderson's flute can also be appreciated, still always exciting and professionally played. Martin Barre's electric guitar is rather discreet, except on some specific partsl; he uses more in the foreground the acoustic guitar. Because of the numerous saxes involved, I find the record sometimes slightly jazzy/fusion!! It is one of the best Tull's albums!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

"A Passion Play" picks up where "Thick As A Brick" left off. Their earlier album-length opus followed the life of one man, from birth to death. Their next ("Passion") follows the afterlife of one man, from heaven to hell. I don't know why this isn't more obvious to people, but some have apparently taken up the scent of the red herring in the title, concluding that "A Passion Play" has to do with the last moments of Christ. It does insofar as Christian theology holds that Christ's death vouchsafed our afterlife, but the operative architecture here is rather Dante ALIGHIERI's Divine Comedy than the titular medieval morality plays. And so many have gone looking for something that wasn't there, this despite "The Story of The Hare Who Lost His Spectacles", which cautions against looking for something that can't (and doesn't need to) be found. That's pretty much the theme in a nutshell, allowing for the usual human error on my part. (And, of course, if you've struck upon a theme you like better, by all means keep it!) Musically, "A Passion Play" is more complex than "Thick", downright diabolical in spots. The big difference here is the increased role of the saxophone, which supplants the flute and gives the arrangements a tempestuous twist that suggests GENTLE GIANT at this stage (unfortunately, Ian lost interest in sax after delivering "War Child"). Structurally, "A Passion Play" is less cohesive than its predecessor; "Thick" featured half a dozen or so themes played out several times throughout the course of the album, whereas Passion re-uses only a handful of themes and seems to consist of at least a dozen distinctive sections. By album's end, TULL resorts to piecemeal composition, stringing miniature songs together without even the pretense of a sound structural bridge between them.

In kindness, it could be that TULL was simply too creative to stay confined to a handful of musical themes, a point that "War Child"'s bulging bag of booty would seem to support. Some would rank "A Passion Play" with TULL's most magical creations (and far be it from me to debunk anyone's source of magic), but it's not a playmate I pull from the shelves too often, knowing it will only walk my mind in a circle.

I remembered way back in 1994 when I bought the LP how surprised I was about this album. I've heard how trashed-on this album was by the rock critics. Even what critics that trashed on their previous effort, "Thick as a Brick" was mild compared to this. Well, thanks to "A Passion Play", I find what mainstream rock critics (Lester Bangs, Robert Christgau, Dave Marsh, their ilk) not exactly reliable, especially if you are a prog rock fan. Of course if you like The VELVET UNDERGROUND or Van MORRISON's "Astral Weeks", that might be a different story.

Reviewing "A Passion Play" is like reviewing "Thick as a Brick", you can't say what's your favourite song here because it's basically one song that takes up both sides. Here the music is even more elaborate than "Brick", in which ANDERSON & Co. wanted to compete with GENTLE GIANT for the most complex and over-the-top prog rock you can think of. In fact there are several passages here that remind me of GENTLE GIANT, especially on side one. John Evan just purchased a Mini Moog synthesizer, making this the very first TULL album with synths, and it's definitely a far cry from the synth- dominated albums they did in the '80s (like "The Broadsword & the Beast" and "Under Wraps"), sounding as you expect a Mini Moog to sound (that classic analog sound, as opposed to the synthetic polyphonic synths Peter-John Vettesse used in the '80s).

Part 1 and Part 2 of this album is interrupted by a silly story called "The Story of the Hare Who Lost His Spectacles", narrated by John Evan, with orchestration from David Palmer. It sounds like your silly children's book story. After that, the music resumes. The second half of the album is a bit more accessible, in which the music is more melodic. This part does sound like several different songs and you can tell where one ends and one begins (usually after John Evan does some noodling on his Mini Moog synthesizer). One section was actually included on the compilation "M.U. Best of Jethro Tull". For those who think "A Passion Play" (as well as ELP's "Tarkus" and YES' "Tales From Topographic Oceans") is the reason why punk rock happened, of course, you won't like this album. But for those wanting to hear TULL at their most progressive, this is the album to get.

4 1/2 stars

This is a fantastic little piece from an excellent band. Harkening back to TAAB, the 40+mins. take you though a journey on the afterlife, or at least his take on it. The music is very good, and very progressive. Part one is more of the TAAB stage, but still very orginal. Part II is where this disk shines. A deffinate plus to any collection.

This is the album a lot of people say went "overboard." Bull. I just don't see it. It's every bit as good, if not much better, than "Thick as a Brick." Whereas "Thick as a Brick" drew on the aspects of life and cynical dealings with humanity, cycles, and all that heavy-handed yet Ian Anderson-ly sarcastic material (much like the first half of "Aqualung" did), "A Passion Play" draws on the more religious concerns of Jethro Tull (much like the second half of "Aqualung" did -- although the music in the two are very different). The Play is also sarcastic and irreverant, perhaps even more so than "Thick as a Brick," but it's more hidden and less immediately visible. The music as well is more unconventional, with the saxophone and keyboards playing much larger roles (occaisionally sounding like Van Der Graaf Generator and Gentle Giant in some places), but I don't really see anything 'diabolical', 'self-indulgent', or 'pointless' at all. Some compare this album to YES' "Tales from Topographic Oceans," but this is completely unbased. "Tales..." is a great album, but there is very little similarity between it and the Play. "Tales" is much longer, clouded in strange mysticism, and much more difficult to decipher; I haven't been able to yet. Others compare the Play to ELP's "Brain Salad Surgery," which I don't see at all. "Brain Salad" didn't go overboard, it went underboard in my opinion, with a lot of sub-par material filling the first half and some varyingly good and great material on the second half. Doubters should consult http://www.ministry-of- information.co.uk/app/index.htm for their full annotations and ideas. It REALLY helps, and only takes about 20 minutes to read through. I encourage the other reviewers here who gave this album mediocre reviews to see the site.

Regardless of what the title says, this is not a "passion play" in the sense of Jesus' life story. Instead, it is the story of an ordinary middle-class man (Ronnie Pilgrim) and his afterlife. The album begins with a soft heartbeat growing into a crescendo, and an instrumental "prelude" begins. Soon the prelude dies down, and the heartbeat does as well, crashing into the ground. As this happens, Ronnie Pilgrim's ghost rises from his coffin to attend his own funeral. After a short instrumental, he is taken to purgatory, where he meets an angel which leads him to a "viewing room" after another instrumental, to be sorted into either heaven or hell. Here, Anderson's sarcasm is apparent, as it would almost seem that this afterlife is flooded with earthly beauracracy. Ronnie enters the viewing room, and a panel of judges have him watch portions of his life on a screen. They review his life and criticize him during the second half of the first track, beginning softly and slowly increasing their sharpness and throwing impossible questions at poor Ronnie. Eventually, however, they let up and allow Ronnie to continue on to heaven, as he qualifies as "good enough." Following a short reprise of the first theme ("the silver cord") is a beautiful instrumental "Forest Dance" with a light, etheral, heartbeat keeping time throughout as magical guitars and synths build into a crashing halt as the second track begins.

Jeffery Hammond-Hammond announces "THIS IS THE STORY OF THE HARE WHO LOST HIS SPECTACLES!!!" loudly, and we have reached intermission. A silly Monty Python-ish story follows, orchestrated by the band and, well, an orchestra for background. It's fairly amusing, but has absolutely nothing to do with the storyline so far (much like "Willow Farm" in "Supper's Ready" by GENESIS).

Jeffrey declares "A-pairrrr" and the band begins where it left off, in the middle of the beautiful "Forest Dance" section, this time with a faster, more nervous hearbeat accompanying. It slows, and act three begins in "the office of G. Oddie and Son" (God and Jesus -- more Anderson sarcasm and post-death beauracracy hints). Ronnie has been in heaven for 2 days, and is bored. He complains to God that heaven is too pious and good for him, so he is going to give hell a try. The music intensifies, and the cry of a lost soul groans as the "Overseer Overture" begins and Ronnie listens to Lucy's (Lucifer -- get it?) monologue. This section is very synth-heavy, in contrast to the soft, acoustic music when God spoke. Ronnie predictably decides hell is not for him either, and he decides to flee. How he escaped eternal damnation is beyond me, but he does. He wishes to be alive again, and with the help of a mysterious non-speaking person/entity called Magus Perde he boards a train to a riverboat. The music becomes more hard rock at this point (the second half of the second track), and acoustic in sections much like "Thick as a Brick" as Ronnie rides the train and uses Magus Perde's powers to transport him onto a riverboat bound for earth. In other words, Ronnie has opted out of the Christian view of the afterlife, instead going for reincarnation. As the main theme is reprised, a more awkward, earthly heartbeat begins and Ronnie (now somebody else in flesh) rejoins the "ever-passion play," which is of course life itself.

There are many parallels between this album and other prog concept albums. For instance, "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" by GENESIS is about a street punk named Rael who dies and enters a purgatory in which he confronts himself; "The Human Equation" by AYREON is about a guy who enters a coma and must choose whether to live or to die, and he chooses the former; in contrast, "De-loused in the Comatorium" by THE MARS VOLTA is also about a guy who enters a coma and must decide whether to live or die, but he chooses the former. JETHRO TULL's version of this classic prog concept also takes on it's own flavor. GENESIS' Rael character learns to love and must venture through an existentialist maze of tests; MARS VOLTA's Cerpin Taxt, in true punk-prog fashion, lives fast and chooses death over life; TULL's character wanders thru a classic Christian version of the afterlife (almost beaurocratic in nature) and doesn't learn anything at all: nothing about him changes, he learns no lesson, and it drives home "Thick as a Brick"s point, in otherwordly fashion: "OF COURSE: So you ride yourselves over the fields, and you make all your animal deals, and your wise men don't know how it feels to be thick as a brick."

Recommended for everybody.

While Thick As A Brick was ecxellent, the follow-up, A Passion Play, was brilliant. This one's darker and much more quirky and complex than TAAB, and that's what I love about it; the complexity, inaccessiblity (well, i found it rather accessible, concidering that I loved this album from the first listen!) and originality. This by far the most original work I've heard so far from Tull, and the musicianship is incredibly tight and amazing. The only flaw are that the album get's a bit repetitive at the end, but the music is still very good. The middle section, "The Story of The Hare who had Lost His Spectacles" is a typical english humor piece. It's funny, but get's old pretty fast, unfortunately.

I concider this as Tull's best work! 4.8/5

Though I like JETHRO TULL as a band, I'm not very fond of their epic experimentations. Out of the two epic albums, this pleased me more. "The Story of a Hare..." is a funny intermission between the two rock play acts, and the compositions have great parts. Sadly they just don't work very well as compact pieces, but they sound like just huge bunch of ideas glued together in a haste. This and "Thick as A Brick" are still classic albums which one should check out, as many have liked them lots, but I personally wouldn't recommend them. I really never listen to these epic albums.

Almost all ratings on this one are excellent, so I'll be quite alone with my disagreement. NB: I'm rating albums according to how I personally like them, without any thoughts of MUST admire something, or vice versa. First, Thick As A Brick is a superb and highly enjoyable work in my opinion also. With this, JT continued in that direction, but I think here lacks the adventurous and jolly spirit of TAAB. Instead it feels like it's been made just for making's sake, complexity for complexity's sake, without real passion(!) behind the music. It's quite even all the way, no notable highlights. I returned to this album yesterday after 12 years and I actually remembered it better (though not among the best ones anyway, even then). Frankly, I was bored. Afterwards almost nothing remained in my mind, except that saxes are played more than usual. It's surely more 'acquired taste' than other Tulls.

The hilarious fairy-tale narrative "The Hare Who Lost His Spectacles" in the middle is of course quite amusing with the exaggerated pronunciation. For most Tull fans there may be nothing wrong with A Passion Play, but somehow it leaves me cold. The sleeve notes tell of a failed studio session (was it in France) after which the whole concept changed for darker. For worse, perhaps?

It's been at least 15 years since I've listened to this album. I just bought the re-mastered CD and three things stand out the most to my ears: 1) How much Ian plays the soprano sax commpared to his flute. 2) How much it sounds like Gentle Giant, especially the first part/side one if you have the vinyl. 3) How well Ian sings. You forget how good a singer he was back in the 70's. I'm curious to know what this album would have sounded like if the lads had stayed in Switzerland and finished it instead of dropping what they recorded and went home to England. It is one sober, somber and bottom-heavy work. Just look at the cover, it speaks volumes. It really doesn't pick up until the climax, (my favorite part BTW). Yet, it's on par with 'Thick As A Brick' to me and if it wasn't for the Monty Pythonesque 'The Story Of The Hare Who Lost His Specaicles' I would give it the highest rating. Such as it is, which is still one of the best prog albums of the early 70's, it rates 4.5 stars. A must have!!!

I was really caught off foot with this album. I was initially expecting based on the reviews that I read that this album was going to be a little disappointing to any Jethro Tull fan. Well, after giving it a few listens, I must say that this album is great. It's no Thick as a Brick, but it really does give it a run for its money. Ian Anderson and the rest of the group have a knack for writing great pieces, and they really exhibit their abilities on this album. The use of flute on the album is subtle and it really makes for a more light-hearted tone, even though the album deals with darker themes. When I first put it, I initially thought that I had accidentally put in Thick as a Brick, but soon I realized that this piece was so drastically different from TAAB. John Evans is once again at the top of his game, with the keyboards taking the forefront and really making an incredible experience. But the guitar is not drowned out, Martin Barre also plays some incredible licks and really shows why he is a great guitarist.

I really have to say that the first part is a lot better than the second part. It's really similar to TAAB, in that it feels as if all of their best work went into the first part, and then the rest was just filler (but good filler, mind you). I don't really enjoy the beginning of the second half. Once you get past the first 3 or 4 minutes, though, it really seems to get back into form.

I really was impressed by the intricacy and perfection that Jethro Tull had on this album. Then again, it wasn't as good or as remarkable as TAAB. There are few dull spots, but there are enough spots to keep you interested. I give it a 4/5 because I feel that if you give it a chance, you'll truly enjoy this work (I certainly did enjoy it).

AN ALBUM WITH CONTROVERSY

Honestly, I have had countless attempts to write a review about this concept album. Not because of the controversy between two poles that "hate it" or "love it" but due to the incapability to express my views that is fairly objective and comprehensive about this complex and serious album. As far as controversy issue, I have been on the latter pole, ie in the category of those who love the album. Big apology if this review of being too subjective, probably. What I can assure you is that whatever my view here is not exaggerating. But if you think so, I don't blame you - it's probably I appreciate prog musicians too much because I'm not a musician, but music is my soul. Music is emotion. I sleep with music, breathe with music, work with music .

Ian Anderson's Perspective

"With Thick As A Brick, we took the idea of the concept album and had some fun with it. Now we thought it was time to do something a bit more serious and make an album that wasn't a spoof and wasn't meant to be fun. We ended up going to record the album at Chateau D'Herouville, in France, where people like Elton John and Cat Stevens had made records. Our original plan was not to make another concept album. The project started off as a collection of songs, including two that ended up going onto our next album, War Child: 'Bungle in the Jungle' and 'Skating Away (On the Thin Ice of the New Day).' A certain theme had begun to emerge among the songs - how the animal life is mirrored in the dog-eat-dog world of human society - but the project just wasn't working out. So we abandoned what we'd done and went back to England."

"Back home, I ended up almost completely rewriting all of the material we'd worked on in France, and this became A Passion Play. The concept grew out of wondering about the possible choices one might face after death. It was a dark album, just as we had intended, but it was missing some of the fun and variety that was in Thick As A Brick. The critics savaged us. Chris Welch of Melody Maker and Bob Hilburn at the Los Angeles Times wrote really negative reviews that everybody jumped on and reprinted or based their own reviews on. It really snowballed from there, and we got a fair old pasting for that one. On reflection, the album is a bit one-dimensional. It's certainly not one of my favorites, although it has become something of a cult album with some fans."

Ian Anderson, Guitar World, September 1999

Well, the above quote speaks clearly enough so that I don't need to repeat. Chris Welch is a great reviewer and I learn a lot from his critics about rock music.

Album Review

"A Passion Play part 1" - The album starts off with a relatively complex and less-melodic music (which would grow to a melodic one with many spins) combining multi instruments including woodwind and flute. This part is where most people would most likely reject listening to the remaining part; nothing so attractive about it. It once happened to me when I first listened to it for the first three to five spin. At approx min [3:26] Ian voice enters wonderfully with powerful accentuation : "Do you still see me even here? (The silver cord lies on the ground.)" augmented with great piano work. Acoustic guitar inserts into the music during this first verse lyrical part that ends with: "There was a rush along the Fulham Road into the Ever-passion Play." And the music turns quiet.

Hammond organ solo continues the music and with the fading in of drum work the music turns into complex and fast tempo music with soprano sax as lead melody; and suddenly it breaks into silent passage where Ian continues with the second verse of lyrical part. The music then turns complex again in uplifting mood combined with low points with acoustic guitar work and with the drum brings the music into foxtrot, followed with third lyrical verse: "All along the icy wastes there are faces smiling in the gloom." Oh man . I like this part. It's a truly musical orgasm for me whenever I enjoy this part! Especially when Ian continues singing "Invest your life in the memory bank.. " what a memorable part!

At approx min [11:43] Ian Anderson plays his flute brilliantly and dynamically followed with fast tempo music with great drumming. The music is complex, overall. And the fourth lyrical verse continues with : "Take the prize for instant pleasure, .." with still complex arrangement. The music increases with energy when Ian sings "All of your best friends' telephones ." and I really like this part. Piano and guitar play together with sax, Hammond and drums. The music then stops for a while and moves up again with piano as main rhythm section and guitar work followed with lyrical part that begins with: "Lover of the black and white it's your first night." In relatively fast tempo and high energy music. It slows down beautifully when it reaches unique vocal line: "The examining body examined her body.". What a great break! The other great break is when Ian sings with acoustic guitar rhythm as background while other instruments stop playing for a while: "All of this and some of that's the only way to skin the cat." And the music returns back into high energy.

Another great treat for me is when the first play ends up with The Story Of The Hare Who Lost His Spectacles where Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond does wonderful narration starting at approx min. [21:34]. What a wonderful narration and accompanied with a Tom and Jerry type of music.

"A Passion Play - Part 2" starts with the ending of The Story of The Hare with a floating music continued with wonderful entrance of Ian's voice that starts suddenly with "We sleep by the ever-bright hole in the door .." lyrical part, accompanied with stunning acoustic guitar rhythm. The musical composition is different than the first part but the main style is still maintained, i.e. the use of alto sax, organ and guitar as main solo that are played in intertwining style. At approx min [31:55] the music moves up differently with a combination of organ and drum work. Keyboard and piano work also characterize the music. Part 2 music is overall much more complex that Part 1.

At approx minute [40:22] the music turns differently with the entrance of guitar combined with organ and flute works followed with a lyrical verse that starts with: "Hail! Son of kings .". I thought that this ending part is a sort of disjointed portion of the whole epic because the style is totally different. But as I spin the CD more and more it feels to me that this can be considered as the epic's encore. Fortunately, the ending part of this last portion brings back the music into melody line similar to Part 1 with this lyrical part: "There was a rush along the Fulham Road into the Ever-passion Play." And it fades out .. Hmmm . what a peaceful feeling I got when the epic finishes. It's a rewarding experience!

Summary

Big apology for the long review but overall I can not put this album less than five stars rating. It's truly a masterpiece. I consider that this album is even better than the previous ground breaking "Thick As A Brick". For me personally, A Passion Play is the best of all Jethro Tull's albums. If you can not accept this album, please give it a chance for another 5, 10 or even 15 spins. I hope it'll grow. Otherwise, keep on proggin' ..!

Progressively yours,

GW

This album is one of the greatest albums Jethro Tull have graced us! They always demonstrate the talent of whom don't repeat the same formula. Yes, it's darker than Thick As A Brick, but anyway: what's the problem? It seems to be more various with the arrangements, including very interesting saxophone passages and beautiful Barrie's drums! The story of the hare who lost his spectacle represents a surprise, a break, in the obscure and magnificient atmosphere of A Passion Play........

........and it's sang by Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond, not by John Evan who, afterall, has made a great work, and having a great part in the construction of this masterpiece!!!!

Wow. I have no idea this album got and still gets so much dirt. The lyrics may be confusing, it may have more jazz influences, and have a darker tone, but aren't these elements common in prog albums? I personally view this as Tulls breakthrough album. It is the first to feature a synthesizer, and there is more sax and less acoustic guitar. The musicianships is also at its peak. Also, instead of complaining about the infamous 'hare who lost his spectacles' all I have to say is that depends what kind of sense of humor you have. If your into Monty Python, you'll realize that the sequence is to sound like an opening sequence to the show, with the animated animals. It definetely dosn't bug like dosn't a lot a of people. If if you hate monty python, the other music is so good you'll just have to skip it.

4/5

This must be one of the most complex albums ever...its certainly Jethro Tulls most complex album ever. But, complexety does not make a good album!!! But it seems that in this case complexety has much to do with the final product. The musicianship, or better yet, the way the instruments are presented is very diferent from other Tulls albums. This is because the guitars have a minor role but at the same time keyboards are constantly there; John Evans does his best work ever with the group. The other weapon of choice is Jeffrey Hammonh-Hammond, whos bass is also a very important part of the 2 long pieces, as well as the voice that tells the story of the hare who lost his spectacles. Then there are the drumms. Barriemore Barlow, a virtuoso of his instrument does not play a 4/4 signature time in any part of the whole album...and if he does ( which I cant remember) its only for a breef lapse of time. As I already said the guitars play a minor role, yet they are constantly present, but not doing solos or fills, but as a supporting instrument...still Martin Lancelot Barre manageds to do something here and there. And finally we have the bones, heart and brain of Tull...Ian Anderson, who plays the sax, quite good I might add, as well as the flute. But his acustic guitars are also different, his signature folkish kinda playing is here not present, for it has changed to a some what more classical touch...nice!

But I just went on and on about the musicianship, but did not said anything about the music inself, other than its complexety...well, this is hard to get into! Its not for the die heart blues/folkish fans from early Tull, unless you are opend minded. The 2 pieces are pretty much just one 45 minutes song, with a fairy tale in the middle. The music is hard to swollow some times, and Ians lyrics and voice are different from other albums. Although there is a constant irony behind his words, they are not really funny as in previous works, but dark. I find them incredibly interesting! The way he mocks very seriously about some things...is excellent.

The album, because of his (again) complexety and theatrical aprouch ( A Passion PLAY!), makes the band no longer a folk prog band, but a symphonic one...very very nice!!!

From all the Tull albums I have at this point, and they are not much ( I dont have Thick as a brick...which many would say its a big mistake, havind Passion Play before Thick as a brick...and maybe yes...but I still find this one so very good!!!), this is the best...by far!!!

While not reaching the heights of Thick As A Brick, this album deserves its merits, since it has a very interesting concept (regarding after-life, it is cool to see IAN exploring such ideas) and has introduced a new style on JT: less flutes and more sax and keys. Unfortunately, the band didn't seem to feel like exploring new melodies with these instruments. That's why we have too much repetitive melodies, making the album a boring experience sometimes - i notice that i feel a bit tired sometimes at the middle of the second part, imagine if they haven't had add the Hare's story between, i think i wouldn't stand listening to the album as a whole. Anyone, despite being repetitive and not so inspired as TAAB, Passion Play is a very nice effort by Tull so i feel secure on giving it four stars.

It is,of course,something of memorable dimenstions,being togheter with the Thick As A Brick masterpiece the only Jethro Tull works of such genre,of such nature:concept-albums,long pieces etc.But this is only a title given.Glory is obtained not by name or by asimilation with giant-creations.A Passion Play suceeds in exceeding every expectations (raised pretty high after Thick As A Brick's succes),in surpasing every barriers and limits,to afirm itself in big style and to prove (once again) the beauty,ingenuity,and the unimaginable force of Jethro Tull,to the maximum of potential.A performance of enourmous scales,a radiant and commanding masterpiece,a charmfull creation,with everpresent meaningfull messages,denoting nothing else than unearthly intelligence,superhuman efforts and an extraordinary rafined sense in creating music of the best quality,based on a concept and a plan made perfectly.An album outruned (but not at all defeated by that) in greatness,power and value only by Thick As A Brick.Still,it stands as one of the most important concept albums in prog rock history,an album that makes life,in those moments,perfect.

A Passion Play is not in the shadow of Thick As A Brick.I have seen statements like this and disagree.It would be a pretty eroneous judgement.Although Thick As A Brick is,undoubtebly,better that this,A Passion Play makes the effort to aspire and reach the same glorious heights;and acomplishes that.It is of the same unestimated value.The same touch of divine thought;the same euforic sensation generated.No more below just for being a "sequel" of the multilateral concept Thick As A Brick.It's even fantastic and to be highly appreciate that it mantains at the same at the same valorous position.The distance between A Passion Play and Thick As A Brick is little,and the choice could not (necesarily) be of up/down, plus/minus notes or aspects that A Passion Play has and Thick As A Brick does not (viceversa as well),but of preferences.Plain and simple,of preference.

Do not judge the album in two parts here as well.Even more than in Thick As A Brick's case,the inexistent ceasure between part one and part two shows and proves that this is a 45 minutes composition.

In an analysis,the structure,the composition,the concept,the dimensioning,the style and the message(s) of A Passion Play cannot be discussed in other manner than,of course,corelating with its "twin brother".No other Jethro Tull album can stand as fundament to this creation.Look how unique,innovating and unusual proves to be this concept.To have almost no reference point accentuates even more the rarity of this experience.

So,let us see!What is similar between A Passion Play and Thick As A Brick?First of all,its unitary form,of concert.Long parts,solid,strong and superb outlined.We are speaking of the same nucleus,aren't we?Second of all,the structure.Fundament themes from which all the modes,the improvisation and all the other elements are born.Fundament-themes that appear through several key-points of the play.Fundament themes that characterize the whole creation.Some themes or elements from Thick As A Brick stay even as a basic layer,a source of inspiration,a motivce and,so to say,a starting point in the building of those in A Passion Play.Third of all,a dexterity and an incredible virtuozity in the entire composition.Fourth of all,spectacular lyrics,of equal dimension with the album's greatness (of course,not necesary to say anything about the syncronization and the outstanding balance between instrumental and vocal;self-implied);wonders make the lyrics here.And fifth of all...oh,dear...hm...got in a deadlock;hidenn message,subtile references?

Now,what is not similar between A Passion Play and Thick As A Brick?The message,the looks,the emotions and the character.A Passion Play has something more closed within it,presenting not euforical aspects,of sublime happyness,boemic and super-various,but aspects inclined towards psichological touches,towards dimensionality,towards profoundness.Coagulated,with delicate rezonances of sadness or meditation,a parfume of inner reflection,a seren movement of the human voice and sould.Not something saddening or blackening for the mind,still with tones of that concealed sphere appearing here and there.Something of high perspective,but without and infinite horizon as material.Heading towards introspective feeling,looking for details that require a different kind of lightlyness.A spirituality of lower grounds,a context less luminous.A flick of surrealism within a larg breath of iluminism and conceptualism.Besides that,we have an obvious inclination towards improvisation.We encounter great moment of improvising themes,a loose touch from a strict structure of the values and the methods of expressing.A liberty of playing.Emotions:Of spiritual ascending,but in a different heaven.One of logic,of meditation...and so on.

I've decided to talk about "The Hare and his spectacles" part separately.From what I know so far in prog rock music,nothing like this have I met or heard anywhere else.Of an unimaginable beauty.Such a charming fragment,that is simply breathtaking.The voice of Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond is of remarcable personality.A moment of magnifique inspiration.Moment of respiro,long intermezzo,with a special pulse.How much sweetness into it...

So,after all,what does the term of A Passion Play (and the album as well) expresses?Greatness,glory and value?Power to create sublime music?Creativity,pure passion,dedication?Intense pleasure?Forte composition?Overwhelming vision?The description of an inner fight?Dreams? Delirium?Life?Agony?The soul's flame?(Temporary) death?Something?Anything?...the definition is in one's soul and one's own interpretation.

Masterliness.

I remember I bought "A Passion Play" in the very same day it landed in the shop; in fact, I was there looking for something different when I noticed that one hot-from-the-press pile of gory and macabre covers had just arrived that I promptly sacked one and ran home (after paying, as a civilized sacker must do).

My first hearing was an astounding adventure: I was literally crushed! But some demon inside told me that this work should not be well received by the mainstream and even the sidestream peers. Later, I read the critics and realized that "A Passion Play" wasn't properly lighting the neon. What a pity!

Well, nothing better than the elapsing of time and when the 20th Century faded and the new millennium arrived, apparently the comprehension of this work improved hugely (or maybe, averagely). Many people are considering, now, "A Passion Play" in the same level of "Thick As A Brick" (a JT's magnum opus for several honest fans) or even in a higher position - a posture able to get an asylum passport 30 years ago. I wasn't really one of those probable asylum dwellers but I always considered that either epics were more or less leveled, with "Thick As A Brick" a bit overrated, maybe for being the first to be born.

Unlike its older cousin, "A Passion Play" hasn't a main theme being repeated here and there, except for the intro and the end. The piece is a bunch of average-to-good songs that keep a general homogeneous atmosphere; the real link is done by the lyrics and mainly the band's playing - seeming sometimes foolish and vague, but never deviating from the target.

Never before, Jethro Tull played so harmonically; Ian Anderson had the vocals and splendid saxophone solos, but keyboards, guitars, bass and drums had their peaks along the song - great moments indeed. "A Passion Play" has high points but the near-ending is totally amazing - after 40' of different musical parts, the listener is caught for about 3 minutes in a tsunami of rock-folk-symphonic sounds that form undeniably one of the unforgettable passages of the entire prog-rock scenario, all sparking after 'Hail, son of Kings.'; a majestic and splendid end for a great musical piece.

Ah! I forgot to mention the interval curiosity summoned by the name of 'The story of the hare who lost his spectacles', a psychedelic fable, excellent to learn some Lancashire accent, according to my British friends, isn't it?

And finally, how to rate a work that has a different passion and a difficult play? I recommend "A Passion Play" for all serious and diversified prog collection. Total: 4.

1 2/3 Stars

Rather than the ambitious Tales of Topographic Oceans taking the blame for everything wrong with Progressive Rock and making the public lose interest, I think this should been that album. It is amazing how can a band that releases masterfully crafted classic rock albums like Benefit, Aqualung, and the sophisticated Thick as a Brick can suddently lose the inspiration and release a Thick As a Brick wanna be without the direction, melodies, and charm that made Thick as a Brick so successful. While the folk -> jazz change could have been a good one, I do not like the execution. The only things remaining are the great musicianship and the poetic lyrics from Ian Anderson. Just check on the internet the lyrics and you will be amused at the poetic talents of Ian. Also, the keyboardist here sounds like a hybrid of Charly Garcia and Italian prog keyboardists with his synths while Ian plays great flute and even the sax, the rhythm section is strong, and the guitar player plays a led-zeppelin-style kick ass riff near the ending. Sadly, those two can't help the disaster that this album is.

The story begins and you can hear that the musicians are playing complex arrangements, but are they good? I really can't remember much after it as the melodies are weaker than ones I could compose myself (and I'm not a composer at all!). How can the band compose such unremarkable melodies when they were the complete opposites with songs such as Aqualung and Thick as a Brick pt1? Lack of good melodies are not the only problems with the album as I stated in my first paragraph. I think the biggest problem with the album are lack of ideas and inspiration. Not only are the melodies weak, but the themes and riffs, and even the solos too. Everything in here is so uninteresting that it makes it a dull moment in your life to spin the disc. There are 2 more problems to be addressed:

_ Directionless : The album goes through one theme, doesn't really develop it and goes through another section. While the transitions aren't horrific cut and paste jobs, they still make the album incoherent and directionless.

_ The Hare That Lost its Spectacles : Oh My God!? If you want an example of the bad things about mixing music with humor, this is the first place to look. The story is silly and the humour is pathetic and irritating after a couple of listens. Ian makes a fool of himself with ridiculous vocal tones and the band plays childish theater soundtrack to follow the music. Remember when the band seemed to follow the lyrics brilliantly like in "My words but a whisper -- your deafness a SHOUT." when you hear a hammond organ chord when you hear the word "Shout"? Now, you hear Evans do cheesy 'shakes' to create tension I guess, but they are so out of place. Also, the riffs/melodies are some of the cheesiest, most ridiculous things I've heard. Finally, I haven't addressed the final problem with this part: Why is it in here? It doesn't suit the song musically and is really put as a cut and paste job in the middle of the epic just after it was kinda getting good. This song within a song almost makes me put 1 star in the album.

For diehard Fans only. If you are not a fan of Jethro Tull, you'd better stick with the early great albums and their mid-career gem (Songs From The Wood). Do not start the band's discography with this one!!

1. A Passion Play (Part 1) 4.5/10

2. A Passion Play (Part 2) 3/10 - The Hare play: 0/10 - The Rest: 4.5/10.

My Grade: D-

TULL did it once again!!

So this one had been Tull's most controversial album ever and actually I can understand that rock critics and fans being more into mainstream rock had devaluated it since it had been undoubtedly their most complex and hardest approachable work. But honestly I cannot follow those Prog fans putting this great album which I consider at least as good as TAAB down as crap. Actually I liked the overall darker mood of the music right from the beginning but it really took me numerous spins before I've been able to memorize some parts of it. The two-parted compositions is much more dominated by Anderson's sax and Evans' moog playing than any of their previous releases and resembles rather bands like Gentle Giant or VDGG than typical Tull. The album's concept which had been designed as a stage performance is centred around the story about death and afterlife of a guy called Ronnie. I wouldn't claim that I went already deeply into the lyrics which are even more difficult to understand than the ones for TAAB allowing multiple interpretations but for better understanding I can just confirm my fellow reviewer Dex F.'s advice to follow the link he mentioned. Actually it didn't work with me at the first place but you should go to www.ministry-of-information.co.uk and then follow the link for the album. There you might get as well explanation why they've put this strange and hilarious hare-story which isn't related at all to the concept in fact right between the two tracks. As far as I understood you've got to imagine the record as a stage play and I guess this short nonsensical yet amusing story had been meant as a refreshing break for the audience to recover a bit from the quite serious topic of the main story. And I've to say it's quite nicely done much in the vein of "Peter and the wolf" and I didn't find it disturbing at all. Anyway apart of that the artistic performance of all band members is just stunning here and this album offers some of the best sections they've ever done during their career. In my view The Play should be considered Tull's second masterpiece after TAAB and anyone who appreciated that one should find this one enjoyable as well, at least after a couple of listens. Some people might find it too pretentious but IMHO it wasn't but rather a masterpiece of progressive music!!

I listened to this album a long time ago, but I remember that I heard very good things. The arrangements are very good, and I think that, from the albums that I have listened from this band, this is one of their best albums, one of their more Prog albums. It has an humorous section, called "The hare who lost his spectacles" or something like that, which sounds funny. This album also has songwriting credits in this section for other members of the band, who also "sang" a bit. This is a fine album, IMO, from a band which is not one of my favourites.

Hah. The most progressive Jethro Tull's album (so far), but not necessary the best one. Everyone will agree this is an attempt to be thicker and brickier than a "Thick As A Brick". Well, of course, the band failed to overtake the artistic value and success of the previous album, but this one is not bad actually.

This is another concept album, (with "The Story Of The Hare Who Lost His Spectacles" mockery thrown in), and it doesn't works perfectly. Well, "Thick As A Brick" wasn't working perfectly neither, but I still think it's a masterpiece. The problem with this album is in the fact that it's much less homogeneous then it's predecessor, while sharing the same amount of complexity and diversity. However, I'm doing the same thing as most of the reviewers are: I'm comparing it to "Thick As A Brick", which is maybe unavoidable, but it's certainly not very fair: there's plenty of other Tull albums from the same era to conclude what status "A Passion Play" deserves.

If we look at it as a isolated entity, this is a very good album, with excellent cover, witty Anderson's lyrics and superb musicianship. Anyway, this is the first (and the last, I think) appearance of soprano and sopranino saxophones on Tull record, played by Mr. Anderson himself. Album contains boldly used Moog synthesizers; keyboards are all over the place, most of the time emphasising Ian's vocal perfectly ("My touch, freezing"). Hammond is ridiculously overdriven more than on any other Tull album. "A Passion Play" also contains some time signatures that could be described as a pure madness, plus my favourite rhythm-guitar section of all times (theme that has been repeated in variations through all the record, and the last one just before the grand finale); unique and frenetic combination of ehm...regular guitar chords and guitar harmonics. I never heard something similar before or after.

I would not comment the theatre play related to "A Passion Play" and I won't compare the album to the "Chateau D'Isaster Tapes"; I'm not very familiar with the happening at the time, and it's not very relevant to the music itself, really. Just an small remark about "The Story Of The Hare Who Lost His Spectacles": it contains some excellent music, and nice touch of humour somewhat similar to Bonzo Dog Band, perhaps a bit more pretentious. It's rather pointless inclusion in the middle of the record, but it's fun, and it's high-quality work. The video spot is great too.

Anyway, if there is any chance to avoid comparisons with other, more or less similar Tull's album, and if we try to criticise this one from the sheer musical point of view, than we have an excellent, epic-long jazzy symphonic record with touches of folk, of course with omnipresent "tullness" all over the place. So how can I say that "A Passion Play" is not good?

I discovered "A Passion Play" before "Thick is A Brick". It was back in December 1974. I received a taped cassette from it (you know, the ancestor of the download ...). At that time I found it a quite interesting and good album. I listened to it quite frequently although it was rather difficult to enter into.

After a looooong period (thirty years : so you can add several ooooooo's), I (re) discovered it. At first, I was quite disappointed. The Tull obviously tried to match "Thick" (which I had discovered in the meantime). This album is not as catchy as "Thick". It will also be poorly appreciated by the rock reviewers and press in general. I could not blame them.

When I listened to it back in 2004, I thought : hey ! how could I have loved this one (really). I spun it only a couple of times till recently. Since I decided to review the whole of the Tull's repertoire I tried again and again. I think that I have listened more to "A Passion Play" for the last three days than for the last three years for the purpose of writing about it. After a few spins, my meaning started to change : part one was rgood with very few weak moments. Not as melodious as "Thick" but a dark, profund prog track. Too little fluting though for my taste.

It took me another four (or even five) spins to be able to get into part two. It is really hard. At first (I remind you that this was more than thirty years ago in my case), I considered the cabaret-type intro as funny (you know "The Hare"). When I rediscovered it, I found it boring, dull : in a word useless. This is still my feeling. Another minute or so of average "sounds" and there we go again for another good Tull moment.

And again I tried and tried. Till the moment that I effectively believe that this is a very good Tull album. Not reaching the masterpiece level, but I can tell you, my rating for this one was two stars when I started to prepare my first hundreds of reviews to be posted here. Two months have passed, and I got used to "A Passion Play" and started to like it, even if it will never bring me true "Passion" (like other Tull albums).

It is definitely not the Tull album to start with. If you do not like at first sight, forget it a bit, then come back and listen carefully. You'll be rewarded, really. Seven out of ten.

Surpassing the pretentiousness of its amazing predecessor "Thick as a Brick" and somewhat predating the dark mood of "Minstrel in the Gallery", "A Passion Play" is a gem in its own terms in the multicolored musical history of Jethro Tull. By now, the interest of Anderson & co. in exploring the progressive potential of their musical vision had been fully exposed throughout the last two years, and now with this epic satire (funny and bitter at the same time) of the afterworld, the band is ready to push the envelope: neckbreaking complexity of compositions, unabashed sophistication of arrangements, impressive lyrics full of literary references, augmentation of the instrumentation with the addition of saxes and synth as well as a full orchestra for the 'Hare' section (a very Monty-Pythonesque fable that feels perfectly coordinated with the Tullian ideology of music with farce). The storyline to this album finds a man experiencing a parallel to the travels of Christ to the 'other side' after his execution by crucifixion and his resurrection, but now Ian Anderson bears a different muse, a muse of disenchantment and frustration about the idea that the afterworld is as pointless and dull as our earthly realm. The intro theme, punctuated by a synth and bass beating heart, gives way to a joyful yet slightly somber motif that turns out to be quite catchy. The first sung section, a languid piano-based ballad in full chamber fashion, shows Ian at his most vulnerable. The choruses are so effective in their simplistic solemnity: "There was a rush along the Fulham Road / There was a hush in the Passion Play". A nice passage that is soon counterpointed by an amazing 11/8 interlude (similar to the famous "TAAB" interlude, at least, to a certain degree), and that's when the power gets in and remains consistent. The rhythm section bears a very solid feel, especially regarding Barlow's taste and precision in his rolls and other percussive tricks. All the way through, the rockier passages are the ones that take center stage, sometimes going for the hard, sometimes going for a bluesier vibe, always keeping an aura of controlled complexity. Anderson is really enthusiastic with his soprano and sopranino saxes, which assume a more prominent role than his archetypical flute: not that there are not flute extravaganzas (the incendiary solo for the interlude's reprise is awesome, simply awesome), but it is clear that the saxes are there to provide a new texture for Anderson's duels with Barre's guitar leads and Evan's keyboards (organ or synth). The A side ends with an acoustic guitar interlude that introduces the excellent, bizarre farce 'The Hare who Lost His Spectacles'. Ended the fable, the interlude is reprised in order to pave the ground for the mysterious 'Down of Our Stairs' section - one of the most vibrating introspective pieces ever written by Anderson, undoubtedly a hint to things to come in the "Minstrel" album. The lyrics, which portray the hero's disappointment with the boring solemnity of Heaven and seriously considering a visit to that "forsaken Paradise that calls itself hell", are really moving: beyond the poetic tricks, the emotion is clearly palpable. Once again, after this dominantly introspective passage, comes a series of rockier sections in which the main character discovers there are also reasons to be disappointed at Hell and its master chief Lucifer. The final section, in which our hero turns the stone to return to Earth, is one of the most accomplished regarding composition and performance stamina. The climatic ending is adorned with the final chorus and the reemerging heartbeats - an awesome finale for an awesome progressive opus. No matter how much their music challenges the progressive label (as well as many other labels), "A Passion Play" has to be one of the most outstanding prog albums ever, and most certainly JT made a bunch of them in the 70s. A bit less consistent that "TAAB", but masterful all the same.

A great mixture of prog excess and pantomime exuberance, "A Passion Play" is a greater success to this reviewer than "Thick as a Brick" as the band strive to bring the variety that its predecessor lacked. Incidentally, "The Hare Who Lost His Spectacles" is brilliantly written and is the sort of joyful incidental music that Camel's "Snow Goose" should have been. I'll spend no more time on this one as it's such a popular and oft-reviewed release.

A misunderstood album, 'A Passion Play' is JETHRO TULL'S last great progressive work. Let's review the misunderstandings.

Can't understand what it's about? This album was based on a real art form. A passion play told the story of Christ's trial and death, and the form developed over the centuries to include everything from the fall of Lucifer, the creation of man and the second coming. A modern version is Mel Gibson's 'The Passion of the Christ'. Even 'Jesus Christ Superstar' has elements of the passion play. This form allows the maverick JETHRO TULL to explore a passion play about the afterlife, beginning with the funeral (my friends as one all stand aligned) with cameos from God and His Son, Lucifer, Magus Perde and everyone else IAN ANDERSON could think of. Dante's 'Inferno' meets the Gospel of St. John.

Lack of melodies? The problem is not the lack of melodies, but too many, all falling over each other to be expressed. Listen to the introduction (Lifebeats/Prelude): I don't think they wrote anything as melodious as this. One of my criticisms of this album is that JETHRO TULL have collected too many ideas here, and don't give them room to breathe. Sixteen tracks (as IAN ANDERSON identified in 1973) is too many for 48 minutes. The album is either too short or too dense. Probably both.

The Hare Who Lost His Spectacles a pointless diversion? Quite the opposite. Such an interlude is an essential component of a passion play. Treated humorously, it is the equivalent of a Monty Python episode, and introduces levity into what is, by and large, a serious album. Treat it as an intermission. Take it out if you've had your humour gland removed. After all, this album is five minutes longer than 'Thick as a Brick'; it isn't as though you've been short-changed.

Speaking of 'Thick as a Brick', doesn't it suffer in comparison to that masterpiece? Well, yes, so does almost everything. That's not a reason to dislike this. In fact, in some areas this album is superior: this is arguably IAN ANDERSON'S premier vocal performance: the operatic nature of the mesic suited his voice perfectly. And the extra instruments certainly creates a more varied sound than TAAB.

The citics hated it. Yes, they did. They were willing to forgive one excess (TAAB); to many, 'A Passion Play' was taking progressive music too far. But you'll find that the most trenchant critics of this album also harboured a grudge against progressive rock in general. Sadly, the critics knocked the stuffing out of IAN ANDERSON'S musical and lyrical ambition. This album was followed by 'War Child' (shudder), and TULL'S subsequent exploration of folk and heavy metal has always smacked to me of a retreat, the antithesis of progressive music.

So what's good about it? Great lyrics, an excellent concept, melodies all over the place, superb musicianship (go to 11 minutes in and listen to the jam, superior to the TAAB jam at 7 minutes on that album, in my opinion), and some great composition ('Best Friends', at 13 minutes on Side 1, is outstanding, as is 'Overseer Overture' on Side 2). It's a little disjointed; it did have a chequered history and could have done with a little more thought and development. But what is here is magnificent. 5 stars for brilliance, even if it is flawed.

How do you live up to Aqualung, a nearly perfect album? You create Thick as a Brick, a perfect album. And, how do you live up to a perfect album? You don't...but you try. Unfortunately for Jethro Ian, his attempt wasn't all that good, and A Passion Play does not go on to become one of my favorite Tull albums.

It is not, however, my least favorite album either. Arguably the most misunderstood album in Tull history, Play is over-loved by fans and over-hated by critics. I like to think of myself right in the middle. When I say good but not essential, that's exactly what I mean.

What restrains the album is probably not what you think; at least, it wasn't what I thought at first. Initially I thought the album suffered from lack of time to prep and record, but Thick was also created very quickly. Alternatively, I thought it was a lack of humor; I had heard that Play was very dark. And it is dark...sort of. Actually, it's not dark at all. Lighter than Thick, lighter than Warchild even. I mean, the subject matter, life and death and all that, is pretty heavy, but it's just performed in such a toss off way. Besides, how can any album with the line "Flee the icy Lucifer, oh he's an awful fellow" be dark?

Nope, my problem with Play is two things: first, I find it to be fairly unmemorable and un-diverse. Secondly, it's a total sell out. Which is not to say it's not a progressive nightmare, it still is. In fact, it's Tull's most "progressive" work. But it's still a sell out.

We open with the amusing, and somewhat deceptive, overture. It's sorta folksy and bouncy, and reveals the introduction of our newest instrument, the saxophone! How is Ian's sax? Well it's...not bad. It's not fantastic either, instead of playing it like a real cool jazzy dude, Ian plays it like a merry medieval instrument.

This fades into some acoustic musings from Ian (by the way, if you have never researched Jethro Tull at all, the plot of Passion Play is a young man's travels through the afterlife. 'nuff said). It really doesn't stick with me because I can't remember any of it. Oh well. That turns into a bit of saxaphonery with some keyboards mixed in for good measure. Oh, by the way, do you like trading acoustics off with sax/keyboard noodling? You do?!? Oh good! Then this album is for you, because that's all that's on it!

Anyway, this goes on for a while. There are little snatches of possibility (a violent sax solo, some church organ), but nothing sticks around long enough to become anything. "Roll up, roll down?" What came first, the Play or Brain Salad Surgery? A word about the lyrics, they're great ("here's your ID, ideal for identifying," the infamous "ice cream lady"). They're not backed with particularly memorable melodies, which would be okay if I still had the lyrics sheet, but I lost my liner notes. Getting back to the review...

We continue with some more samey sounding stuff. Occasionally a guitar pops in here and there, and there's one decent flute solo, but all in all, doesn't click. A fairly popular bit of noise is called "Lover of the Black and White." It's repetitive and sounds suspiciously like the movement we just got out of, but you can at least headbang to it. It also contains some great spoken bits from John Evan and Jeffrey.

We gradually return to the overture theme. This eventually morphs into "The Hare Who Lost his Spectacles," a childish fable dropped on its head in the middle of Ian's most bombastic work ever (the point of course being that real medieval passion plays always had little fables in the middle like an intermission, yadda yadda yadda, history lesson). It's VERY underappreciated, in my opinion, and needs to be given its due. Perhaps you can't understand it without the video, but trust me, it's hilarious. Spoken word via Jeffrey backed by a real orchestra, instead of just John's keyboards (although John gives the quick spoken intro, great stuff). All the little blobs of music, the pauses and sound effects, the over-exaggerated sniffing, works perfectly with the narration.

Now, back to the album. "Black and White," overture, "Hare." We're lookin' good! We lose a little sight with "Foot of our Stairs," an inoffensive, but unimaginative, acoustic/keyboard/sax deal that's pulled beyond its means with jamming, and nothing that you haven't heard before. But then we meet Satan...

If there is anything on the album worth talking about, it's this. The "Overseer Over You." Everything works somehow. Ian's vocals are over the top, but hilarious. The keyboards are spacey, but cool. And Martin's guitar actually comes through for a change (he's playing out of a box; like on "Cross Eyed Mary!"). And Ian? Possibly the greatest noises he's made the sax ever produce. If Passion Play produced a classic number, it was the "Overseer Overture."

I love the organ transition here, and it becomes "Flee the Icy Lucifer." It's a decent enough rocker, but as I've said, nothing you haven't heard before if you've been paying attention to the album. Although I like the jig instrumental bit.

For some reason, we are next hit with some acoustic strumming that reminds me of Hawaiian music (hmm...maybe Play's more diverse than I give it credit for). This takes a very sharp transition, and turns into the energetic "Make the Ever Dying Sign" movement. It's not bad, but as I've said before, nothing you haven't picked up before. Just faster this time. Although I like the chorus bit.

There's some final acoustics to show we've come full circle, and one more shot at the overture and we fade. Now, remember how Thick ended? Yeah, it was awesome. Dude, that album ENDED. Play? Not so much. It just sort of falls apart in a lackluster kind of way. All I like is that brief shouting (what's he saying?). Maybe if Ian ended it better, I might be persuaded to raise rating, but...

So, as I've said, Passion Play is a collection of interesting musical ideas that are extended beyond their abilities, and any diversity is killed by overuse of Emersonian synths and weak sax. Not that I have anything against John's keys or Ian's sax, they're all well played, but remember Thick? EVERYONE in Thick had a shot to shine. There was a friggin' drum solo! Now, there ARE some decent guitar and flute parts, but they're buried (poor Martin) or few (where's Ian?). Barrie and Jeffrey are screwed though. So, lotsa synths, but the album can't work as atmosphere because it still tries to be engaging, nor can it work as listen-to music because it's not particularly memorable. Is it interesting? Sure. Amusing? Usually. But not particularly good.

Now, what do I mean by sell out (remember that?)? Up to this point, the Tullers were embracing early seventies alt-rock, but it was always on their own terms. Try to describe Aqualung using other bands: "if the Who had Eric Clapton and John Lord instead, hired an orchestra, and tried to play some hard gothic rockers with a little Bach thrown in for good measure." Okay, now Passion Play: "ELP covers the Yes Album." WHAT?!? Yep, even though Tull always had their own unique Tuller sound, with Passion Play, they play what sounds like everyone else around them (mostly due to the over reliance on John's spacey keyboards).

Alright, that's not fair to Tull (since the album does use the "Tull sound"), or to ELP (who I really do like) or to Yes (who I also...uh, I like the Yes Album at least). But still you see my point; Passion Play is a sell out in that it sounds like other popular albums at the time instead of that unique Jethro Ian noise.

Not that I'm saying it's a total waste of time. And I can understand why some people adore it. The first side has its moments, and the second side is almost cool. In fact, if you're more in for the prog haul than the Tull haul, then dude, this is YOUR album! Of course, I can also understand why some people can't stand it...

(Passion Play comes with but one extra feature: a video! And it's the greatest Tuller video this side of Slipstream. In fact, it's a better saving grace for the album than the "Overseer Overture." The video is, specifically, a theatrical version of the "Hare Who Lost His Spectacles" from the middle of the album. It is also one of the trippiest (not recommended for newcomers), most hilarious pieces of rock theatre ever recorded. Ever. If you're having trouble getting into "The Hare," you need to see this. Helped me. Jeffrey is the devil. Barrie is a cameraman who chases ballerinas. There's some guys in really bad bee and newt costumes. Best moment? Ian (SNIFF) hands Jeffrey a clipboard; Jeffrey reads it, then tosses it carelessly behind him. It's almost scary to think that someone gave them money to film this. It doesn't raise the overall rating a point, that would be too kind for a single video, but it easily raises it to a 3.5. In fact, maybe even the record alone gets a raise from the video, since it honestly helped me appreciate the album more. Seriously though, if you consider yourself a fan of Tull, prog rock, or just whatever, you need to see it at least once. Did I mention Jeffrey is the devil?)

Another great by Jethro Tull. "A Passion Play" is really divided into 2 segments. The first is in the same vein musically and in structure of "Thick As A Brick", while the second part begins to take the shape more of a stage musical and storytelling. This one along with Songs from the wood are my fav. Despite the fact that some reviewers are not so pleased by this album, i find it very catchy, more on theatrical side, but very well done. Here JT try to explore new sounds and most of the time succeded. On the other hand, it is quite good instrumentally. Jethro Tull were always good musically, and here is clear they develop complicated music, folkish prog at the highest level. In the end i rate this one 5 stars, because i relly enjoy this album more than Benefit or Aqualong. Here Jt were in the front line of prog, no doubt. Sorry if i deseppoint some reviewers with this rate, but for sure i pleased others. A masterpiece of prog, and among the best Jethro Tull albums.

Even in a genre as full of bizarre concoctions as progressive rock, A PASSION PLAY must be one of the craziest gallimaufries around. Many proggers just can't stand it, and even Ian Anderson wrote (in his liner notes for the 2003 remastered edition): 'The badge of honour worn today by the hard line Tull fan who knows everything, is to claim to have listened all the way through, twice'.

Well, even though I'm a JT fan, there are at least seven of their albums I don't know (all of them post-1979), but I never had a problem with a PASSION PLAY. This must be because I grew up with it and digested it slowly, just in the same way as TUBULAR BELLS or CLOSE TO THE EDGE.

Oh, I understand A PASSION PLAY suffers from a few shallow patches. When Ian first starts singing, for example, it sounds kinda... boring, and he's not helped by the sheer awfulness of the lyrics. Lines like "She lay her head upon my disbelief and bathed me with her ever-smile" just about make me want to puke. But let's not forget what a splendid instrumental introduction the album got! And with the "All along the icy wastes there are faces" passage, A PASSION PLAY takes off for real. From then on, the listener finds himself on a rollicking rollercoaster ride, full of exuberant folk-rock dances, brash guitar riffs, pretty pastoral intermezzos, manic flute and sax solos, and crazy keyboard interludes. The sheer variety of sounds and melodies is exhilerating, and when (on the original B-side) Ian reaches the passage "Colours I've none - dark or light, red, white or blue", the band are rocking as hard as Jethro Tull have ever done.

I see no need to use the word 'self-indulgence' in this context. A PASSION PLAY is a glorious entertainment, one of the most accomplished Jethro Tull have offered us.

THE JETHRO TULL LOVE/HATE ALBUM!

It seems than every major prog band back then released an album ''good'' enough to be crushed to pieces by critics and some of their fans.ELP had BRAIN SALAD SURGERY or WORKS vol1, YES produced the always ''controversial'' TALES FROM TOPOGRAPHIC OCEANS or PINK FLOYD with THE FINAL CUT!

PASSION PLAY fits this criteria for JETHRO TULL.After the release of THICK AS A BRICK which became a #1 hit in UK and in the USA, IAN ANDERSON decided to stick with the magic winning formula.Another concept one song-suite! Why not? Don't fix if it ain't broke, they say!!

When released in 1973, PASSION PLAY was badly criticized by almost all rock critics, real bad. All the words used to decry a prog album were used with profusion such as pretentious, over the top, self indulgent or pompous. What was great with TAAB suddenly has disappeared with the new album, replaced by worthless music. So what about PASSION PLAY 3 decades later??

This is not an album to hate or reject, neither it is an album i worship! this is a good album, not great, some kind of middle of the road JETHRO TULL music. There are some pleasant parts like the beginning of the 2 parts with nice ANDERSON vocals, some nice instrumental parts that are very energetic and enjoyable like on part 2, some other kind of dull noodling like at the end of part one. Some melodies are memorable, some other suffer from originality, or lack of!

Also, i am sure MARTIN BARRE is not listening too much this album as he is quite non-existent throughout the album! Ian ANDERSON is all over it. When he is not singing, he is fluting; when the flute stops, time for the saxophone!!and a lot of it, believe me! more than the guitar ,for sure. But i like to hear the guitar of LANCELOT on a JT recording.I have to wait the end of the album to finally notice him.

Next to IAN ANDERSON, the star is JOHN EVAN very, very present: a lot of good organ, piano and even some synths.This is definitely the most proggish album from JT with TAAB. Did i mention about THE HARE?? everybody has an opinion about this piece of ''music''. Again, i am in the middle for this ''masterpiece''; it's not bad, it's even entertaining, but it could have been well shortened!! There is nothing wrong being funny even for a serious prog musician.

Not a bad album, even pleasant to listen to on some occasions. I definitely prefer part 2 than part1, but JETHRO TULL did better than that before and....will do better.

3 STARS!

Its not art if its not hated by some

Am I right? All of the great artists through history had works that were hated by contempararies and in many cases considered offensive. While usually not as extreme, similar views have been expressed regarding JT's 'A Passion Play'. What is puzzling is that 'Thick as a Brick' is used as a lithmus test for the album and is praised and stroked like the pretty golden child while 'A Passion Play' is the ugly step-child kept chained in the closet. My opinion is the opposite of most in that TAAB is an off target first attempt at a concept album and APP meets the mark in a more adventurous progressive manner. And certainly the most unfair comparisons to Yes' metaphysical monstrosity 'Tales from Topographic Oceans'. Neither of the 2 JT works even come close to floundering with the audacity of TFTO.

The album starts with a bouncy main theme with a circusy feel to it that morphs into a classic Ian Anderson accoustic guitar vocal movement. The main theme returns with a more sinister feel, alternating through the accoustic piece. The music flows into a jazzy feel with multiple winds, not the least of which is Anderson's ethereal flute. Throughout the albums first side the main theme is hinted with increasing sinister modulations. The 'skin the cat' portion, as I like to call it, is the heaviest and most sinister porion of the side. The side closes with the part of the album that makes the most people stomp around angrily, 'The Hare who Lost his Spactacles'. I love the intermission.

My feeling on 'The Hare who Lost his Spactacles': regurgitated from one of my forum posts: I love the story. I think its an outstanding metaphor for what was going on socially in the western world at the time. The anthropomorphic representations of establishment: Hare - The youthful idealist who has lost his spectacles and therefore his vision. Bee - The laborer: Is ready to help, but not the best thinker. Kangaroo - The leader, mother: Hare is far to big, and independant for mother's help. Owl - The wise, the forefather, the man: Has the wisdom of the ages, but conventional wisdom is old and tired...and falls asleep. I'm still a little puzzled on what newt represents. In the end the lost spectacles were his own affair (mind your own business!) and hare indeed has a spare pair, or his own vision for the future. Maybe it means nothing, but I doubt it. Its presented like a fairy tale. And nearly all fairy tales have a moral.

The second side starts with anoter classic Ian Anderson accoustic guitar and vocal part with very dark textures. Most of the second side holds a more consistent theme of its own with occasional recalls to the side one theme. What stands out on the second side is Andersons use of saxaphones which provide a very distinctive sound to the album.

I have read interviews with Anderson regarding this album. It is certainly not one of his favorites. There was even talk that the music from APP was to be part of 'War Child', including 'Bungle in the Jungle' (I'll consider that a bullet dodged). Thank you Mr. Anderson for letting this fine work stand on its own.

4.95 stars

Well, if you thought Jethro Tull took on religion with Aqualung, you ain't seen nothin' yet!

I think that's probably why this album doesn't get a lot of respect. And then there's that irritating Hare Who Lost His Spectacles bit. Actually, being a Monty Python fan, that doesn't bother me a bit.

Passion Play is musically very interesting and has some great lines: "All along the icy wastes there are faces smiling in the gloom." "(The examining body examined her body)" "All of this and some of that's the only way to skin the cat." The whole "hare who lost his spectacles" bit makes me think "hare who lost his testicles" for some reason whenever I hear it. "But after all he did have a spare pair." "Show me a good man. I'll show you the door." "Here's the everlasting rub, neither am I good or bad. I'd give up my halo for a horn and a horn for the hat I once had." "Everyone's saved, we're in the grave, see you there for afternoon tea." Eh, I could go on, but I don't want to border on lyrical plagiarism for this review.

The music here certainly has some of the important qualities that define classic prog. It's got dark moments, complexity, and moments of beauty, with a few silly things thrown in for good measure.

They really don't make it like this any more. May actually be the only time they've made it like this, period. Maybe a bad or a good thing. Not a bad thing for me.

Well, it didn't take long for Tull to immediately lose whatever credibility they'd gained with Thick As A Brick. A Passion Play is plodding and grating, bloated and pretentious, and so wrapped up in its own complexity that it is aurally claustrophobic. Truly, the emperor has no clothes. At best, it comes across as a parody of TAAB, though not a very good one.

We can't fault the musicianship; the band is in fine form here and tries to bring infuse energy into to the lifeless compositions. But by nearly any other measure by which I rate an album, this is a failure. I bought A Passion Play back in 1973 upon its release; I didn't purchase another Jethro Tull album for 30 years. It's Thanksgiving here in the U.S., and I'm feeling in a generous and well-sated, so I'll give it a 2. Newcomers be forewarned: this is not the place to start your Tull collection.

This is a type of album that often apears in prog: a love it or hate it album. For me, sorry to all you fans out there, it's a hate album. I cannot stand it. It was a blatant attempt at recreating Thick As A Brick, and it was a pathetic attempt in my eyes: TAAB was a one off where JT were at their peak, that was to never happen again. Of course this album has its moments, but overall it is an abomination to my CD collection. Overcomplex, overpretentious, overexaggerated rubbish with a stupid concept and not direction, i detest it with a passion (pun not intended). The Hare Who Lost His Spectacles just sprinkles this sewer-water cappecino with powdered [&*!#]. There was never going to be another TAAB.

Into the ever Passion Play

Jethro Tull's A Passion Play has to be one of the most controversial albums ever to hit the market. I don't claim to be an expert on the subject, but simply in seeing that it comes right next in line after the Godly Thick As A Brick makes one know that expectations are going to be high, and any slight disappointment it going to be magnified infinite times by the fans, as unfortunate as that is.

It's not surprising to see the reaction that this album gets from many critics. This is indeed, Tull's most bizarre album. Anyone venturing into its territories is going to need a sense of humor and an ear for the extreme end of things. Lyrically it follows Thick As A Brick with its satirical views on everything in the world, but while Thick. expressed that through lofty and poetic stanzas, Passion Play tends to play more to the eyebrow raising one-liners. ''Here's your ID/ideal for identifying/one and all''. ''And your little sister's immaculate virginity wastes away on the boney shoulders of a young horse named George''!

Of course, the music can be expected to be just as strange, and it is. Where previous albums helped define the prog-folk subgenre, this one tends to use more lofty and strange synthesizers, at times relying on them entirely to complete a given section of music with one recurring obscure synth riff. This is not a bad thing however, since the flute is not hidden away entirely and still gets played here and there, not to mention that the pressing synths are actually a welcome change to the music.

This is all, of course, with the ability of full 20/20 hindsight. It's very clear to see where disappointment would have come from after a seemingly serious album such as the previous two. The middle segment of the track that kicks off Part 2 is the ever controversial The Tale Of The Hare Who Last His Spectacles. A strange bed-time tale from the band which has been dissected with semantics hundreds of times over but in the end is likely just a strange spoken-word middle section to break up the monotony for the band while playing a live show of the album. Enjoyable, if confusing the first time you hear it, this section of the song is best taken without a serious tone in mind.

Really, what we have here is an excellent album from an excellent band. Stating that the album is misunderstood would be a redundant and vague overstatement, but really, it can be. Not for the faint of heart, this one is still easily recommended to prog fans everywhere and people who fancy themselves Tull heads. Just consider yourself warned. now sit back and enjoy, because this album has a lot of spine tingling moments that can't be missed. 4 stars! Not quite a masterpiece, but close.

Review 45, A Passion Play, Jethro Tull, 1973

StarStarStarStarLamp

After the phenomenal success of Thick As A Brick, Anderson and co. approached this next offering with their minds set to creating another one-song album. Whereas Thick As A Brick's approach (several songs welded together, and parts of pt. 1 cleverly reprised with variations in side 2) had a definite charm throughout, this is a much more acquired taste, and it takes time to fully appreciate exactly where the deliberate one-song album pays dividends. I did like this on the first listen, but it took a lot longer to remember the melodic hooks and clever twists in it. In short, the issue is very much one of cohesion and the opportunities for real twists rather than small additions. You can get the same bar of music leading up to a completely different entity, and that does grow on you. All of the flow is more deliberately handled than on Thick, certainly, but with Thick As A Brick, you come to love the problems as well as the greatness, and with the more clinical approach of A Passion Play, that is not the case.

John Anderson's vocals, lyrics, acoustics and flute are excellent as ever throughout the entire album, and the more prominent use of his sax (which isn't generally great, but does contribute to the more chaotic and dissonant sections of the album). We do get some well-applied touches of violin, most obviously on The Story Of The Hare Who Lost His Spectacles. The vocals here may well be his best ever. The other standout player is John Evan, whose hearty application of piano and organ for blocky, delicate, effervescent, grandiose, forceful and hectic sections in equal measure is a welcome development from Thick As A Brick. There are also valuable glimpses of VCS-3 in both the more chaotic and careful sections.

Martin Barre generally seems rather more carefully applied on this one, so carries a lot more weight when he does burst out of the woodwork. He does handle some superb soloing and hard rock lines around the 'All of your best friend's telephones/Never cooled from the heat of your hand' section, as well as some wonderful sax-guitar-VCS-3 interplay on the second half. Barriemore Barlowe has, somewhat deliberately, not so obviously spotlighted the glockenspiel on this one, and gone more typically for occasional bangs on tympani, as well as some very interesting rhythms (I don't pretend to understand them, I just find them interesting) on the drums. He contributes well throughout.

I suppose the player I find least enjoyable on this one is Jeffrey Hammond(-Hammond), who is still an excellent bassist and completely adequate. My small issue is that I loved his connecting bass on Thick As A Brick, with its oozing, flowing feel, and I find the bass on this slightly less distinctive. Nonetheless, his bass throughout is very good, and has its moments.

Now, that's just an overview of the musicianship. The combination of these things, and the masses of high-quality interplay in an initially overwhelming array of styles (whether that's pure acoustic guitar and piano, harder rock, chaotic jams or even the parodic Story Of The Hare Who Lost His Spectacles) is half of what makes this album so exceptional. There are very few moments, if any, where I feel someone is taking away from the mix. The much-loathed Story Of The Hare Who Lost His Spectacles, in my opinion, is a fairly amusing touch, and doesn't clash too much with the rest of the album. I could see it being split over the two sides as an annoyance on vinyl, but I think it's transferred well to CD format.

The other half is the composition. Anderson's writing provides clever catches and multiple cases where you have the same lead-up to two completely different sections and end up virtually tripping over yourself in either admiration or surprise as you hear the twists. The overture is neatly done, and the choices of instruments throughout is grand. This is not at all trying to be Thick As A Brick, it's trying to be a one-song concept album, and, as a rule, it succeeds monumentally at that. I do get a little irritated by the 'Overseer' section, and I think an ending with slightly more aggression or force would have been more desirable, though probably not better-suited, but otherwise the whole piece is fantastic listening.

After sufficient acquisition time, this album definitely begins to grow on you, and there are some incredibly good moments, both lyrically and musically, but its increased panache doesn't always result in an increased charm. Essential listening, for curiosity and interest as well as quality. The flow is impeccable, and the benefits of the one-song album as a basic concept are on display throughout.

If we're arguing objectively whether Thick As A Brick or A Passion Play takes the Tull crown, I'd go without hesitation for A Passion Play, but for personal connection, Thick is a much easier and better sell. For the hard-core proggers this is clearly of much greater interest, and noone should miss out on this album. More trivially, this is one of two albums to which I have been caught playing air acoustics very badly. I'm restraining myself from awarding five stars, but only because my personal preference finds itself elsewhere at the moment.

Rating: Four Stars + (four star album, but so damn interesting that you can't afford to miss it). Objectively, it deserves the full five. Favourite Track: Ian Anderson unwittingly mocks my review format.

Fived. Now it works on every level. A truly acquired album.

A Passion Play by Jethro Tull was the much anticipated follow up to highly acclaimed Thick as A Brick. While certainly exceeding the latter for more sophisticated and complex music it doesn't reach some of the more emotional highs or memorable passages of its predecessors. Certainly in the second part the band reaches the level of Thick as Brick but the moment is too short and may have served better as a series of shorter songs than this one long piece of music. For one I could do without the reprised chorus of along the Fulham road repeated so many times.

That being said there is a level of music here that goes beyond Tull's usual blues and folk base and even conjures up memories of Van Der Graff Generator and Gentle Giant. It is probably the most experimental Ian ever went and Anderson was severely beaten up for it in the press. That must have had some effect on him as you can tell by the next two albums which brought back shorter and simpler but still good formats.

Still there is a lot to like here. The band is in good form and the music for the most part is stellar. Surely more dark than and not as uplifting as TAAB and more mysterious than Aqualung it still has ways of grabbing you when you least expect it. It is sad that Ian has turned his back on doing a medley of some of this material in his live sets because I think it would have been good to hear.

Without The Story of the Hare Who Lost His Spectacles narrated by Jeffrey Hammond- Hammond and replaced by another song this would be easily a 5 star album but I seriously cannot rate this as high as the last three albums in their catolog. The last of the progressive rock era of Tull as we knew it still rates 4 stars

This album will never, ever make it out of Thick as a Brick's shadow.

I have always gotten the impression that, under pressure from a whole lot of directions, Tull took some average-quality music, hastily mashed together into some really long tracks to mimic the format of their highly successful previous album, and then released it. I firmly believe that the music would be much better if the individual songs were divided up and wrapped up and presented like the individual songs they should be. Instead, we got an awkward medley of this and that, something like an album thrown in a garbage compactor and condensed together. And I think all of it suffers because of that. Clever ideas just get lost in the mayhem.

And don't get me wrong, there are some really neat bits in here. Some of Ian's flute strains can rank up there with his best moments ever. There are a couple of really neat melodies. It just leaves me kind of sad, I suppose, looking at what could have been developed into a wonderful follow-up album, rather than the chaos it results in. Also, I would have appreciated the ability to skip past The Hare and His Spectacles, which isn't terrible or anything, but there is no way it can be listened to with as much frequency as real music can be. Jethro Tull find their feet again after this record, at least after a few more years, and they return almost to a place almost as high as what this album by all rights should have been.

Serious Jethro Tull fans will probably enjoy this release well enough, but as far as an album goes, it's pretty weak. Do not expect a Thick as a Brick Mark II with A Passion Play.

For those of you who weren't alive and/or aware during the 60s and 70s and wonder why that period of musical history garners so much attention and admiration in the prog world, consider the fact that both "Thick as a Brick" and "Passion Play" were not just popular but rose to #1 on the charts in the U.S.A. Chew on that for a moment. The general public at large not only enjoyed but fully embraced progressive rock in that era. Nowadays if you confess to your friends and family that your preferred genre of music is prog they will most likely look at you as if you just rudely crapped yesterday's meatloaf on the living room floor. So, when you listen to this enigmatic work of art, keep in mind that, despite a complete lack of radio support (there was no single or excerpt to play), it was readily accepted by even the most average of Joe in those days. Hard to believe but the data confirms it.

Having said that, I must admit that I missed "Passion Play" completely. As revealed in my review of TAAB, I was so disgusted by what I perceived to be the blatant commercialism of "Aqualung" that I childishly turned my back on one of my favorite bands and boycotted every offering they released thereafter. Thus it wasn't until this millennium that I came to my senses (heavily influenced by the esteem that my proggy peers place on Jethro Tull's contributions to the cause) and delved back into what I cavalierly dismissed like some spiteful lover scorned. The downside of my infantile behavior is that I denied myself the pleasure of the group's creations for decades. The silver lining is that it's not too late and now I get to discover them anew.

It's apparent that "Thick as a Brick" is pretty much universally accepted by proggers young and old as a bonafide masterpiece, and rightfully so. It is amazingly cohesive and inspired. Yet many of the same folk that applaud that album disparage this one and I'm not sure why. While I will concede that "Passion Play" doesn't quite scale the dizzying heights that its predecessor does, it remains a challenging and very thought-provoking endeavor that should appeal directly to those who firmly profess to adore unorthodox, progressive rock. (By now you're mumbling "Enough already, old dude, get on with your insightful report. I humbly agree and will do so forthwith.)

The first section is a glimpse of our unnamed protagonist's earthly life distilled down to a 3:24 time span, represented by a festive marching parade atmosphere and book-ended by his first and last heartbeats. Now he awakens in the afterlife where, after the initial shock wears off, his first inquiry to no one in particular is "Do you still see me, even here?" The beautiful interplay between Ian Anderson on acoustic guitar and John Evan on piano as they underscore the complex melody line is terrific and they do a great job of allowing Ian's abstract lyrics to flow effortlessly. Our boy isn't sure what to think of this place. "Such a sense of glowing in the aftermath/ripe with rich attainments all imagined/the sore thumb screams aloud/echoing out of the Passion Play," he sings. Suddenly the band jumps in and delivers a high-spirited, jazzy interlude before they return to a calmer motif. A "sweetly-scented angel" leads our hero to the pearly gates where deft acoustic guitar playing serenades him. A very Tull-like rocker approach is used to personify the heavenly security guards that usher him into a viewing room where he's informed that during his mortal existence "cameras were all around" and "we've got you taped, you're in the play." The dense musical structure here is filled with intricate time signatures and difficult passages as well as raw saxophone and synthesizer lines whilst Anderson plays a stunning flute solo. At this point my mind reels at the group's audacity and courage.

The poor fellow's history is screened for him without discretion and there are so many entertainingly poetic lines thrown about during this extended, rocking sequence that I can only encourage you to follow along in your libretto as you listen. The dynamics are interwoven with astounding skill into the flow of the narrative that speaks of telephones that "never cooled from the heat of your hand," how he was the actor of the "low-high IQ" and how he was reminded of his little sister's virginity being snatched by a "young horse named George/who stole surreptitiously into her geography revision." While the film's end credits roll he is asked by the staff whether he thinks the documentary was for "our good cheer" or for "the gory satisfaction of telling you how absolutely awful you really are." (St. Peter and his posse are rather cheeky, are they not?) A short reverie from the acoustic guitar leads to a gorgeous, too-brief instrumental featuring an echoing synthesizer air as it resonates among the clouds.

Without explanation Jethro Tull next tosses in the controversial spoken-word diversion that is "The Story of the Hare who lost his Spectacles." While I understand how and why this disruption ruffles the fur of many, I've come to consider it a sly, wry satire on the sometimes confusing and irritating clerical employment of condescending parables as theological and ethical teaching tools. Its abrupt appearance smack dab in the middle of the album is strange, indeed, but the background orchestration is intriguing and I like the implied sarcasm in the grandiose presentation of a tale that, in the end, means absolutely nothing. (Evidently, though, the angelic professors are extremely proud of it.) A reprise of the lovely music ensues, then the group leads you into a mellow but still non- standard/involved segment where our disembodied man finds himself in the company of a bunch of groveling carpet crawlers, surrounded by old farts who "talk of when they were young/of ladies lost and erring sons" and where the Gods are "floating by/wishing us well/pie in the sky." Our restless soul is not impressed by this shallow heavenly abode so he puts in for a transfer to somewhere else.

Since Hell is the only other "somewhere else" there is, that's where he lands. A jazzy jam greets him, then Ian's vocal and acoustic guitar extend a gracious welcome as the Devil asks him to "give me your hate/and do as the loving heathen do." Another lengthy but satisfying rock & roll episode decorates his whirlwind tour of the underworld. It's not ominous music as you might expect, but stately and pompous in its intensity as Lucifer briefs him on the saga of his falling "with mine angels/from a far better place/offering services/for the saving of face." But apparently the stench of brimstone doesn't endear our hero to Hades, either. Since rejoining his breathing brethren on Terra Firma isn't an option (though he'd gladly "give up my halo and the horn for the hat I once had") he thanks-but-no-thanks the Crimson King for making him feel wanted while boarding the tram back to the penthouse pronto.

Pretty acoustic guitars from Anderson and fluid electric guitar lines from Martin Barre color his unconditional return to Heaven Station just before an edgy, forceful riff takes over for another rock excursion where the rhythm section of drummer Barriemore Barlow and bassist Jeffrey Hammond- Hammond are so tight that you hardly notice them. Our ethereal boy has resigned himself to willingly participate in the curious cosmic adventure as the seraphim "roll the stone away from the dark into ever-day." He still has no clue as to what is expected of him or what the future entails exactly but the dissonant sounds emanating from the fade out indicate that eternity is going to be a real mindf**ker.

Everything from the clever but macabre cover shot with its dead, bleeding ballerina to its daunting, abstruse musical themes and arrangements literally screams PROG and nothing else to my ears. So my thinking is that if "Passion Play" doesn't appeal to those brave 21st century aural adventurers who frequent websites like this one then it certainly won't hold an iota of charm for anyone else. I like it a lot. I deem it to be a slightly-flawed yet delightful, highly uncommercial romp in which Jethro Tull dared to continue to contradict the low-risk wisdom of cranking out more light, hummable ditties like "Cross-eyed Mary" and "Locomotive Breath" in lieu of running in the front ranks of the progressive rock movement. It's not "Thick as a Brick" but it comes damn close. 4.4 stars.

It's a Passion to Hate this album

After one of the best Prog Rock records in the entire history of Prog, IMHO, follows up a album similar in concept, 2 20 minutes songs, but the style is completely different leaving desperate lovers of TAAB cold and annoyed. I'll be sincere and say I hated this at first, didn't know what it was about, just saw 2 songs, and thought ''Hey, another Thick as a Brick, this is gonna be great'', I was so dissapointed that I gave it to my father who was and still is a real lover of the album, he was very happy I had bought it, so we made a little exchange, I gave A Passion Play to him and he gave me Thick as a Brick, excellent deal, huh? Well I was going to regret that exchange for, like 2 weeks. He played it in the car every time I went with him, at first I felt the same as before, just full noise, no sense, too much, PRETENTIOUS! But then after a few more, dedicated listens in the car, I said ''gees, what a great instrumental passage'' or ''awesome moog'' or ''wow, that saxophone is superb! TAAB doesn't have one!'' and so on. Also hearing my dad narrate the parts of The Hare Who Lost It's Spectacles by memory was really shocking, and made me enjoy a bit the story, while I barely listen to it, if someone else puts it, I won't be annoyed and quite delighted remembering my father's humorous way of narrating it. I finally realised it was just a matter of time and DEDICATED listens, that ''noise'' and ''nonesense'' I thought before had just tansformed to ''awesome!'' and kind of the like mentioned before. I asked my dad if we could, well to be honest I didn't ask my dad, I just ''stoled'' it and I put TAAB again in his collection, obviously he didn't realise since he's a bit too old to remember things like this.

Anyways, besides my anectode, I can say that this album is a true challenge, just like Relayer or Tales by Yes are, or Brain Salad Surgery by ELP is. They're definitely the most complex albums ever written by each band, with their best playing generally. These albums truly deserve more respect than they have.

To go a bit further of the style of this album, I'll say it has a much more eclectic style compared to TAAB, much less acoustic guitars, more time changes, less hammond-organ replaced by the quirky moog which is definitely a acquired taste, you got less classic Tull flute which is replaced by a extremely catchy and enjoyable saxophone played by Ian himself.

A Passion Play for me is tied up with Thick as a Brick in the #1 spot of Tull albums, but for different reasons. One being highly melodic and playful, with great virtuosity, the other one being more complex, odd, and more varied, also featuring virtuosity.

Certainly a album that all Proggers and Tull fans should check once in their lifte-time, give it time and dedication if you really want to appreciate it. Of course, you may have done that and find no positive results, but it's worth the try. A masterpiece.

So much for controversity... I really don´t understand what all the fuss was all about... Certainly A Passion Play is a pretentious album, specially lyrically, but so what? so many were at the time. If you stick to the music and you´rea prog fan you´ll probably like it. Ok, this CD is less accessible than their previous (and later) works. It demands atention to be appreciated. But the same can be appplied to so many great prog albums. Certainly I wouldn´t call it a masterpiece in the same league as JT´s previous release, the brilliant Thick As A Brick, but is still excellent.

I loved specially the instrumental passages: Jethro Tull never sounded so progressive! Those guys outdid themselves musically. John Evans keyboards soar and Ian Anderson never sang so beautifully. Only Martin Barre´s electric guitars parts are a bit subdue, yet when they appear they are very good.. There are some stylistic departitures here and there, when they do produce some more jazzy sounds (pehaps due to Anderson´s much use of the saxophones). This may have annoyed some radical fans.

The only real fault on this album is The Hare Who Lost His Spectacles. This silly story may be funny (an inside joke pehaps?) but has nothing to do with the album´s concept. Its placement in the end of the part one spoils the musical flow of the work. But I can live with that.

In the end I found this CD to be maybe JT´s most complex work to date. A real challeging album for a band that was at its peak. And a very good one, by the way. Four stars.

It would be impossible to describe the richness of this bizarre tapestry of an album. All the old familiar elements of Jethro Tull come crowding in a different...way. This is one of the hardest albums to follow. I literally fell asleep the first few times I heard it. I was prepared to give up on it. I was ready to say, "I don't get what others see in this." Then, with no small measure of courage and persistence, I held onto the few places in the music that held onto me, and my investment paid rich dividends. Each section contains amazingly memorable melodies that just beg to be heard again and again. Plus, for some weird reason, this album became my favorite to play while I was in the cups, and to this day, I like to play it around four in the afternoon after I've had a few. In fact, I play this album far more often than I do their previous record, but that could be due to the beer I consume and the fact that I purchased Thick as a Brick the exact same day I lost both of my cats. Oh well. Whether Jethro Tull was trying to bank off the ironic success of Thick as a Brick or not, I don't care. Nor do I care what the critics said about it. This is the ultimate comeback album for me as a listener, as a record I once regarded as the lamest of lames is now shoulder to shoulder with the grandest of grands. And if the ice cream lady wets her drawers to see me at all, well, who am I to complain?

"A Passion Play, Pt. 1" The opening instrumentation introduces the main vocal theme of the piece until the rest of the band enters in with their jaunty rhythm and main instrumental motif. Eventually a gentle acoustic guitar and whistle come in, bringing the listener to the vocals of maestro Ian Anderson. The acoustic guitar is brilliant with Anderson's vocals, and eventually gives away to some great organ and electric guitar music. The music is varied and yet united. Each section contains amazingly memorable melodies that just beg to be heard again and again.

"A Passion Play, Pt. 2" The children's story about the hare who lost his spectacles always made me cringe. The first time I heard it, I felt cheated. I wanted to haul the album back to the store from whence it came and get my money. Now that I am a father, and have come to enjoy this for everything it is, I find this narrative to be just a natural part of the album- I can no longer imagine it without it. The swirling segment, the one that came at the end of the first part, returns after the silly little tale, and is brilliant- one of the best things Jethro Tull ever did. And so much happens thereafter. My shoulders can't help but move in rhythm with the section just over fourteen minutes in. The following acoustic part is lovely and something one may wish to dance to, but, as with "Minstrel in the Gallery," the acoustic grandeur is broken up by a gritty wakeup call from the electric guitar. This lively segment is a punchy one that always dismissed my interest quickly, but my patience with going through with the album made this part just as enjoyable as the rest. Have I mentioned that each section contains amazingly memorable melodies that just beg to be heard again and again?

I've always got something of an undecided opinion about Jethro Tull's second progressive rock masterwork. While it has certainly grown on me and appeals a lot to me on a rational level, I never played it nearly as much as its obvious touchstone for comparisons: Thick As A Brick.

It sure is quite astonishing Jethro Tull managed to create a second 45 minute opus in 2 consecutive years. The inspiration must have run very high to say the least. Especially since this isn't just a TaaB rehash. No, I'd rather say it is adds a lot of stylistic differences. Especially the addition of saxophone and the more humorous and playful attitude give it a kind of circus music feel. It's less folksy and more cabaret like. Well as the album title indicates, this is a theatrical adventure and it works quite well as such.

My only issue with the album is that is sounds less vigorous then TaaB. That album just flashed with energy; here I sometimes miss that intensity and creative spark. It has moments where it sounds studied and slightly overworked when compared to the spontaneity of most of their earlier work. Not a love or hate album as far as I'm concerned. Just very good but not exceptional.