A PASSION PLAY

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.

Share this JETHRO TULL review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to LiquidEternity
• Report this review (#184364)
• Buy JETHRO TULL music online with PA partners
• Show all JETHRO TULL MP3/Stream
• Go to JETHRO TULL page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to A Passion Play page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for JETHRO TULL related discussions