A PASSION PLAY

Jethro Tull

Prog Folk

4.04 | 1691 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

branchranch

So here it is. The Jethro Tull album everybody loves to hate.

It's a shame this album followed the ground-breaking Thick As A Brick. I think everyone knew at the time that TAAB was a great record, but I don't think they realized what a masterpiece it was. It takes time for that sort of thing to sink in.

So here comes A Passion Play. Unquestionably weaker than TAAB, and with a very similar structure. Plus it had that "stupid" story right in the middle. It was even split between sides of the LP, so you couldn't avoid it very easily. So, the critics lambasted the record, and it became the laughing stock of the Tull catalog.

What a shame. The record is really quite good.

It's not as good as Thick as a Brick. But, come on, people, look at the ProgArchives chart of the all-time greatest prog recordings. Nothing is.

Here are the arguments against A Passion Play: No direction - I agree, but only partially. The music is pieced together and doesn't flow well - Agreed, but much of the music is excellent. And there are plenty of prog albums with poor transitions. The Hare Who Lost His Spectacles is a detraction - Strongly agree.

But I find a lot to like in this album. The concept is unassailable, even if it was only partially realized. Even if the album has more than its share of filler, the remaining tunes are outstanding! There is some of the best stuff Jethro Tull ever recorded on this album. And you get Ian Anderson's lyrics.

If this album was released by anyone else other than JT after TAAB, it would have been received much more warmly. It's no masterpiece, but IMHO a very fine example of early 70s prog.

Rating: 4.15, rounded down to 4.

branchranch | 4/5 | 2014-10-24

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