A PASSION PLAY

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.