A PASSION PLAY

Going in, I think I am actually a "0" on this, surprisingly enough. I am pretty familiar with TAAB , and a bit with some War Child tracks, but have somehow missed hearing this one. Today's the day! I have read that the theme is a man who dies and is neither fit for heaven nor hell.

Track 1 - A Passion Play, Pt. 1

A Heartbeat fades in. Then various sound effects. We eventually start a shuffle beat. The next theme reminds me of some of the 6-8 in TAAB. The band has some nice accents, then we're whistling, before Anderson begins a cappella, joined by acoustic guitar, then piano. We come to an odd-meter instrumental break following the opening verses. I believe these verses describe our protagonist's death & funeral. Next is a renaissance (the era, not the prog band) style acoustic section followed by wonderfully proggy verses. A great instrumental break follows, leading to a fantastic Anderson flute solo. Excellent tempo shift at 13 minutes. So far, the music reminds me of a cross between Aqualung & TAAB, stylistically. The segment around 16 minutes sounds familiar to me. Might have heard a live excerpt. Nice ritardando at around 19 min. Then we pick up again. Then a slow piano and vocal segment as part 1 winds down. The heartbeat theme returns, but with full instrumentation.

Track 2. A Passion Play, Pt. 2

We are told that "This is the story of a hare that lost its spectacles!" to kick off part 2. Whimsical music accompanies a narrative in an equally whimsical voice. It sounds like a children's story, a fable more specifically. Love the rolled "r" in "trembling". Not sure what the purpose of this part is, but it's fun. It becomes a children's song, with some accents from the band. This brings us back to the prog. I love the in bit at around 5:30, before Anderson starts singing. The next instrumental bit has a sax solo. After a quick check, I see that Anderson added soprano sax to his arsenal of instruments that he can play at some point before this album. There is a nice acoustic and vocal section at around 10 minutes. Things start to pick up and rock more around 11 minutes in. There is a pause for synth sounds around 14:30. We go back to acoustic at 18 minutes. Classic Tull rockin' flute at about 19 minutes, there is a timing change at around 21 minutes. Piano takes over as we reach the conclusion, sand some closing bits from the band as the song fades out.

OVERALL IMPRESSION:

A fantastic album indeed! Ian and co. put in a great effort here. My only deduction (and I'm sure some of you love it to bits) is the fable/children's song at the beginning of Pt. 2, while wonderfully weird, is just a bit out of place for me (although I'm sure I'm missing the point of it). It'll probably make more sense in future listenings. Great album. 4.5/5 stars.

Clicking 4, but really 4.5.