because it's just an opinion.

There are 1000's of great prog albums so not everything can be at the top. The PA list is just a list of albums and the order is not that important really although I'm glad that CTTE is top. Beyond that I'm not really fussed.

 

 

mmmhhh!!!... my current APP review on PA  was rewritten after a forced strong exposure, but I still couldn't manage to permeate what it's about (even not worrying about that stupid Hare piece), probably because of its inn-density (rather than intensity) 

 

Clearly, the Mad Flauter thought he couldn't go wrong after TAAB's immense (and surprising to many) success and his grandiosely ambitious ideas would start to crumble with the D'Ysaster thing and the War Child fiasco. He forgot to make an accessible storyline for APP

 

Interesting to note that The Who's Pete Townshend suffered also a crush in his overly-ambitious Lifehouse project, squashed around that same time.

I am of the opinion that this is so, because we hear the same things over and over and over again, and our brain gets comfortable with this and that, and when you hear something different, it won't stick ... and it will be tough to get past that, and is the main reason why I dislike the "classics" and the "top ten", because for the most part many listeners simply "needle" a bit here and there (as we used to do) and not listen to the whole thing properly and correctly.

Many of the comments on a lot of things are exactly like that ... because if someone had a comment BEYOND their "like" they would tell you why! Instead all you get is the push of the post to the top in replies. many of which are devoid of any indication that it was even listened to.

This is something that you find out real quick, when listening to ... for example ... SPACE PIRATE RADIO ... when the difference and the weirdness and the unusual come together, and you can not define it, and neither do you know how to feel about it ... except that ... you don't get it! ... and in the end ... there is nothing to get ... just enjoyment to appreciate, and it is something that most can not do or have, because they are so conditioned to a specific top ten sounding thing ... that prevents you from listening to new things ... 

PP, just like TFTO, deserve a lot more respect ... and likely would ... if we weren't so damn washed out with just one type of sound and song ... then, and only then, might we ever come to understand what "progressive" really means, instead of a meaningless word wasted on nothing!

When I first heard it I thought it was the best JT ever! So, I'm not surprised when the folks that only played top ten sounding material (as was the case in Santa Barbara) did not like it ... it was so obvious that you could smell the stink 10 floors down!

What is more scary is that 46 years later, EXACTLY the same thing happens here on many conversations!

But that's like saying that someone's opinion is more important than yours ... specially when it has "numbers" behind it suggesting a falsehood that was fabricated by commercial interests to help sell their product ... something that we continually refuse to see and then realize how bad it can be to most arts, in general.

The opinion is NOT THE ART.

The fan is NOT THE ART.

So, why would "opinion" matter to anyone ... SPECIALLY IN A PROGRESSIVE BOARD ABOUT PROGRESSIVE MUSIC!

The irony hurts!

I quite enjoy the recording and the live show at the time.... and can remember it being played in full before it's release on the radio (I was on a first date with 1st husband, his father drove us to the pier where we had very sophisticated espressos...got to hear the whole thing on the way, as it was a bit of a drive....June 15, 1973.  Also a very bad Topanga fire started on that day.....

Perhaps part of why I remember it so clearly, it played a part in a memorable day and time in my life.

You do realize that the rating and reviews section of this website is entirely based on people's opinions, right?

Almost nobody on this website is under the impression that the cumulative rating an album receives, or any individual review for an album is an objective viewpoint on the album, nor are the ratings "the art". It's nothing more than getting a sense of how the prog community receives a particular release, which can be both interesting to read and help guide people towards other albums they might be interested in checking out.

This is not a particularly "progressive" board (nor does it have to be)... And it's about "prog rock", not "progressive music" - there is a distinction, in my opinion.

The Story Of The Hare Who Lost His Spectacles 

I would also give it a 5. I suppose it's not as varied/exciting/ballsy as TAAB, but its every bit as good. 

I commend you on your bravery and also for coming around to listen again, and to Tull and, obviously, have a fondness for the band.  :)  Funny the perspectives of other generations, I find it wonderful that there are so many that didn't grow up with it that have discovered it on their own, delved on their own and found what they enjoy, that takes a different kind of interest than it's being handed to you on a silver (well, usually, black) platter over the current airwaves (or netwaves or whatever, these days).

He was asking why the rating is low not whether anyones opinion is valid. Clearly you don't believe in opinion but the guy who started the thread does. Stop telling people what they should or not think. You are not the thought police. I am fed up with you to be honest. You are a monstrous pain in the butt.

This is where the "definition" of the word ART is a problem. And then, how do we make out who fits and doesn't fit.

I tend to look at the complete history of their work ... not just one album, mind you ... before I consider them an artist, and in this sense, yes, JT fits, even if a lot of his music was more radio inclined (even when FM was almost dead in America!!!), than otherwise, and sometimes (this is just me -- but I have not kept up with IA or JT ... there are way too many others out there doing better NOW!), this is not for my tastes ... I have that feeling that because his "concept" albums (PP/Minstrel) originally did not do as well, and the critics did not like it compared to Aqualung, that it took a little out of Ian, enough to come back with songs for the radio ... which got played enough to sell some, but it was not the monster that his early albums had been.

Anyone, can make a piece of music ... anyone can paint a picture ... anyone can write a novel ... but doing so consistently is another story ... and this is where I have an issue ... is Stephen King an artist even though I do not care for his material or work? I have to take my "personal" view away ... and this is important ... and then go ... it is better than a lot of pulp fiction, even if a lot of it is ... mostly what appears to be just weird twists and turns to create a story, and further take it somewhere else.

So in this sense, a lot of bands, JT included, have to have the appreciation for their ART, even if it is not perfect, and I will tend to be a bit more detailed on new things, and hope that they can also come back strong, so to "fortify" their ability and standing ... the obvious question would be ... as was the case with Mozart ... how many pieces are you going to see, before you realize that this guy is strong and talented?

My only concern, again, is that we tend to believe this "top ten" stuff and in effect turn off some listeners to anything else by that artist ... and I don't think that's fair ... I have listened to all the newer stuff by Dream Theater, and although I did not deem it necessary to review ... I'm not going to doubt their ability to put something together, even if it seems a bit duplicated for my tastes ... like saying that you and I do not feel like that about Tchaikovsky or Beethoven beyond the pieces that we know ... in fact, sometimes you can tell right off the bat who is who ... 

But I am not sure that the "listener" has anything to do with the work itself ... you see ... Stephen King writes off his "movie mind" (for lack of a better description), just as Mozart did off his movie mind (nicely pre-viewed in the well known movie!), just as Huxley kept a diary and track of his "inner" experiences to put together an incredible amount of literature ... to many of these, it is not about the "public" ... maybe their wife/friend and what not, but I doubt that is a whole lot beyond that except on some occasions.

The main problem with publicity and the media is that it thinks it has a right to make a decision, and one of these days, as artist is going to hang himself/herself in a concert to make their point ... I am not here to write for you ... and you can not stop me from being myself and instead be your slave! Get fudged! And we're still going to sit there and be sordid and upset that someone had the guts to take us down a step that should have been done earlier ... but that person/artist didn't know any better, as is the case with many of these women out there ... exposing something they are not, and in some cases, trying to be a teenager, when they are no longer one! And no one gets that it's a lie disguised in publicity!

It's just too weird ... and one of the reasons why I have such a disdain for "top ten" ... heck I got to see FM radio come up, and then 6 years later the station was bought by Texaco and a year later ... it was all dots and you could not play blah and blah from 8 to 8 kind of thing and no weird stuff before midnight so we don't "alienate" the audience ... never mind that we're playing the same ten songs each hour! Let's now even consider, discuss what happened to KMET in Los Angeles ... the greatest crime that the FCC has ever committed and allowed to happen ... on a station that was very highly rated because they ... whatevahhhh!!!

When you have seen those kinds of things, you remember them ... but too many folks here, have no idea what all this meant, and how it hurt the "progressive scene" that many think DIED in the 80's ... it didn't die ... it just got "censored" as I like to call it, and we bought into it and NEVER EVER said anything about it like good boys and girls!

How much sicker is that?

Don't hold back...tell us how you really feel.

The first time I heard APP it left me cold.

The second time I listened to it... I was lukewarm in my affection.

The 3rd time I concentrated and actually listened to it I was "coming around".

At about 10 listens, I was fully converted.

Some 46 years later I still discover instrumental sections in the layers on music that I wasn't aware of before.

From dud (initial listenings) to masterpiece (after ~10 listenings).

Be patient.

It would be rude of me to say that perhaps the subject matter and presentation is well above a few folks' heads here, but it is what it is, even if you don't quite get it; yet as a Medievalist I have always found the album fascinating. Rather than a Renaissance Faire approximation of early music, Ian Anderson instead takes the actual bones of the original play concept and gives it a modern take, with modern, progressive music, rather than lute and tabor mimicry. Even the name "Ronnie Pilgrim" is a nod to early English narrative poetry featuring the "Everyman" as an allegorical character (such as Langland's The Vision of Piers Plowman), and his journey from death to rebirth is an ironic twist on the crucifixion and resurrection of the early Passion Plays.

That A Passion Play ends not in the Lord's Resurrection but Ronnie Pilgrim's reincarnation is another ironic twist and a punch to the gut of the religiosity Ian Anderson loved to skewer.

A splendid album, well worth a serious listen. Particularly if you take the whole in context and realize this release was far beyond the trite and rehashed hedonism of most rock albums in 1973.  

^^^^^^ Very nice and thank you DE

The big issue here is, as DE showed, the album is only as good as one is educated and knowledgeable, to appreciate what Ian did on this album, which was against all the rock anything ideas, and he stuck to the "idea" and "concept" beautifully ... and this is the part that most folks here can not handle ... they need their "concept to be given with breakfast, lunch dinner and a _____________ in other words they have to be TOLD that this is what they are about ... its exactly the same thing with the "Christian" rock bands, many of which have no idea what the whole thing means and all they can do is use a quote frivolously.

PROGRESSIVE MUSIC, made a serious attempt to ELEVATE the quality of the music, and there are a lot of GREAT examples out there, but it only takes an idiot like RW to put down the work of his band, to get fans to think that the whole thing was just a laundry list and had nothing to do with anything else. For fans, even here, this is perfect, of course ... because ... how dare an artist try to be smarter and more educated than their audience, whose level is quite questionable many times.

It's a serious problem in America and it got worse since the Reagan/Bush days when they began cutting off completely any moneys for schools to do the arts ... and what you got now is people that believe their top ten, because they have never seen, studied or appreciated something else ...

PP is only rated low by those that won't make the effort to find out what the whole thing is about ... plain and simple! Where do you stand?

Always, even in my youth, the music just spoke to me. It seems just a complete and well rounded piece that shaped my future expectation of what an album should be. I appreciate your analysis and definitely find a new lens to see APP through with it in mind. But given that I consider it a masterpiece prior to being provided such a replete picture of the backstory, I am left unconvinced that it is essential to appreciating the album. 

But of course, personal experience is only ever anecdotal.   

On the question put forth by the OP, I can only return a question: Is it really rated that low? To me, anything over 4 stars is pretty highly rated. In addition, the box set, APP: An Extended Performance is the 2nd highest rated box set on PA @ 4.9. I personally rated them both a 5. 

However, I can assure you this is one of the most divisive albums on PA. Most people who like it, love it. And those that don't would likely frame it for murder if they could.  

Thank you....This.

I find it a tremendous listen. Not pop or conventional rock (how many say '80s Genesis haters find sl*g.ing of Genesis as their material is more easy to understand in order to hate - therefore not prog while APP is too much prog and there fore generating resentment). Hare's losing their spectacles.

An allegory of death and rebirth - not too far from the cycle of rebirth at the essence of it's peer from Yes _Tales From Topographic Oceans.). Musically it moves on often and quickly. I'm sure the detail obsessed prog fan who hates repetition will find a huge mount to absorb in it's 45 minute length.

No, it's not an obvious album - there are no radio hits or an edit to use as faux prog - such as the live arrangements and edits of TAAB. It has historical depth as the earlier post from Dark Elf related. The band are in fine form and the massive concept works for them. IA in his finest voice ever and the intrigue deep; the atmosphere dark.

To me TAAB and APP are to each as the earlier Stand Up And Benefit albums are to one another. Absolute classic music.

The Dark Elf wrote: For a rock album, it is actually quite well-researched and a brilliant modernized rendition of the Passion Plays (better referred to as Mystery Plays) of the late Middle-Ages/early Tudor epoch, when such "Morality Plays" would be seen in town streets and squares prior to the playhouses and actual dramas and comedies of Elizabethan England. Springing originally from Easter Pageants, where indeed the devil and the Resurrection were integral parts of "Passion Plays", the Mystery/Morality Plays expanded on the theme to include prostitutes, criminals and various other reprobates who eventually were "saved" by divine intervention.  It would be rude of me to say that perhaps the subject matter and presentation is well above a few folks' heads here, but it is what it is, even if you don't quite get it; yet as a Medievalist I have always found the album fascinating. Rather than a Renaissance Faire approximation of early music, Ian Anderson instead takes the actual bones of the original play concept and gives it a modern take, with modern, progressive music, rather than lute and tabor mimicry. Even the name "Ronnie Pilgrim" is a nod to early English narrative poetry featuring the "Everyman" as an allegorical character (such as Langland's The Vision of Piers Plowman), and his journey from death to rebirth is an ironic twist on the crucifixion and resurrection of the early Passion Plays. "The Story Of The Hare Who Lost His Spectacles" rather than being misjudged as some bizarre oddity plopped in the mid-section of the album by modern critics is actually a fair representation of a Mystery Play's Interlude, a break in the more serious play that often featured a humorous or absurd fable to keep the commoners and groundlings from drifting off from the heavier sermonizing. That A Passion Play ends not in the Lord's Resurrection but Ronnie Pilgrim's reincarnation is another ironic twist and a punch to the gut of the religiosity Ian Anderson loved to skewer. A splendid album, well worth a serious listen. Particularly if you take the whole in context and realize this release was far beyond the trite and rehashed hedonism of most rock albums in 1973.

 

Ok, I will give it another listen in the +/- near future, because it might've flown above my head, probably because it's even more English-y than then modern-day England, but probably thatb the wholev thing was also too obtuse for its designated audience... Maybe it would've been wiser to make a fukk-)blown Tudor-Renaissance musicproject

Soooo, it would be a failed attempt at elevating the average TAAB fans??

 

 

First, with such a debate as to PA's ratings, I wouldn't trust them, because many APP lovers would probably be tempted to skew the raztings by giving it 5 (instead of 4) to give it that absurd above-4  compended rating.

 

Look at RYM (a more prog-neutral site), and see that APP is hovering at a much-more reasonable 3.5 and in Gnosis2000, there is more than a full point (12.6 against 11.3) with TAAB 

 

as for those individual boxsets, they're out of limits, AFAIAC, especially with so few ratings (any stats can't be valid with such a small numbers of answers.

 

I'm quite sure it's possible for someone to fully understand the background to the album and still not like the music. It might give you a better understanding about the concept as a whole but that doesn't mean your opinion of the music will necessarily change.

LMAO... 

That's about how I feel....very clever concept and lyrics................Anderson's take on 'theology' or the problem with it at least.

Musically....TAAB appeals more to me.

The sad part of it all is the post about someone not interested in "intelectual" this and that ... and in the end, it's like saying that no one in their time appreciated Shakespeare for its intelect ... and some were drunk and some of those folks weren't ... but the plays and the words survived and are remembered fondly.

I have this weird idea that someone posts that thinking that there is an intelligent bunch of listeners and an ignorant bunch of listeners, and that different ideas and "concepts" are not wanted or cared about, specially now that everyone (even here!!!) is so dang converted to "commercial" everything ... meaning that a Passion Play, or a Siddartha, or some esoteric Summerian Literature is not a fit subject for smoking dope and enjoying the fluff and snuff and puff that ... some lower class uses, instead of the supposedly better educated higher class ... that is so wrong ... people are people, and it doesn't matter the color the race and anything else ... and someone just posting that all they are interested in is their beer and their this and that ... just about takes the sails out of Progressive Music ... and makes me wonder ... why is that person even here? They likely belong with the Kiss crown, not, in this case, on a Jethro Tull discussion ... 

And this is something that hurts a lot of musicians out there, all of whom grow in many ways, and want to try different things ... only to be told by some folks that they can't ... you belong to me, and I don't like these smart stuff you are doing ... there is no artist out there that is not going to tell you where to stuff it! Or, as one guy here in Portland perfectly put it, right in front of the audience ... you are obviously in the wrong place ... if you want your money back, simply talk to James over there and kindly leave!

I can identify with the thread starter here. I mean, it's clear that it's a matter of taste and I can get why somebody may not like the album, but I don't really get why many who think of TAAB as a masterpiece find Passion Play disappointing. I think it's actually a great follower of TAAB in being similar in some respects and following up on some of TAAB's strengths, but also having many new ideas and twists, so one can certainly not say that it's just cheap rehash. Also its cohesion isn't worse in my view than TAAB. For me it all makes sense (I'm speaking music here, lyrics I don't mind much), great album! And the Hare is fun, if silly.

On allmusic Passion Play has a weak looking 3 stars, but the review actually reads like 4 or more. No idea what's wrong with people when it comes to the Passion Play.

I re-listened to both TAAB and APP yesterday and I agree....TAAB is more melodic with better song structures....both are lyrically interesting  but TAAB is simply a better album musically.

And I agree...I also prefer Aqualung to both of those.

Eventually, we came to understandings, and he became one of the biggest Gabriel/Genesis fans I know of.  

I eventually warmed up to APP but much prefer other works, including TAAB and "Minstrel."  

BTW, I am so damned old that I saw Tull perform TAAB in concert!  10 October, 1972!  Amazing show!

I like to know people opinions about music and I love to discuss about musicians and albums and songs and ... but "Rates" never show value or quality... IMO and I don't carious about people votes!!!

if the OP thinks it's a masterpice, then he should rate it a 5 stars.

4 stars still means essential album, so, I don't get it I guess...

like i said, i don't get it... but then again I rarely rate albums 5 stars or a perfect rating (other sites have different rating systems). When it rarely happens, it's either me never getting enough of that album or being blown away (it's rare, but it does happen).

So to me 4 stars is a high, positive rating. Complaing about that seems strange (for lack of a better word).

Now if APP was rated much lower, I would understand the complaint.

I specifically said that I was not talking about the site rating ( I did not even know what the number rating was tbh), rather the fact that the album has so many detractors, even among prog fans.

See, I can sort of agree with you, to my ears APP has a few transitions that seem a bit abrupt (mostly very early on), but for the most part it makes sense to me. I could say the same about TAAB though, there are a few clunky stop-start transitions in there as well, I don't really see how TAAB is so much better than APP.

The ironic thing is that WarChild would not likely not turned out the way it did if not for the shelling that APP took in the press. It's well-known that Ian took the criticism of APP to heart, and so made sure the next album was the polar opposite. If APP was rated highly by the critics of the day, it's likely we would not have gotten anything close to WarChild as we know it.

Interesting post. Never knew anything about medieval "mystery plays" but always loved this album. 

You wouldn't happen to be Morthoron from the Tolkien boards, would you? Your avatar and general way of posting reminds me of him.

You're wrong, of course. But I will defend your right to be wrong. Because wrong opinions are the building blocks of Prog Archives. It's what has made this site what it is. 

Well, this makes obvious that Ian should have done his own way instead of giving an ear to the critics.

My 3 star PA review of APP:

The trouble I find with APP is not that it is a bad album but simply that's it's only half a good album. After the stunning success of Thick As A Brick, Anderson and co. decided to push the long suite album epic even further. But the first side of APP is a veritable dirge filled with verbose lyrics that narrowly fill every dragged out beat of the depressing narrative in a queasy sing song style with music supported by Anderson's sub par saxophone. A flute, a flute, my Kingdom for a flute! Why Anderson decided to focus on the sax and discard his superlative flute playing is beyond me. When the slow minor key verses and musically clumsy narrative verses cease, the band lunches into dramatic faux jams with loud drums and bass that never venture past punctuated staggered notes and rhythms. This would normally signify a change to some wonderfully melodious music that, for whatever reason, never happens, as if Anderson is driving this musical car yelling "Left turn, right turn, left turn" while missing the road to the better more coherent music to follow. It's as if the catchy rhythms and melodies that lie just around the bend are always being bypssed. This is some of the most unappealing prog rock that I've ever encountered but the lyrics that accompany this dirge are no saving grace either.

 

Lines like "the ice cream lady wet her draws" and "and your little sister's immaculate virginity wings away on the bony shoulder of a young horse named George", while interesting and cute, are a far cry from anything that would be considered poetry and offer no deeper meanings, metaphorical or otherwise, and are certainly not close to any type of profound theological thought or comment. No great loss really as prog was never known for great lyrics but any help that they could have given to the music would have been welcome.

The mock theatrical debacle that is The Story Of The Hare That Lost His Spectacles (one of the worst fillers to be found in an album of any genre) is so poor and appalling that the least said about it, the better. An unfunny story with garish "acting" by sidemen Evan and Hammond-Hammond. In fact, it makes the myriad of ELP's "humorous songs" like Benny The Bouncer seem almost Shakespearian. Luckily, good songwriting, arranging and musical sense return for the album's concluding 18 minutes. We are returned the APP narrative which now boasts deft melodies and syncopated rhythms, particularly on the driving "Lucifer" section which boasts some very modern, for the time, sounding sythn accompaniment from Evan. This much needed bombast is too short but following suites offer beautiful near Flamenco type acoustic guitar from Anderson, as well as the return of his wonderful concert flute, which signals the feeling that one is back on safe and familiar Tull musical ground. Right after, Martin Barre interjects some of the most jaggered and brash sounding guitar chords he's ever played (or that I've ever heard!). The dramatic shift in the music is welcome and enjoyable until Old Ian ends this epic with slow acoustic strums and a plaintive last verse. The last 18 minutes of APP are some of the best music that Tull ever put on tape. But at what cost to the listener?

No one would be expected to consume a burnt entree only to get to a fantastic dessert. The same standard holds true for music. The last half of APP is quite a musical dessert, but no one should have to suffer through the main course in order to get to it. 3 stars.

And yet, here you are mentioning "Blake to Pilgrim" -- in the context of a rock album, and in an ass-backwards manner acknowledging APP's worth. 

But I suppose the term "progressive" to the stereotypical "lay person" you refer to is merely the perceived ability to fluff a three chord song into 20 or 30 minutes of doodling, rather than actually challenging the intellect of the listener. Or, god forbid, actually write lyrics that require more than the blithe acceptance of the crotch sniffing lines found in "Whole Lotta Led Zeppelin". You sound like Emperor Joseph II in Amadeus when he offered the blank summation "there are simply too many notes" to Mozart. What exactly was the point of "progressive rock" if not to go beyond the 12 bar blues-influenced structures of the 1950s and 1960s?

"Rehashed theology" is rather revisionist, don't you think? We are talking 1973, when women were still burning their bras and Catholic priests were allowed to fondle altar boys without the impedance of any legal authority -- or moral authority, for that matter. Coming from a Catholic school upbringing myself (I would say "reared" but that might give the wrong impression), the albums Aqualung, Thick as a Brick and A Passion Play were integral puzzle pieces in allowing a young teenager, such as myself, to go from a feeling of solitary unease and distaste about my indoctrination, to realizing that others felt the same way, and a rock band, no less, singing about it. Religion, and more precisely the Catholic religion, was a sham of Latinate mumbo-jumbo and archaic rituals, a facade to hide the nothingness behind the silken screen. 

I discussed this in another forum, but in part it can apply here. There was more to Ian Anderson's lyrical take on Mystery Plays than just a "Rehashed theology". Surprisingly, for a rock star perhaps, Anderson actually put in some research for the writing of the piece, rather than just crib some Willie Dixon lyrics and call it a day.

As a Medievalist in both a literary and historical sense (yes, degrees that never remotely impinged on what I actually accomplished career-wise), I was researching a poem by William Langland (b. 1332 - d. 1400) titled "The Vision Concerning Piers Plowman" (a famous 14th century work of allegorical satire), and the text I was using referenced an old and anonymous English morality play "Hickscorner" printed by Wynken de Worde (who died in 1534, and was partner of John Caxton, the first printer in England -- but you, of course, knew that).

A word in the reference material immediately struck me. Here is the section of the "Hickscorner" play in question:

What, sirs, I tell you my name is Freewill,
I may choose whether I do good or ill;
But for all that I will do as me list.
My condition ye know not, perdé,
I can fight, chide, and be merry;
Full soon of my company ye would be weary
An ye knew all.
What, fill the cup and make good cheer,
I trow I have a noble here!

Why is this so goddamned important, you ask? 

If taking a hero's journey from Joseph Campbell, or more to the point Dante, turning it on its head, and have the Pilgrim reject the afterlife offered by both God and Lucifer as not his cup of tea, and so return to life as a corporeal manifestation is rehashed theology, then Moby Dick is just a rehash of sailors' tales. I love how folks on here get Herculean erections over Gabriel and Genesis borrowing reams of material from Greek mythos or simply retell a legend of King Canute, and consider it bloody brilliant, yet Tull actually attacks the church establishment and religion in 1973 and it's "rehashed theology".  

https://www.popmatters.com/183769-ripe-with-rich-attainments-a-passion-play-reassessed-2495638737.html" rel="nofollow - https://www.popmatters.com/183769-ripe-with-rich-attainments-a-passion-play-reassessed-2495638737.html

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