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Jethro Tull's second album-length composition, A Passion Play is very different from -- and not quite as successful as -- Thick as a Brick. Ian Anderson utilizes reams of biblical (and biblical-sounding) references, interwoven with modern language, as a sort of a rock equivalent to T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland. As with most progressive rock, the words seem important and profound, but their meaning is anyone's guess ("The ice-cream lady wet her drawers, to see you in the Passion Play..."), with Anderson as a dour but engaging singer/sage (who, at least at one point, seems to take on the role of a fallen angel). It helps to be aware of the framing story, about a newly deceased man called to review his life at the portals of heaven, who realizes that life on Earth is preferable to eternity in paradise. But the music puts it over successfully, a dazzling mix of old English folk and classical material, reshaped in electric rock terms. The band is at its peak form, sustaining the tension and anticipation of this album-length piece across 45 minutes, although the music runs out of inspiration about five minutes before it actually ends.
© Bruce Eder /TiVo
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Jethro Tull, MainArtist - Ian Anderson, Composer, Flute, Acoustic Guitar, Soprano Saxophone, Vocals - Barriemore Barlow, Drums, Glockenspiel, Timpani, Marimba - Martin Barre, Electric Guitar - John Evan, Organ, Piano, Synthesizer - Jeffrey Hammond - Hammond, Bass Guitar, Vocals
© 2014 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company ℗ 2014 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company
Jethro Tull, MainArtist - Ian Anderson, Composer, Flute, Acoustic Guitar, Soprano Saxophone, Vocals - Barriemore Barlow, Drums, Glockenspiel, Timpani, Marimba - Martin Barre, Electric Guitar - John Evan, Organ, Piano, Synthesizer - Jeffrey Hammond - Hammond, Bass Guitar, Vocals
© 2014 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company ℗ 2014 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company
Jethro Tull, MainArtist - Ian Anderson, Composer, Flute, Acoustic Guitar, Soprano Saxophone, Vocals - Barriemore Barlow, Drums, Glockenspiel, Timpani, Marimba - Martin Barre, Electric Guitar - John Evan, Organ, Piano, Synthesizer - Jeffrey Hammond - Hammond, Bass Guitar, Vocals
© 2014 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company ℗ 2014 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company
Jethro Tull, MainArtist - Ian Anderson, Composer, Flute, Acoustic Guitar, Soprano Saxophone, Vocals - Barriemore Barlow, Drums, Glockenspiel, Timpani, Marimba - Martin Barre, Electric Guitar - John Evan, Organ, Piano, Synthesizer - Jeffrey Hammond - Hammond, Bass Guitar, Vocals
© 2014 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company ℗ 2014 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company
Jethro Tull, MainArtist - Ian Anderson, Composer, Flute, Acoustic Guitar, Soprano Saxophone, Vocals - Barriemore Barlow, Drums, Glockenspiel, Timpani, Marimba - Martin Barre, Electric Guitar - John Evan, Organ, Piano, Synthesizer - Jeffrey Hammond - Hammond, Bass Guitar, Vocals
© 2014 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company ℗ 2014 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company
Jethro Tull, MainArtist - Ian Anderson, Flute, Acoustic Guitar, Soprano Saxophone, Vocals, Writer - Barriemore Barlow, Drums, Glockenspiel, Timpani, Marimba - Martin Barre, Electric Guitar - John Evan, Organ, Piano, Synthesizer - Jeffrey Hammond - Hammond, Bass Guitar, Vocals
© 2014 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company ℗ 2014 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company
Jethro Tull, MainArtist - Ian Anderson, Composer, Flute, Acoustic Guitar, Soprano Saxophone, Vocals - Barriemore Barlow, Drums, Glockenspiel, Timpani, Marimba - Martin Barre, Electric Guitar - John Evan, Organ, Piano, Synthesizer - Jeffrey Hammond - Hammond, Bass Guitar, Vocals
© 2014 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company ℗ 2014 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company
Jethro Tull, MainArtist - Ian Anderson, Flute, Acoustic Guitar, Soprano Saxophone, Vocals - Barriemore Barlow, Drums, Glockenspiel, Timpani, Marimba - Martin Barre, Electric Guitar - John Evan, Organ, Piano, Writer, Synthesizer - Jeffrey Hammond - Hammond, Bass Guitar, Vocals - Jeffrey Hammond, Writer
© 2014 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company ℗ 2014 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company
Jethro Tull, MainArtist - Ian Anderson, Composer, Flute, Acoustic Guitar, Soprano Saxophone, Vocals - Barriemore Barlow, Drums, Glockenspiel, Timpani, Marimba - Martin Barre, Electric Guitar - John Evan, Organ, Piano, Synthesizer - Jeffrey Hammond - Hammond, Bass Guitar, Vocals
© 2014 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company ℗ 2014 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company
Jethro Tull, MainArtist - Ian Anderson, Composer, Flute, Acoustic Guitar, Soprano Saxophone, Vocals - Barriemore Barlow, Drums, Glockenspiel, Timpani, Marimba - Martin Barre, Electric Guitar - John Evan, Organ, Piano, Synthesizer - Jeffrey Hammond - Hammond, Bass Guitar, Vocals
© 2014 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company ℗ 2014 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company
Jethro Tull, MainArtist - Ian Anderson, Composer, Flute, Acoustic Guitar, Soprano Saxophone, Vocals - Barriemore Barlow, Drums, Glockenspiel, Timpani, Marimba - Martin Barre, Electric Guitar - John Evan, Organ, Piano, Synthesizer - Jeffrey Hammond - Hammond, Bass Guitar, Vocals
© 2014 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company ℗ 2014 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company
Jethro Tull, MainArtist - Ian Anderson, Composer, Flute, Acoustic Guitar, Soprano Saxophone, Vocals - Barriemore Barlow, Drums, Glockenspiel, Timpani, Marimba - Martin Barre, Electric Guitar - John Evan, Organ, Piano, Synthesizer - Jeffrey Hammond - Hammond, Bass Guitar, Vocals
© 2014 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company ℗ 2014 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company
Jethro Tull, MainArtist - Ian Anderson, Composer, Flute, Acoustic Guitar, Soprano Saxophone, Vocals - Barriemore Barlow, Drums, Glockenspiel, Timpani, Marimba - Martin Barre, Electric Guitar - John Evan, Organ, Piano, Synthesizer - Jeffrey Hammond - Hammond, Bass Guitar, Vocals
© 2014 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company ℗ 2014 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company
Jethro Tull, MainArtist - Ian Anderson, Composer, Flute, Acoustic Guitar, Soprano Saxophone, Vocals - Barriemore Barlow, Drums, Glockenspiel, Timpani, Marimba - Martin Barre, Electric Guitar - John Evan, Organ, Piano, Synthesizer - Jeffrey Hammond - Hammond, Bass Guitar, Vocals
© 2014 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company ℗ 2014 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company
Jethro Tull, MainArtist - Ian Anderson, Composer, Flute, Acoustic Guitar, Soprano Saxophone, Vocals - Barriemore Barlow, Drums, Glockenspiel, Timpani, Marimba - Martin Barre, Electric Guitar - John Evan, Organ, Piano, Synthesizer - Jeffrey Hammond - Hammond, Bass Guitar, Vocals
© 2014 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company ℗ 2014 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company
Album review
Jethro Tull's second album-length composition, A Passion Play is very different from -- and not quite as successful as -- Thick as a Brick. Ian Anderson utilizes reams of biblical (and biblical-sounding) references, interwoven with modern language, as a sort of a rock equivalent to T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland. As with most progressive rock, the words seem important and profound, but their meaning is anyone's guess ("The ice-cream lady wet her drawers, to see you in the Passion Play..."), with Anderson as a dour but engaging singer/sage (who, at least at one point, seems to take on the role of a fallen angel). It helps to be aware of the framing story, about a newly deceased man called to review his life at the portals of heaven, who realizes that life on Earth is preferable to eternity in paradise. But the music puts it over successfully, a dazzling mix of old English folk and classical material, reshaped in electric rock terms. The band is at its peak form, sustaining the tension and anticipation of this album-length piece across 45 minutes, although the music runs out of inspiration about five minutes before it actually ends.
© Bruce Eder /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 15 track(s)
- Total length: 00:45:29
- Main artists: Jethro Tull
- Composer: Ian Anderson
- Label: Parlophone UK
- Genre: Pop/Rock Rock
© 2014 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company ℗ 2014 Parlophone Records Ltd, a Warner Music Group Company
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