A Passion Play - Remaster Released, Get Details
Tull fans are a rather cordial group but breech the
topic of "A Passion Play" at your own peril. Many vehemently defend it as
Tull's finest work -- others downright loath it. Tull fans are not the only
confused lot. While many critics did (and still do) pan 
the album, it is
not too difficult to find reputable, glowing evaluations. The album even
hit #1 in the U.S. charts, Tull's last top runger in the standard rock/pop
listings.
"Play's" development began as a real concept album, after the previous
genre satire, "Thick as a Brick." Work began in Switzerland,
then studios in France (mostly to escape high British tax rates). Enough
tracks to fill three sides of a double album were developed when technical
problems
in the studio, and band members' longing for home, caused
all
but four
tracks to be scrapped (some of this material, like "Skating
Away On The Thin Ice Of A New Day," would appear on "War
Child"). The dreadful experience lead Ian to dub the Chateau d'Herouville
studio as the "Chateau D'Isaster."
With only seventeen days left before the American tour, Ian wrote new material
and vastly restructured some of the "Chateau d'Isaster" ideas
and the band recorded the 45-minute album.
"A Passion Play" is much darker than "Thick
as a Brick,"
both in music and theme. Musically, "Play" is heavily toned with
dominating minor key variations. Thematically, the concept album chronicles,
as the
title
implies, a story of life and death, beginning
with
a recently
deceased
man viewing
his
own funeral, descending into purgatory and Hell, then reincarnated.
The lyrics are, arguably, even more confusing than "Thick as a Brick" and
Tull
fans vary in their interpretation of the details.
The strangest segment of "Play" is undoubtedly "The Story of the Hare Who
Lost His Spectacles," a spoken word piece with musical underpinnings. It
is often noted the piece has lyrical connections to "Winnie the Pooh"
or "Alice in Wonderland" yet the best, and appropriate musical, comparison
would be to Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf." Like this classic piece, the
band
backs a story teller with music representing
the
tale's characters and events.
The long, nine-month supporting tour (even beginning before the album's release)
featured the entire album, supporting film (later to appear on the 25th Anniversary
video), and perhaps Tull's high water mark for elaborate stage productions.
A low point occurred, however, when Tull's business manager announced the
band would cease live performances, in response to negative critical reviews
of the album and concerts. It was not true, and seriously hurt the band's
image. To this day, Ian gets questions about why the
group disbanded in the 1970's (see the all
too frequently asked questions page for Ian's
response to this all too common inquiry).
