"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).
Ian
Anderson -
flute, acoustic guitar, saxophones, vocals
Barriemore
Barlow -
percussion
Martin
Barre -
electric guitar
John
Evan - piano, organ, synthesisers, speech
Jeffrey
Hammond -
bass guitar, vocals
