A Passion Play - Definition

A Passion Play
LP by Jethro Tull
Released	July, 1973
Recorded	1973
Genre	Progressive rock
Length	48 min 13 s
Record label	Chrysalis Records
Producer	Terry Ellis
Professional reviews
Melody Maker	Unfavorable	July 21, 1973 (http://www.tullpress.com/mm21jul73.htm)
New Musical Express	Unfavorable	July 21, 1973 (http://www.tullpress.com/nme21jul73.htm)
Rolling Stone	Unfavorable	August 30, 1973 (http://www.tullpress.com/rs30aug73.htm)
Creem	Request for reader reviews from Lester Bangs	October 1973 (http://www.tullpress.com/croct73.htm)
Creem	Reader reviews (mixed)	January 1974 (http://www.tullpress.com/crjan74.htm)
Jethro Tull Chronology
Living in the Past (1972)	A Passion Play (1973)	War Child (1974)

A Passion Play is a "concept album" released by Jethro Tull. Apparently concerning the spiritual journey of one man in the afterlife, it is similar to Thick as a Brick in that it is one long track split across both sides of the LP vinyl record, save for the interruption of the oddly-whimsical spoken word piece "The Story Of The Hare Who Lost His Spectacles". The dense lyrics, filled with wordplay and allegory, along with music that some found lacking in creativity compared to earlier work, have made A Passion Play one of the most disputed albums in Tull's catalog. On its release in 1973, it received generally negative reviews; nevertheless, it sold well enough to reach #1 on the charts in the U.S. Today, Jethro Tull fans are still divided over the merits of the album.

Track Listing

• "A Passion Play" (Ian Anderson)
• "The Story of the Hare Who Lost His Spectacles" (Anderson/Jeffrey Hammond/John Evan)

Personnel

• Ian Anderson - flute, acoustic guitar, saxophones, vocals
• Barriemore Barlow - percussion
• Martin Barre - electric guitar
• John Evan - piano, organ, synthesizers, speech
• Jeffrey Hammond - bass guitar, vocals

External links

An excellent line-by-line explantion of the lyrics can be found at The Ministry of Information (http://www.ministry-of-information.co.uk/app/index.htm).