hello all! we’re checking out the next Jethro Tull record this week with 1973’s A Passion Play

A Passion Play continues in the style of Thick As a Brick, in that each side of the LP is presented as a single “track” with sub-movements. this time, the album is presented as a stage play, telling the story of a man’s death and experience in the afterlife.

im not as big a fan of this one, to be honest. it’s a bit more built around the conceit of the stage play, which i have read that they leaned into very heavily in the packaging and performances, and thats neat, but the core of the album as a man who reject both heaven and hell after he dies is a little plain for the full album to be structured around. and im a bit less into some of the music movements on this album as well. i think theres good stuff here, but some parts, like the parable of the hare that acts as an intermission, just is less interesting for me.

definitely give it a shot though if you really were into Thick As a Brick.

faves –
dislikes –

A Passion Play – 5/10

next week, we’ll be looking at their next album, War Child


first: This Was | previous: Thick As a Brick | next: War Child

all my reviews for Jethro Tull