A Passion Play

A Passion Play is the sixth studio album by British progressive rock band Jethro Tull, released in July 1973 on Chrysalis Records.

Following in the same style as the band's previous album Thick as a Brick (1972), A Passion Play is a concept album comprising individual songs arranged into a single continuous piece of music (which was split into two parts across the original vinyl release's two sides). The album's concept follows the spiritual journey of a recently deceased man in the afterlife, exploring themes of morality, religion and good and evil. The album's accompanying tour was considered the high water mark of Jethro Tull's elaborate stage productions, involving a full performance of the album accompanied by physical props, sketches and projected video.

A Passion Play was negatively received by critics upon its initial release. However the album was a commercial success, becoming Jethro Tull's second number one album in the United States. The album has since received a more positive critical reassessment, and has become a cult favorite among some fans of the band.

Following the release of the critically and commercially successful Thick as a Brick in 1972, Jethro Tull made the decision to record their next album at the Château d'Hérouville studios in Hérouville, France, known in the 1970s for being frequented by artists such as Pink Floyd, Elton John and T. Rex. The band were persuaded by their management and accountants to record their next album in tax exile outside of the UK in order to avoid what Anderson described as "a pretty scary tax regime" of the time. The band planned to make a double album, with concepts as varied as the meaning of life, music criticism and the comparison between the man and animal world.

Upon arrival at the Château, however, the band faced a variety of challenges which made the recording sessions difficult, ranging from technical issues with the studio equipment to bug-infested beds and food poisoning epidemics, causing Anderson to give the Château the nickname "Château d'Isaster" Although the band had recorded enough material to fill three sides of the intended double album, the issues living in the studio convinced the band to abandon the sessions and leave the Château. The band considered moving the album's production to Switzerland, for they had just recently been granted Swiss citizenship; however, the decision was ultimately made to return to the UK and completely restart writing and recording of the album (although two tracks from the Château d'Hérouville sessions were later included on the band's 1974 album War Child).

Upon returning to the UK, the band began sessions for A Passion Play at Morgan Studios, the same studio where they had recorded most of their last four albums. Anderson felt that "it was better to start again and write a whole new album, instead of trying to somehow regenerate everybody's interest and commitment to something that had already struggled", in reference to the abandoned Château sessions and the decision to start over with new material. The album was written and recorded quickly, as the band had little time before their next tour began. As a result, recording sessions were often lengthy, in some cases lasting all night. Guitarist Martin Barre recalled the sessions as being "long" and "very intense" with Anderson stating that the album needed to be "written and recorded in one block, very quickly". The concept and most of the music were written in the studio by Anderson, with occasional contributions from other members of the band.

Continuing the progressive rock style previously explored by the band on Thick as a Brick, A Passion Play featured the band playing a multitude of instruments, heavily toned with dominating minor key variation, resulting in an album described by author Martin Webb as "quasi prog-rock with complex time-signatures, complex lyrics and, well, complex everything, really". The spoken word piece "The Story of the Hare Who Lost His Spectacles", has its relations in musical terms with Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf. Bruce Eder describes Anderson's singing in biblical-sounding references, interwoven with modern language as a sort of a rock equivalent to T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land with the music a "dazzling mix of old English folk and classical material, reshaped in electric rock terms". The album is notable for heavily featuring soprano saxophone played by Anderson, often in place of his famous flute playing. Anderson expressed distaste for the instrument, saying that "It wasn't difficult to learn to play it a bit, but I didn't practice enough, I wasn't trained and it hurt my lip. I hated the fiddling about with reeds, the fact that it was all wet and soggy, straight off I really didn't enjoy playing the instrument."

A Passion Play borrows its title from passion plays which depict the Passion of Jesus Christ, though the title is evidently ironic, since the lyrics at first appears to present a generically Christian view of the afterlife but then rejects Christian theological conclusions. A Passion Play is described in its album liner notes as though it were a staged theatrical "play" in four acts. Of this album, "the lyrics themselves are extremely complicated, the story is often unclear, and much is left to the individual's interpretation". Knowledge of the characters and setting actually comes less from the lyrics themselves and more from the few brief words in the satirical, six-page "Linwell Theatre programme" included in the original album packaging, which features photos of the band members listed alongside fake names and biographies as the "actors" of the play, including Rena Sanderone (an anagram of "Eean Anderrson") as the playwright. A basic narrative plot can be loosely interpreted from the lyrics, liner notes, and "programme" of A Passion Play, centering on everyman protagonist Ronnie Pilgrim, who is named only in the programme.