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US AND THEM - 1973
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"...Death And Glory On The Fulham Road..."
1973's "A Passion Play" finally saw my love affair with Jethro Tull take a serious nosedive.
Like so many Rock Boys I had fallen for the freshness of 1969's "Stand Up", the underrated 1970 outing "Benefit", and went headlong into the music, artwork and lyrics of "Aqualung" in 1971. I dug the 2LP roundup of old and new material in 1972's end of year "Living In The Past" too. Hell, I even tolerated the newspaper complexity and slightly up-its-own-anus pretentiousness of "Thick As A Brick".
But despite being totally immersed in Jazz Funk, Fusion Rock and anything even remotely Starship Trooper or Selling England Proggy in 1973 - "A Passion Play" made my heart sink like a ground-almonds turd. It was like winning a front row seat in Nicola Sturgeon's "Transparency and Honesty” seminar. In short, I thought it was cack.
The endless one-piece-of-music-thing had no tunes - musicianship yes - but no discernible songs. And despite my best efforts with repeated plays – CHR 1040 left me stone cold and (as I recall) inexplicably angry. Even the centred 'Linwell Theatre' programme annoyed me with the five-piece band listed as nondescript characters like Max Quad and Mark Ridley. I gave the beast another whirl when they remastered Tull's catalogue in 2003, but despite "The Story Of The Hare Who Lost His Spectacles" supposed Video Bonus - again I threw it in the compost regurgitation sanitation unit outside our nice clean family home in E17 like a soiled handkerchief from Aqualung's overcoat.
So why review it now? The reason is Steven Wilson's Remix and Remaster. It is reissued here (June 2015) as a single-disc version so as to make the first disc of 2014’s 2CD and 2DVD "An Extended Performance" Hardback Digibook set available to all at a reasonable price. And like his astonishing work on "Aqualung" (a notoriously lo-fi affair) – Wilson has somehow made a silk purse out of the proverbial gnat's undercarriage.
In absolute honesty, I still hate "A Passion Play" with a vengeance. But damn does this CD sound good - amazing at times. And now that it breaks down the two long sides into 15 discernible sections (albeit run together still), the album is at least a tad more accessible. Wilson even found 50-extra-seconds of music to "The Foot Of Our Stairs" lost for over 40 years that he's reinstated with IA’s blessing (easily one of the better pieces on the album). He also hasn't exorcised out many of the Soprano Saxophone parts Ian Anderson thought were cluttering up certain parts of the mix.
Well, it's dense for sure, but so not bloody busy-busy as it was to me back in the day. So once more you passionate players to the Linwell Theatre and its latest production...
UK released 29 June 2015 - "A Passion Play: A Steven Wilson Stereo Remix" by JETHRO TULL on Chrysalis 0825646146512 (Barcode 0825646146512) is a CD Reissue and Remaster that plays out as follows (45:31 minutes):
1. Lifebeats/Prelude [Side 1]
2. The Silver Cord
3. Re-Assuring Tune
4. Memory Bank
5. Best Friends
6. Critique Oblique
7. Forest Dance No. 1
8. The Story Of The Hare Who Lost His Spectacles
9. Forest Dance No. 2 [Side 2]
10. The Foot Of Our Stairs
11. Overseer Overture
12. Flight From Lucifer
13. 10:08 To Paddington
14. Magus Perde
15. Epilogue
Tracks 1 to 15 are their sixth studio album "A Passion Play" - released July 1973 in the UK and USA on Chrysalis CHR 1040 (same catalogue number in both countries). Produced by IAN ANDERSON - it peaked at No. 13 in the USA and went to No.1 in America. This 'Steven Wilson Stereo Remix' first issued 30 June 2014 on "A Passion Play: An Extended Performance" on Chrysalis 2564630567 - a 2CD/2DVD Digibook Presentation.
JETHRO TULL was:
IAN ANDERSON - Lead Vocals, Acoustic Guitars, Soprano Saxophones
MARTIN BARRE - Electric Guitars
JOHN EVAN - Piano, Organ, Synthesizers and Speaker on "The Story Of The Hare..."
JEFFREY HAMMOND-HAMMOND - Bass and Vocals
BARRIEMORE BARLOW - Drums, Timpani, Glockenspiel and Marimba
The chunky 24-page booklet gives the full horror-story of the album's conception and recording – Tull as Tax Exiles initially at the mercy of the ragged (apparently) bed-bug-infested Chateau d'Herouville studios and accommodation in France - a place used by Elton John for "Honky Chateau", Pink Floyd's "Obscured By Clouds" and Cat Stevens' latest on Island - "Catch Bull At Four".
The recorded music done there was scrapped and became the legendary lost Tull album, a part of which was wittily named as 'The Chateau D'Isaster Tapes' in 1988 for the "20th Anniversary Of Jethro Tull" Box set ("Skating Away On The Thin Ice Of A New Day" was also a part of those sessions and used later). Tull drew a line under this recording fiasco, using that music as a sort of dress rehearsal for "A Passion Play" which was recorded 'properly' in Montreux (the concept Symphonic/Prog Rock album is a tale of chap who dies on the Fulham Road and then goes through Good vs. Evil tests on the other side). Wilson even explains how he approached the remaster in the final pages. It's all very thorough and in-depth including many comments from the band in hindsight - the bad reaction to both UK live shows of the album in its entirety, the music press also hating the record on release – but US fans voting with their pockets and putting the LP up at No. 1 on the Billboard charts. To the music...
It opens badly - "Lifebeats/Prelude" taking an age to fade in and then disappearing into a barrage of pointless notes. "And so I am dead...the young man said..." Anderson sings in the better melody of "The Silver Cord" - his acoustic guitar runs along with Evan's matching piano suddenly feeling so clear and pretty. More doubled-acoustics follow, joined by electric guitars and saxophones for "Re-Assuring Tune" - that Anderson gut-string solo so clear in your speakers now. Things 'rawk' with "Best Friends" - riffage and echoed vocals with muscle.
But my fave passages are the two "Forest Dance" parts - pretty Prog is what I like to call it. Unfortunately it's sandwiched between the unnerving rubbish of "The Story Of Hare..." - a cod spoken piece punctured by plinking instruments and dreadfully effected vocals. Over on Side 2 is a short but sweet Acoustic March instrumental called "10:08 To Paddington" followed by electric guitars in "Magus Perde" that still sound slightly off despite Wilson's best efforts.
"A Passion Play" divides - but this stunning-audio reimagining doesn't. One day, I may even make my peace with the album - maybe. But if I do, it will be at the hands of the marvellous Porcupine Tree magician Steve Wilson and his stellar work here...
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