A Passion Play ［2CD+2DVD］

ジェスロ・タルの通算6作目のスタジオ・アルバム『A PASSION PLAY』が"幻の音源"を加え、"Extended Performance"ヴァージョンとして新たに生まれ変わる! 今回リリースとなる2CD2DVDの"Extended Performance"ヴァージョンには、オリジナル・アルバムの他、一度は没になったChateau d' Herouvilleでのセッション音源が収録されている。どちらの音源もこれまでのジェスロ・タルのリイシュー同様、スティーヴン・ウィルソン(ポーキュパイン・ツリー)による最新ミックスが5.1サラウンド、及びステレオ・ミックスとして収録されている。またDVDの1枚には、「The Story Of The Hare Who Lost His Spectacles」のビデオ・クリップや、1973年のPassion Playツアーでショウの前と後に使用されたフィルムなど映像も収録!さらにブックレットには、1973年のツアー・ヒストリーの他、マーティン・ウェブによるアルバム・レコーディングにまつわるライナー・ノーツの他、スティーヴン・ウィルソンの最新ミックスに対するコメント、またジャケットに登場するダンサー、ジェーン・イヴによるアルバム・ジャケット撮影秘話、またツアーの音響スタッフ、クリス・アムソンによるコメントなど、データ的にも資料的にも価値の高いブックレットも収められている。

Jethro Tull's second album-length composition, A Passion Play is very different from -- and not quite as successful as -- Thick as a Brick. Ian Anderson utilizes reams of biblical (and biblical-sounding) references, interwoven with modern language, as a sort of a rock equivalent to T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland. As with most progressive rock, the words seem important and profound, but their meaning is anyone's guess ("The ice-cream lady wet her drawers, to see you in the Passion Play..."), with Anderson as a dour but engaging singer/sage (who, at least at one point, seems to take on the role of a fallen angel). It helps to be aware of the framing story, about a newly deceased man called to review his life at the portals of heaven, who realizes that life on Earth is preferable to eternity in paradise. But the music puts it over successfully, a dazzling mix of old English folk and classical material, reshaped in electric rock terms. The band is at its peak form, sustaining the tension and anticipation of this album-length piece across 45 minutes, although the music runs out of inspiration about five minutes before it actually ends. ~ Bruce Eder|

Jethro Tull's second album-length composition, A Passion Play is very different from -- and not quite as successful as -- Thick as a Brick. Ian Anderson utilizes reams of biblical (and biblical-sounding) references, interwoven with modern language, as a sort of a rock equivalent to T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland. As with most progressive rock, the words seem important and profound, but their meaning is anyone's guess ("The ice-cream lady wet her drawers, to see you in the Passion Play..."), with Anderson as a dour but engaging singer/sage (who, at least at one point, seems to take on the role of a fallen angel). It helps to be aware of the framing story, about a newly deceased man called to review his life at the portals of heaven, who realizes that life on Earth is preferable to eternity in paradise. But the music puts it over successfully, a dazzling mix of old English folk and classical material, reshaped in electric rock terms. The band is at its peak form, sustaining the tension and anticipation of this album-length piece across 45 minutes, although the music runs out of inspiration about five minutes before it actually ends. ~ Bruce Eder