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A Passion Play
Studio album by Jethro Tull
Released	July 13, 1973 (UK)
Recorded	1973
Genre	Progressive rock
Length	48:13
Label	Chrysalis Records
Producer(s)	Terry Ellis
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Melody Maker (unfavorable) July 21, 1973 New Musical Express (unfavourable) July 21, 1973 Rolling Stone (unfavorable) August 30, 1973 Creem (request for reader reviews from Lester Bangs) October 1973 Creem (reader reviews, mixed) January 1974
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 (actually a medley of segued shorter songs,) 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 (in the U.K however, it only reached #13). Even today, Jethro Tull fans are still divided over the merits of the album.

Script of the concept:

• Act 1: Ronnie Pilgrim's Funeral: a winter's morning in the cemetery.
• Act 2: The Memory Bank: a small but comfortable theatre with a cinema-screen (the next morning).
• Act 3: The business office of G. Oddie & Son (two days later).
• Act 4: Magus Perdē's drawing room at midnight.

All songs written by Anderson unless stated otherwise.

1. "Lifebeats"
2. "Prelude"
3. "The Silver Chord"
4. "Re-Assuring Tune"
5. "Memory Bank"
6. "Best Friends"
7. "Critique Oblique"
8. "Forest Dance #1"
9. "The Story of the Hare Who Lost His Spectacles" (Anderson / Hammond / Evan)
10. "Forest Dance #2"
11. "The Foot of Our Stairs"
12. "Overseer Overture"
13. "Flight from Lucifer"
14. "10.08 to Paddington"
15. "Magus Perdē"
16. "Epilogue"

[These titles were provided by Anderson for the 1973 DJ pressing of the LP, though they were not included for the standard pressing. The gold Ultradisc Original Master Recording cd contains cueable tracks for each title, but the standard cd releases contain only one or two tracks, depending on the version.]

• 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

• An excellent line-by-line annotated interpretation of the lyrics can be found at The Ministry of Information.
• A Passion Play (1973) at All Music Guide
• A Passion Play (2003) at All Music Guide (bonus tracks)
• A Passion Play at Ground and Sky.
• A Passion Play at Progressive World.