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Post by Mothfairy on Jul 24, 2013 20:40:10 GMT -5
Let's show APP some love!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 25, 2013 0:07:45 GMT -5
Quote from Martin about the album, copy pasta'd from ministry-of-information.co.uk"I think that, out of all the records that we have made, more people talk about Passion Play than a lot of albums. It's a memorable album. I think it's an important album; I think that the difficult thing was going back to England, having scrapped a whole album. Months and months of work, and the terrible thing, for [Ian] more than for anybody else, was having to then completely start again, and rewrite, re-record, relearn, re-rehearse. But I think it was a good album, and the tour, and the sort of theatrics that came with the tour, were quite a memorable period." From 'The 25th Anniversary Review' (1993) Here is to the black sheep of progressive rock classics!
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Post by Mothfairy on Jul 25, 2013 22:57:01 GMT -5
Here's to us being the black sheep of the board...apparently, ha...seems to be an unpopular choice with some, Ian being one...but..well, it's not the first time I've liked things that are unpopular with others.
I think it's well known because I never shut up about it...I love APP. I think it's the one of the albums where Ian's vocals are strongest...at their peak. Love the melodies, love the lyrics. I've never heard any other lyrics or an album so obscure. But then after reading the lyric and studying and the analysis of others, most of it makes a lot of sense. There's obviously the Hare film, but I think about how the entire album should've had a movie. I realize I could be alone on these thoughts.
Speaking of The Hare, the whole thing is obviously very "Aesop's Fables" which I had a copy of when I was young. To be honest, the whole book kind of freaked me out as a kid. Could've been the illustrations. I was recently reading to my daughter...I can't even remember what. But the middle of the story was interrupted with an Aesop Fable...then it was over and the book continued. Sort of like how APP continues. Made me think of that...I wonder if this is a common phenomenon?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2013 4:35:36 GMT -5
There was a rush along the.....Bromley Road Hold up, reverse back a bit, did I see that correctly? Is Ian planning another warm-up gig this year for APP like the TaaB2 one at St Cleve Community Centre? Wouldn't it be nice..... spotted in my locale last night
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Non Rabbit
One of the Youngest of the Family
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Post by Non Rabbit on Jul 26, 2013 10:27:23 GMT -5
A Passion Play was the first album I had to wait for release. I had already bought Stand Up, Living in the Past then TAAB in the days when Boots the Chemist sold records.
After being blown away by TAAB I was right up for the new material. So I ran home with a copy as soon as it appeared in the shop and was completely baffled with the record. I still am, it bounces off in different directions, lacks cohesion in parts and starts/stops whenever it fells like it. Then of course there is the Hare!!!
I grew to love this album, after a few beers Passion Play was my go to listen. It marks a time when Tull could rock and even now when I listen to it there is always something to grab your attention as opposed to formula songs like Moths (nice enough tune as it is) for example.
Of course back then I had no idea of the grief the band were going through making the record but that only contributes towards making the final product so unique.
NR
ps Anyone recommend a good bootleg?
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Post by Mothfairy on Jul 27, 2013 21:07:36 GMT -5
Nice APP sign. That'd be nice if APP got a 40 year recognition but doesn't seem to be on the list of plans or favorites so I guess I had to do it. haha.
NR, you mentioned Moths, Moths and APP, it's funny because Moths and APP competes at the top of my list of favorites. I'm not sure, do I count APP as a favorite song or a favorite album. Or both. Between APP and HH for me.
APP has much personal meaning to me as well, more than any other Tull lyrics.
I really want my APP tattoo. Husband was joking around and said we could go to get it for me tomorrow, I became excited for a second, then he said no, he wasn't going to take me. I became like the wife in the video that's been going viral, throwing the tantrum.
I think at this point really the only part that remains a mystery sort of to me, is who exactly is Magus Perde. I love the reincarnation the most.
With me, most of the compilations were my first Tull albums (didn't become a fan until about 1996 or so) and I loved the edits, so I knew those first. #8 on my MU then I think #9 off my dad's Repeat vinyl, so my first copy of that edit was vinyl onto tape in about 1999. haha. It was great, complete with scratchy record sounds. I loved it.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2013 4:29:47 GMT -5
Here's to us being the black sheep of the board...apparently, ha...seems to be an unpopular choice with some, Ian being one...but..well, it's not the first time I've liked things that are unpopular with others. I think it's well known because I never shut up about it...I love APP. I think it's the one of the albums where Ian's vocals are strongest...at their peak. Love the melodies, love the lyrics. I've never heard any other lyrics or an album so obscure. But then after reading the lyric and studying and the analysis of others, most of it makes a lot of sense. There's obviously the Hare film, but I think about how the entire album should've had a movie. I realize I could be alone on these thoughts. Speaking of The Hare, the whole thing is obviously very "Aesop's Fables" which I had a copy of when I was young. To be honest, the whole book kind of freaked me out as a kid. Could've been the illustrations. I was recently reading to my daughter...I can't even remember what. But the middle of the story was interrupted with an Aesop Fable...then it was over and the book continued. Sort of like how APP continues. Made me think of that...I wonder if this is a common phenomenon? A Passion Play is one of the most unique Rock albums I have ever heard. It is like the intellectual lava lactation fluid that came out of Thick as a Brick. It's so much worse yet so much better, it is so over blown and it blows your mind over--feels like a dream, and I can't get enough of it. "Given command to watch over our miserable sphere Fallen from grace, called on, to bring sun or rain Occasional corn from my oversight grew"
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Post by Mothfairy on Jul 28, 2013 23:17:52 GMT -5
Ooh, the Fulham road! Pat, have you been?
Kai, that's just it. My other fave is HH, and I have been Heavy Horsed to death, so I can't listen to it all the time. I go stretches. I can hear APP every day...there is no tiring of it.
Passion of course, had a different meaning, it now means of course, when you have deep feelings for something...it used to mean suffering. Life is a gift but you are going to pay the price. APP is just that. That's basically the message behind the line that I love (buying the flame of ever life...). I don't know why I like the lyric so much, it's not even really inspirational in particular or anything but it feels raw and like truth. The suffering and pain, well we've all experienced some sort of struggle in life. Many of us could be right now. I've always listened to APP but the year I was really put to the test and knew what pain could be was when I discovered the line and it stood out to me. I recant and say it was inspirational in a way. I could feel that I was strong. I have a battle just like everyone else does.
I like the complexity of the whole album and I didn't understand it all right away and still don't grasp everything but that could be the allure for me.
I don't try to go on like this, usually...excuse me while I wax rhapsodic. APP is my one time to you know...get it all out. Okay. I feel better now.
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Heavy Horse
One of the Youngest of the Family
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Post by Heavy Horse on Jul 29, 2013 5:44:45 GMT -5
...I have been Heavy Horsed to death... I'll deny it to the last breath in my body!!! It took me a long time to get into APP - I thought it very bitty and quite self-indulgent, when I first heard it. But it's an incredible album! I love its intimacy - I mean, what could be more intimate than death? And the way the lyrics really do tell a continuous story. I also agree the vocals are brilliant. I'm not a huge fan of the saxophone and The Hare is absolutely dreadful! But I do return to it, if only because it's so "other". Not one for listening to in the car I find, but curled up the sofa with a glass of scotch on a dark winter's evening, there's nothing like it! Does anyone else find so much of Tull's work says "winter" more than "summer"? I've always thought that...
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Post by Mothfairy on Jul 29, 2013 15:29:16 GMT -5
LOL, I know it was you!
Do you agree with, I think it was Barrie said sax should've been replaced with flute? I wonder about a completely different instrument than either of those, myself. I don't mind the Hare but would rather watch the film than listen to it...I love the forest dance and wish I could get a copy of just 10 minutes of the forest dance.
Someone asked about boots, I think I have one...I'd have to look...not sure.
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Zombywoof
Ethnic Piano Accordian-ist
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Post by Zombywoof on Jul 30, 2013 13:15:38 GMT -5
A Passion Play is an incredibly important album to me in my development as a listener and a musician. In fact, I play flute because of Jethro Tull and soprano sax, because of A Passion Play.
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Heavy Horse
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Post by Heavy Horse on Jul 31, 2013 10:51:50 GMT -5
Do you agree with, I think it was Barrie said sax should've been replaced with flute? Some bits, maybe... The improvised sax in the section after 'the last hymn is sung, and the Devil cries, "more!"', gets on my nerves, for example! There are some parts which work really well on the sax, though... After "Time for awaking the tea lady's making a brew-up and baking new bread", there's a bit which sounds good and medieval! And it wouldn't, on the flute!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 31, 2013 23:20:16 GMT -5
Some bits, maybe... The improvised sax in the section after 'the last hymn is sung, and the Devil cries, "more!"', gets on my nerves, for example! Wow, it is funny how tastes can contrast. That is one of the highlights of the album to me!
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Heavy Horse
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Post by Heavy Horse on Aug 1, 2013 12:20:07 GMT -5
Ah! You're just weird! Seriously, Ms. Mothfairy's enthusiasm sent me off to listen to APP for the first time in ages - strange how much you can (re)discover in something you think you're so familiar with!
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Post by Mothfairy on Aug 1, 2013 15:05:19 GMT -5
Is the sax is more blues...or jazz? I don't know know much about sax nor do I normally listen to either of those types of music...I guess except for early Tull.
I don't feel like I notice the sax much. I do, but it's a part of it, it's just always been a part of it, which I guess means that I like it. Hard to imagine it without it I guess then. I feel like I notice the keyboard a lot. DC has those fabulous clips and I had one on and was showing Kenny saying, "Look how excited John Evans is" he said, "Of course, because it's all about him"
I'm with Kai...I like that part too.
TM just said how it was a Tull classic but not one you'd put on at a party. I said that I probably would put it on at a party. Which is probably why no one wants to come hang out with me. haha. At my favorite parts I'd probably say, "Everyone! shut up...listen to the meaning here"
I was just out and APP was on the iPod...I was going home and drove past and kept driving so I could keep listening to it...I rewound it so I could listen to my favorite line...again.
eta, Also my passion for A Passion Play is hard to explain but I've had found meaning pertaining to my own life..and some things that happened..does this make me sound crazy? Well...most of you guys know I'm crazy so it doesn't matter.
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Post by Mothfairy on Aug 1, 2013 16:15:59 GMT -5
I remember listening to APP with Kenneth and he said the cosmic sound effect after "...be a dog barking up the wrong tree" sounds like John Evans slipped and hit the wrong key...ha.
I'm pretty sure my bff Jen likes APP, and Kenneth likes the second half but thinks I play it too much, so I've got some company...my dad hated it but he's a bum...and I remember in my early Tull fanism days I asked another friend what he thought it was about. He said it was about someone's trip through hell. Partly true. Around that time I was reading Dante's Inferno for school. Tull and my world lit class all tied together. Songs from the wood sounded like a lot of things I was reading. Most of it was from Medieval or Renaissance times. I even went to a Renaissance faire for my project. It was all so interesting though I have a tough time actually comprehending a lot of it. I'm really going off base here...
So...while the rest of us are enjoying, listening, interpreting or even dancing to APP at the party, TM will be in the corner dancing to:
Oh, baby do you know what that's worth...Ooh, Heaven is a place on Earth.
Right TM...er...Bear?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2013 16:26:11 GMT -5
Is the sax is more blues...or jazz? I don't know know much about sax nor do I normally listen to either of those types of music...I guess except for early Tull. I don't feel like I notice the sax much. I do, but it's a part of it, it's just always been a part of it, which I guess means that I like it. Hard to imagine it without it I guess then. I feel like I notice the keyboard a lot. DC has those fabulous clips and I had one on and was showing Kenny saying, "Look how excited John Evans is" he said, "Of course, because it's all about him" I'm with Kai...I like that part too. TM just said how it was a Tull classic but not one you'd put on at a party. I said that I probably would put it on at a party. Which is probably why no one wants to come hang out with me. haha. At my favorite parts I'd probably say, "Everyone! shut up...listen to the meaning here" I was just out and APP was on the iPod...I was going home and drove past and kept driving so I could keep listening to it...I rewound it so I could listen to my favorite line...again. eta, Also my passion for A Passion Play is hard to explain but I've had found meaning pertaining to my own life..and some things that happened..does this make me sound crazy? Well...most of you guys know I'm crazy so it doesn't matter. Primarily a Jazz instrument. Ian didn't use the standard "alto" sax on PP (he did on Warchild) Mainly he used the straight Soprano sax which has a higher tone to it. I've always wondered why he never used it again? But I guess he didn't like it as some of you don't. As with Thick as a Brick the Hammond organ was used pretty heavily, but the other reason the "keyboards" stand out is because of the mini moog which was pretty much the first time you had a synthesizer on a Tull album. That's what provided all the weird electronic sounds (partly the influence of Chris Amson) I think I may have been guilty of making some of my friends endure APP once or twice against their will. Luckily I had a few who were actually into it. Holly I think most of us here would hang with you at this party Remember that Ian started using the Soprano and sopranino saxes on TAAB mostly side 2. The credits only listed "saxophone". He is mimicking the sax parts on flute now live ;-) Darin
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Post by Mothfairy on Aug 2, 2013 15:12:07 GMT -5
TT, your parents sound like they were awesome. I think you're about my brother's age and he claimed to like Tull but I don't think he does. At one party he didn't know the difference between Tull and Sabbath...and in my car I was playing Black Satin Dancer and he was kind of like, "WHAT is this?" and mocking the strange sounds in the song...
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Post by Mothfairy on Aug 2, 2013 15:13:54 GMT -5
Someone mentioned violin on TAAB and I thought, what if was violin on APP instead...while we're all trying to think of how it would be different if this or that was used...but...you know...guessing it wouldn't go too well. Now if I could stop talking about APP for ten seconds and get some crap done around here.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 6, 2013 18:32:23 GMT -5
Is the sax is more blues...or jazz? I don't know know much about sax nor do I normally listen to either of those types of music...I guess except for early Tull. I don't feel like I notice the sax much. I do, but it's a part of it, it's just always been a part of it, which I guess means that I like it. Hard to imagine it without it I guess then. I feel like I notice the keyboard a lot. DC has those fabulous clips and I had one on and was showing Kenny saying, "Look how excited John Evans is" he said, "Of course, because it's all about him" I'm with Kai...I like that part too. TM just said how it was a Tull classic but not one you'd put on at a party. I said that I probably would put it on at a party. Which is probably why no one wants to come hang out with me. haha. At my favorite parts I'd probably say, "Everyone! shut up...listen to the meaning here" I was just out and APP was on the iPod...I was going home and drove past and kept driving so I could keep listening to it...I rewound it so I could listen to my favorite line...again. eta, Also my passion for A Passion Play is hard to explain but I've had found meaning pertaining to my own life..and some things that happened..does this make me sound crazy? Well...most of you guys know I'm crazy so it doesn't matter. Haha, house party scene "doo yoouuu stiill seee meee" perhaps it would have to be a fancy Manhattan party with a sense of ackward sarcasm. The lyrics are extremely cryptic, especially to someone who has never heard the album, which is almost everybody it seems. Very heavy and dense, and most of it doesn't make sense on first listen. But yes, I have tons of favorite lines and parts. You do seem pretty fanatical about the album, which is something most people here know about. But generally people think you listen to weird music if you put that on. I know this from experience
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Post by Mothfairy on Aug 6, 2013 22:59:06 GMT -5
I DO seem fanatical. I'm starting to scare myself.
I found that my first times listening, or even just to the edits I sort of got a grip on what it was about even while not really knowing for sure. That's why I didn't understand that critic that sort of implied that not one line made sense.
If someone told me it was weird...well I might agree, but if they said it was bad, I'd say, "You're wrong!" And they could sit there in their wrongness. No..it's not a matter of opinion or taste. It's kind of a fact.
Just kidding...a little. Sort of.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2013 23:37:05 GMT -5
Someone mentioned violin on TAAB and I thought, what if was violin on APP instead...while we're all trying to think of how it would be different if this or that was used...but...you know...guessing it wouldn't go too well. Now if I could stop talking about APP for ten seconds and get some crap done around here. I always thought it was odd that Ian never took to the violin. I believe it was him who played it in the background of "I come down from the upper class to mend your rotten ways". Perhaps he felt it had been done so many times already--It's a Beautiful Day, Kansas, Genesis. The sound of the instrument would fit in well with much of Tull's music though. String Quartets certainly seem to.
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Post by Mothfairy on Aug 10, 2013 1:01:44 GMT -5
The tracks that do have violin (on other albums) it does go great. My favorite would be violin in Heavy Horses. Fabulous instrument. Until your three year old gets one for Christmas and doesn't know how to play yet. She's six now and really still can't play a note and is refusing lessons. That's a terrible instrument to hear someone learning on. Finicky thing. That's why I give it much respect.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 17, 2013 2:34:19 GMT -5
The tracks that do have violin (on other albums) it does go great. My favorite would be violin in Heavy Horses. Fabulous instrument. Until your three year old gets one for Christmas and doesn't know how to play yet. She's six now and really still can't play a note and is refusing lessons. That's a terrible instrument to hear someone learning on. Finicky thing. That's why I give it much respect. You're right. It is very easy to pluck a string on guitar and produce a good sound than it is to draw a bow across a string. Takes a lot of muscle memory to do that sort of thing. I never did figure it out myself. It is a wonderful instrument though--to do list: learn how to play beautiful music on the violin. Going back to the saxophone, the unusual and odd sound of the alto sax on Passion Play was also paired with equally unusual and odd sounds from John Evan's synthesizers (does anyone remember the name of the model? I will have to reference a different thread). The violin would have been a safer choice it seems to me, and part of the appeal of a Passion Play is it's so damned out there--very carefully structured but maniacal, I mean really paradoxical and blown out of the water. The reason the alto sax fits in with Passion Play is because it really doesn't fit in. Anyway, I don't think there will be many saxamaphonists who play in a similar context than Ian did on that album and I can't imagine enjoying the album as much featuring only the flute wind instrument (as Barrie Barlow suggested in the Q and A).
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Post by Mothfairy on Aug 23, 2013 15:11:59 GMT -5
I didn't see you had responded Kai till today. That's just it. There's a technique to violin...which I definitely haven't learned yet. Boy child broke my daughter's bow so no screeching until we get a new one.
So..I found my APP bootlegs. I listened and...it was fabulous, especially the edits 8 and 9. Though it ended there and you know how the end of the album is my favorite, so that was a bit disappointing...I mean the quality wasn't perfect, but it was good. The people who went to APP...so jealous. I have two discs, but I'm pretty sure it was the same show. An awesome board member always ensures that CDs magically show up at my door and I am guessing he sent the same one twice.
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