Do you prefer Jethro Tull's Château d'Hérouville unreleased near-double album or "A Passion Play"?

I'm sure had they released the Château material first I would have been nuts about it...

Yet in hindsight I think they did real well by shelving it, going back to London and redo "A Passion Play" instead. Out of the two I find aPP a better paced, more cohesive work, much easier on the ear also (not referring here to Steve Wilson's wonderful remix but to the music itself or how it is presented). The Château sides are filled to the brim with excellent songs and great ideas. Had it been sequenced differently, and with the missing 4th side occupied by fantastic stuff, perhaps I'd have go for it instead...

It seems to be missing some direction, what with the animal stories, then the theater play story - really brilliant by themselves - plus some other stuff... I get mixed up a bit...

Martin Barre finds aPP too complex... I find it much simpler and accessible than the Château sides!

Also, the playing in spots is superior on aPP. There is this jig or reel - I forget which track it is - where they have trouble keeping the beat steady; they speed up quite noticeably, and it's subpar for classic Tull... Also, the synthesizer is a little bit too much in your face. On aPP it sticks out less like a sore thumb...

 

I like the Château material, but I think A Passion Play is a masterpiece. And I really discovered both at the same time with the 40th anniv edition a few years ago.

 

That's fantastic... It must have been a blast!

Me I first got familiar with Château by hearing the parts featured on"20 Years of Jethro Tull", then on "Nightcap". I'm grateful to the S. Wilson project for getting to hear this barebone and with great sonics. But I actually find that Ian Anderson's 1993 flute overdubs (the "Nightcap" collection) worked wonders on pieces such as "Law Of The Bungle, Part II". It highlighted and lifted the melody and in no time had me whistling along with it.... A tune absent from aPP but one of my favorite Tull pieces!

 

A Passion Play. I think it just worked out well that after the Château experience, they had to start again and work quickly, so the finished album is very focussed.

 

Definitely 'Passion Play.'

 

Yes, focussed. This makes me think of how the "lifebeat" is used throughout as a leitmotiv, reappearing in different guises (maypole dances... "Overseer Overture" song...).

In hindsight, "War Child" probably would have benefitted more from the addition of songs to beef it up to a double album. As it is, WC is really good, but kind of a disjointed jumble.

 

Funny, the Chateau piece that sticks in my mind the most is "Sailor," the one Ian apparently refused to put on Nightcap.

 

I like its construction. My favorite of the "new" ones is "The Big Top".

 

I haven't heard the Château material, but I have never got into A Passion Play - I bought it when it came out when I was a massive Tull fan.

 

Voted for Passion Play, but The Chateau Disaster material is almost as good.

 

My two favorite Tull albums!

"A Passion Play" wins, but really for me, the "Chateau D'Isaster" material (especially on the 40th set) is almost as good! Just love this era.

 

I voted for Passion Play as it's finished. I like the Chateau material as much and think it's would have been a better album of it had been completed.

As Audition and No Rehearsal were played live, I do wonder why they were not re-recorded for War Child as they are better than some on there.

 

Chateau, because it doesn't have that dreary saxophone.

 

Not really a fair comparison, because the Chateau material wasn;t finished. It would have had a stortyline and the individual pieces would have been polished up some. I suspect half of it would have wound pretty close to APP, though maybe with a more upbeat lyrical slant (though APP is ultimately upbeat too). ...then with all those theatrical circus songs in the other half. WOuld have been a masterpiece, but it was never made, and APP is good enough for me.

 

The Chateau material is great, but A Passion Play it's a masterpiece (it's my favorite Tull record, in fact). Like bRETT has just said, the Chateau recordings were not finished, and they constitute the embryo for A Passion Play.

 

That's possible. What made me think the material was pretty much in the can is the fact that it's separated by LP sides on the tape boxes, as photographed in the deluxe Passion Play book. It's as if all that was missing was Ian's last overdubs. Perhaps I don't really understand how this works...

 

So many people just hate this saxophone, including Barrie Barlow and Ian himself. To this day I just don't hear what was wrong with it... I mean, it's not like it deprived us of Jean-Pierre Rampal anyway!

It brought a different color to the ensemble, a sound or tone that you didn't hear much in other prog groups (the soprano/sopranino saxes that is). ...Barring Captain Beefheart's group, but he didn't use it much any longer around those years.

 

+1

 

...and it got even better for me when coupled, on "War Child", with the piano accordion! This sound combination gave a carnival-like "spirit" which no concert flute could convey!

 

I prefer neither, as it caused Tull to overstretch themselves. Up to TAAB, and they were great.

 

I've heard PP more. Plus the unreleased Chateau album I've heard more from Nightcap (I tend to buy these deluxe versions and only listen once, which is why I haven't bought Too Old yet).
Having said all that, I like both but there's still a novelty to me listening to the Chateau album so these days it gets the nod.

 

I really like what Ian added to the band's sound with the soprano sax. He wouldn't agree with me, of course.

 

Yeah, it's interesting to speculate how this one might have turned out if the original project had reached fruition. I wonder if Tull would have had an easier time sustaining their popularity at this point if they had released an album of more concise tracks, rather than another ambitious epic. But we got the album we got and for all its excesses, there's still plenty to recommend A Passion Play. It's pretty impressive that Anderson was able to throw it together so quickly.

 

Chateau because of Left Right.

 

I know zero about saxophone playing. I concentrate on the unaccompanied solo part which introduces I forget which dance piece on Château, and I try to hear bum notes, distasteful vibrato or whatever...