Episode 20: Jethro Tull - A Passion Play

Although it was a parody of progressive rock - Ian Anderson wasn't too happy about Aqualung being lumped in with such - Thick As a Brick reached number one on the Billboard 200 despite the fact the album was one song that took up two sides of the record.  Efforts to do a follow-up at the Château d'Hérouville in rural France proved fruitless, being renamed by Anderson and crew "Château d'Isaster" and the entire album they had planned abandoned.  Returning to the UK they quickly recorded A Passion Play.  What was supposed to be a concept album of mini-suites following a man's journey through the afterlife was released, like Thick As a Brick, as one complete work.  While it again reached the top of the charts it was hated by critics and the band itself, although it has developed a following over the years.