William's Song a Day Blog - est. September 2007

From: A Passion Play ; Year; 1973; Genre: Progressive Rock I had this rather pretty and heavy song on my mind this morning, so again I'm making it my pick. Musically this is an incredibly well thought out with mix of folky acoustic and full-on almost hard rock/metal as well. Of course no matter what, the lyrics/subject matter are the heaviest part. I recently found the extended version that's been remastered by Porcupine Tree's own Steve Wilson; I didn't realize this album could get any better, but, wow. Hear The Foot of Our Stairs on YouTube. My song pick one year ago today: Peter Tosh - Rumors of War My song pick two years ago today: War - Low Rider My song pick three years ago today: Midnight Oil - Truganini My song pick four years ago today: The Nightwatchman - I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night My song pick five years ago today: Van der Graaf Generator - Childlike Faith In Childhood's End My song pick six years ago today: Bill...

From: A Passion Play ; Year: 1973; Genre: Progressive Rock Ever since Ian Anderson released a part 2 of his epic prog concept album: Thick as a Brick , even though he has stated that he has no intention of doing it, I've been hoping he relents and re-visits A Passion Play as well. I would absolutely love to hear/see Ian Anderson send Mr. Ronnie Pilgrim back through Heaven and Hell in his second incarnation after forty years. This album has and will always hold a special place for me musically; it was really the album that made me a full-on prog/rock fan. I didn't really even know what the genre was called at the time; I just knew I liked it. My first copy of A Passion Play that I owned was on an 8-Track cassette I bought for, I believe, 5¢. I must've played that tape hundreds of times while I played video games; I'd just keep letting it loop around whilst I played for hours on end. Anyway, the song(s) I'm picking today make up the first act of A Passion Pl...

1008 Jethro Tull - 10.08 to Paddington What a huge surprise: yet another Jethro Tull song on my blog. I noticed the number of the song pick today and just had to choose this one. For those who are not acquainted with A Passion Play , it's a concept album and Rock Opera about life after death in which Ian Anderson wrote about the concept of what if you still had choices to make even after death in the Christian concept of the afterlife. The story follows the death, afterlife, and rebirth of one Ronnie Pilgrim. For obvious reasons the album stirred up some controversy; while it did reach number 1 on the charts, it was scathed by critics and caused an apparent rift between the band and the media. What is truly awesome about this album is that, with how technically complex it is, was conceived, written, and recorded in 17 days out of the ashes of the Château d'Hérouville recording sessions. In reality, I would not be as big of a 'Tull fan if it was not for this album....