The Chateau D'Isaster Tapes
Thick As A Brick's Shelved 1973 Follow Up

After the rousing financial success of Aqualung and Thick As A Brick, Jethro Tull found themselves in French tax exile. And, it was outside of Paris, at the Chateau D'Herouville, where they began work on the highly anticipated, highly contentious, A Passion Play. The sessions ended up mysteriously abandoned, due to "ill health, technical and production problems, and the sudden decision to return to the U.K." These tapes, The Chateau D'Isaster Tapes, represent the fruits of those labors... material that composer Ian Anderson would later re-evaluate, re-write, re-arrange and re-record. The sessions' original concept seemed to be a construct about man's relationship with the animal kingdom, and one of the cornerstone themes would later morph into War Child's "Bungle In The Jungle." But, it's the maze-like, instrumental extremes of A Passion Play that dominate - performed here in a more palatable, and concisely abbreviated, form which you can witness below in the 9 minute, "Critique Oblique." Actually, this music comes from disc one of 1993's Nightcap: The Unreleased Masters, an official 2CD set featuring rarities spanning 1973-1991. Except for fans, however, this post-Brick, pre-Passion material has been largely overlooked, and since this era represents Jethro Tull at their peak, it's submitted here for your approval ...............


First Post (1:55)
Animelee (1:41)
Tiger Toon (1:35)
Look At The Animals (5:10)
Law Of The Bungle (2:32)
Law Of The Bungle, Part II (5:26)
Left Right (5:03)
Solitaire (1:25)
Critique Oblique (9:03)
Post Last (5:36)
Scenario (3:26)
Audition (2:34)
No Rehearsal (5:13)