Chateau D'isaster

In the summer of 1972, the band were riding high on the crest of a popularity wave, as they sold out huge arenas on the back of their critically acclaimed, chart topping 5th album "Thick As A Brick". They went into the renowned studio, where the likes of David Bowie, Elton John, Pink Floyd and Cat Stevens had previously recorded at. The band quickly nicknamed it "Chateau D’isaster" after a series of equipment failures, bed bugs and food poisoning.

After a band meeting where the decision was made to return to the UK, they part recorded a treasure trove of quirky material on master tapes which were ferried back to continue work on in London, only to decide to start over with a whole new album project, which was to become "A Passion Play", released in 1973.

And so the Château tapes became the great lost album of Tull mythology until 20 years later when Ian Anderson reworked and completed most of the original material to release on the "Nightcap" album as "The Chateau d’Isaster Tapes". Then in 2013, they received a make over by Steven Wilson, for inclusion on the "A Passion Play : An Extended Performance" book set. Now, for the 1st time, these recordings will be available on vinyl. The Château D'Hérouville Sessions will be released as a 2LP set on March 15th, 2024.

About the album, Ian Anderson says “There are some good things going on there, and I really quite like the songs which had lyrics, lots of theatrical references such as the bomb in the dressing room. I was trying to create this idea of the world of theatre somehow mirroring the real life outside on the streets and in society”.