c o n r a d

Benefit is seen by many as a little disappointing compared to other Jethro Tull albums of this era. Sandwiched as it is between Stand Up and Aqualung, it's easy to see why, but this curious album has qualities not to be found on either of these other records. The opening track is a strange piece which takes a few listens get used to. It opens with Ian Anderson's "backwards played" flute and a nice minor chord sequence on the piano. Certainly fans of Martin Barre should like the opening number, as it contains one of his best guitar solos. It's a very nice atmospheric piece, which is unfortunately not indicative of what is to come. While there are a couple of pieces which are a little more adventurous, the bulk of the album has not moved on from the sound of Stand Up, and the quality has probably dropped a notch. There are, however, two other standout pieces on this album. "Inside" is a fine piece of light rock, with a strong flute presence, a fastish tempo, and some of Anderson's least sarcastic lyrics. Martin Barre plays a subtle but effective rhythm line, and Geln Cornick has a nice walking bass line. "For Michael Collins, Jeffrey and Me" is a touching song about being left behind on the big trip. Michael Collins was the astronaut on the Apollo XI mission who didn't get to walk on the moon, and Jeffrey was a schoolfriend of Anderson's who wasn't in Jethro Tull. The mood is wistful but with a somewhat upbeat chorus. The addition of John Evan on keyboards was responsible for a filling out of the Jethro Tull sound. It also gave them more scope to create different moods within their standard setup, though they did not take full advantage of his services for this album. This is an interesting album in the development of Jethro Tull, and has some very good moments. The best, however, was yet to come. review by Conrad Leviston — 2-18-03 —

m a t t

Benefit tends to draw a mixed reaction from Jethro Tull fans, although nearly everyone seems to agree that it's not as good as either the album released before (Stand Up) or after it (Aqualung). I confess that about a third of it bores me stiff: "Nothing to Say," "Son," and "To Cry You a Song" are blocky, blaring hard rock songs with annoyingly overwrought vocals and too much repetition. The murky mix doesn't help matters, as Martin Barre's guitar often sounds like a fire alarm going off at the bottom of a tar pit. That notwithstanding, the album marks a stylistic departure from Stand Up in that most of the bluesier elements from the previous album are gone, setting the stage for the busily-trimmed hard rock of Aqualung. The album begins auspiciously, as "With You There To Help Me" has a compelling melody and a more sophisticated musical construction than any of the band's previous songs. I especially like how the lead guitar duels the odd-metered "clapping" toward the end. My two favorite songs on this album, "For Michael Collins, Jeffrey and Me," and "Sossity, You're a Woman," display the band's growing facility with acoustic material. The addition of pianist/organist John Evan helps fill out the softer passages and allows the band to think larger in terms of building their songs. The overall character of the album is that of arty hard rock with significant folk influences. Although I think that about half of the album is strong, there is nothing going on here (in my opinion) that the band didn't do better at some point on another album. It has long been my opinion that Benefit does not contain the ten best songs that the band had at its disposal at the time: I consider the singles "Witches Promise" and "Teacher" to be superior to over half of the songs on Benefit. This is rectified somewhat by the inclusion of these songs (plus two others) as "bonus tracks" on the 2002 remaster. With a couple of programmed substitutions and a subtraction, then, Benefit can be an enjoyable experience for me. review by Matt P. — 2-26-05 —