Customer Reviews

Benefit

5 star:		(89)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This is my favorite straight forward bluesy, rock, trippy Tull album. I listened to Benefit the most probably in the 70's (my teenage years), although I loved Stand Up, Aqualung, Thick as a Brick, Minstrel in the Gallery And Songs from the Wood about as much. Tull was one of my top bands then (and now) and I really feel that these albums are some of the best Rock has to offer. Benefit, as the best song-oriented album from the blues/rock stretch in my opinion, really stands out as the gelling of the Tull sound. Martin Barre found his confidence and ran with it while Ian Anderson really picked up the complexity level of his many contributions. Glenn Cornick's bass playing is outstanding and represents some of the best of the era, although this was his last gig with Tull. John Evan joins the band here and adds to the more layered quality and strangely seems to be the glue that binds that classic Tull sound. Other members seem to feed off of the new energy! Benefit feels to me very brooding and powerful...the psychedelic atmoshere is at a peak here as well. I am trying to describe why this album is one of the greats of all time to me, but words do little to describe the powerful emotional impact I feel for this one, for whatever reason...crank it up and feel for yourself! The Extra tracks are a great addition (Teacher was on the original American album) and the sound quality is at a new high. This is an essential recording of the era and a truly great bargain, although lyrics should have been included as well as better track notes (I like it better than Aqualung - newbies could begin here with confidence). Enjoy!!!

"Benefit" remains my favorite Jethro Tull recording, likely for all the wrong reasons. First, this was the first session where Ian Anderson and his band mates embraced folk music over the blues-tinged sound of their earlier work. Next, Martin Barre sounds engaged, determined, and focused on guitar, and his strong effort here keeps the music well grounded (something that is a failing on some Tull recordings in my opinion). Third, John Evan's returns to the fold and adds some stellar work on keyboards that greatly enrichs the sound. Fourth, I liked Glen Cornick's bass lines better than those by any other Tull bass player. Fifth, Ian Anderson crafted some of his best lyrics for "Benefit," avoiding the ornate and tiring style on both his later and subsequent Jethro Tull recordings. Sixth, Mr. Anderson plays some inspired flute and contributes some excellent acoustic guitar that meshes wonderfully with Mr. Barre's amped up electric guitar.

This recording still retains enough of the edginess and eccentricity that caused Jethro Tull to stand out during the band's early years and that caught my ear way back when. I would recommend getting the remastered CD more for the improved sound quality than the bonus tracks (which aren't bad though).

In the vast Tull catalogue, this 1970 effort stands out as a neglected classic, coming as it did on the heels of the hugely successful Stand Up. Ian Anderson's songs were becoming more complex, and shifting away markedly from his early Blues influences. The maturity of his songwriting, and of the band's playing, are illustrated perfectly by the opening track "With You There to Help Me", a broody and introspective piece that breaks out into a group tour de force. This album also welcomed keyboards player John Evan, who filled out the sound and freed guitarist Martin Barre to assume the leading instrumental role he has played in the group ever since. Listen to his slashing licks, dueling with Anderson's shrieking echoed flute, which climaxes this track. Magic.

Jethro Tull were touring heavily in the States at this time, accused of neglecting audiences back in the UK, and finding the darker side of the music business unpalatable. In the notes written for this reissue in 2001, Anderson talks of "a growing cynicism" and "a sense of alienation". Ironically, it is such conditions that often bring out the best in songwriters, as they lock themselves away in anonymous hotel rooms, escaping the noise outside by drowning themselves in their music. Anderson was no different, resisting the American influences he felt were creeping into many fellow British bands. His flute had endowed Tull with a distinctly Celtic touch from the start, but he now gave full rein to this aspect on songs like "Play In Time", which is a revved-up electric jig that would have given him plenty of opportunity to play the lunatic on stage. In a similar but quieter vein, "Sossity, You're a Woman" displays a strong folk flavour in Anderson's acoustic guitar playing. Bands like the Strawbs and Barclay James Harvest were to follow similar paths in the 70s.

Contrast this with "Alive and Well and Living In", Anderson's flute and Evans' piano combining to take the jazz and rock idioms into areas that were to be explored widely in the decade ahead. It's a strong pointer to the conceptual complexities of Thick As A Brick that were to come two years later.

"Son" is a more acidic view of the generation gap than, for example, the sentimental picture painted by Cat Stevens' "Father and Son" ("If you're good, when you grow up, we will buy you a bike."). "For Michael Collins, Jeffrey and Me" will puzzle anyone born after the 1960s. Collins was the third man in the 1969 Apollo expedition to the moon. While Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin got to go down to the surface and fool around, Collins had to stay behind and keep the orbiting mother ship in trim. It was a song that reflected Anderson's own previously stated sense of alienation ("It's on my mind, I'm left behind when I should have been there, walking with you.").

"To Cry You A Song" and "A Time For Everything" were strong guitar-driven numbers which were precursors to the following album, Aqualung. "Inside", Benefit's single, was arguably the band's last Blues-flavoured song, Anderson's flute motif producing a haunting air over Glenn Cornick's fluid bass lines (it was to be Cornick's last album with Tull).

Bonuses on this reissue include the classic singles, "The Witch's Promise" and "Teacher" - described as "close cousins" to Benefit by Anderson, having been recorded only weeks before the album. These stand out in my view as two of the finest musical tracks laid down at the end of the 1960s. The former again illustrates Tull's folk roots in an eerie tale of enchantment, while the latter is a hedonistic rock anthem ("Jump up, look around, find yourself some fun") that I can recall making parties come alive as Anderson's fierce flute traded centre stage with Barre's guitar.

Radio DJs referred to this as "underground" music, and later it became "progressive". Whatever the labels, it signalled the emergence of the album as a musical art form in its own right. What followed was a sharp contrast from the innocent-sounding 45s that cranked out of tinny speakers on the beach; this was music that made demands of the listener. You couldn't dance to it - at least not a dance that had a name. It heralded an era when musicians began to rule the studios, telling the fat cat producers to just twiddle the nobs and shut up, and challenging the industry to catch up with the creative flow that defied all the established rules. This music wanted you to listen seriously, and think about what it was saying.

Recorded on the cusp of a new decade, Benefit must now take its place as a watershed in the rock music idiom. What's more, it's worn surprisingly well.

Benefit marks the third and the last album of the early formative period of Jethro Tull. (The collection Living in the Past, released a couple of years later, is also from this period.) While the band's music has continually changed during this period, Benefit feels more a leap-forward than a gradual evolution. Much of the album sounds startlingly modern and experimental (particularly, Time For Everything, Play in Time) and must have sounded more so at the time of its release. The music is intricate and multi-layered, and yet somehow natural and organic, a feat that is well demonstrated in the opening song, With You There to Help Me. The crescendo of flute, keys, guitars (both acoustic and electric) and vocals is so carefully crafted, that one marvels at the cohesiveness of the piece. Yet, there is nothing gratuitous about it, with every note seeming to serve some higher aesthetic purpose. The use of instrumentation to convey texture and meaning to the song is indeed a novel aspect of the album. For instance, the introduction of the electric guitar in the otherwise acoustic Alive And Well and Living In provides a gritty feel to the song and serves to awaken the listener to the true import of the lyrics. But, the real revelation is Ian's voice and vocalizations. At times, stentorian and impassioned (Son, Nothing To Say) and, at times, tender and caring (Inside, For Michael Collins, Sossity), he bravely soars over the instrumentation and takes melodic centre stage. His lyrical themes do not depart significantly from previous material and, typically, focus on personal issues of life and love; however, the lyrics are more poetic and hint at the kind of imagery that Ian will turn to more in future work.

Benefit may lack the kind of individual masterpieces (except, perhaps, To Cry You a Song, which I don't much care for) that find everlasting life in "greatest-of" compilations or in live sets, but don't let this mislead you. This is THE album where Jethro Tull and Ian Anderson find their niche. Listen to it carefully, and you will see why Aqualung, Thick as a Brick and Passion Play had to happen.

My review is on the un-remastered version of Benefit which is the one that I own. For some reason, Amazon includes the same reviews for this album under both the remastered and unremastered CDs even though there is definitely a difference between the two. Looking at the extra tracks on the remastered CD, I see no reason to spend my money on another copy of Benefit since I already have the bonus tracks on either Living in the Past or the 20th Anniversary boxed set. From reading the other reviews, the "UK version" of "Teacher" isn't anything special either. Also, why is "Sossity" and "You're a Woman" listed as two separate tracks? I'll stay with my CD copy of Benefit, thank you.

Now, as to the album itself, after putting my top JT albums list together for Amazon, I decided that Benefit is my favorite Tull record. I enjoy this one (and even Stand Up) even more than Aqualung. For the most part, Benefit is brilliant from start to finish. The only weakness is "To Cry You A Song", which is overly repetitive at times and, unfortunately, is the longest track on the album at 6:09. I tolerate that track, though, because the rest of the album is so awesome. "With You There To Help Me" hooked me right away. It is an innovative number which brilliantly balances the edge between art and noise. "Son" is a sarcastic, humorous track about a young man's estrangement from a stereotypical strict father (using all those fatherly clichés). One gets the idea of what Ian Anderson's relationship with his pop was like when listening to the angry lyrics. Every time I hear "Don't talk like that I'm you're old man" I have to chuckle. "Sossity; You're A Woman" is a soothing ending to the album. "Teacher" is probably the most well-known song from Benefit, being included on the US release and on M.U. The Best of Jethro Tull. Although it is one of the first tracks I ever heard from Tull and I love it, it is really in the middle of the pack in terms of the top songs on Benefit. My favorite is "For Michael Collins, Jeffrey, and Me." Certain parts of this song are too wonderful for words. If your Jethro Tull collection starts with Aqualung, make sure you get their earlier albums Stand Up and this brilliant work. And, since you will probably be hooked on Tull's music and will be buying up their back catalog anyway, don't worry about getting the remastered CD, as you'll get the "bonus tracks" elsewhere.

I am fortunate to not have the more recently re-mastered version of this CD, if I am to believe the comments of other reviewers. Regardless of other comments, this CD is among the best of Jethro Tull's music, showing elements of progressive rock, rock, jazz and folk.

The CD kicks off with "With You There to Help Me". The opening flute and harmonized vocal are pure folk or blues, but when the bass guitar and lead guitar slowly increase their participation in the song, it becomes folk-rock. The harmonized vocals that are lead-ins to each verse are awesome. The riffs are very characteristic of Tull. Ian Anderson's vocals were so down-to-earth and fresh in 1970. The bizarre stylings of Anderson's flute are without equal, and they are used very effectively in this song. Near the end of the song the flute trades off with the lead guitar in a style that is unique to Tull.

"Nothing to Say" is less layered than the first cut, and has a more basic and raw sound. The music is pure rock with a harder edge than track 1. As usual though, the Tull sound is distinctive and unique.

The third song has more of the Renaissance sound that is often associated with Jethro Tull. "Inside" is a LOVE song, if you can believe it. It may not sound like a love song, but it is about getting a house and settling down. Lots of flute and vocals, nearly pop, but with the classic Tull sound that is nearly impossible to pin down as one particular category of music.

On the next song, "Son", a flavor of progressive is felt more strongly than on the earlier songs. However, before dismissing any of these songs as other than progressive, recall that this album was recorded in 1970, when progressive rock had yet to be truly defined. This song starts out as rock, a youth protest song. Then it transitions to the son's point of view, all mellow and laid back.

I haven't decided whether "For Michael Collins, Jeffrey and Me" is a lament that Ian Anderson didn't get to go on a moon walk, or whether he is lamenting the expenditure of time and money it took to get to the moon. The middle verse seems to be envious, but the surrounding verses seem a bit more satirical. Regardless of the meaning, solid song, good rock beat.

"To Cry You a Song" is a rock song that relies on impressionistic imagery rather than comprehendible lyrics. No matter, the solid rock beat and the sound of the words carry the song. Perhaps Ian Anderson was taking lessons from Jon Anderson regarding the use of word sounds rather than meaning to form lyrics.

"A Time for Everything" is much more straight forward. It's a song about thinking you have time for everything, when in fact if you waste time, you have time for nothing. An amazing lesson from a group of guys that were very young in 1970.

The next song is a standard for Tull, recognized by Tull fans everywhere. "Teacher" is a story about lessons learned in ways other than the classroom; solid rock with enough unusual elements to be borderline progressive. Anderson's flute is a key part of this song.

Sooner or later Tull has to talk to the audience. "Play in Time" is Tull, and especially Ian Anderson, talking to his audience. The song says that while he's trying to find a style, he's also trying to reach people with his music. Are you listening? This song is another rocking number; and that flute.

The last song is great. The song seems to be more about society, and the constraints of society, versus the story about the singer and Sossity that the song initially seems to be. The song appears to say that society tries to make people conform to a norm, putting up appearances for appearance's sake, and because of the way society behaves, it behaves as a woman. The style is mellow and laid back, a very strong folk-renaissance sound (though I've sometimes had a hard time defining exactly what that means, which means it's likely sort of progressive).

The music here is Jethro Tull at their non-commercial, classic, best. The sound has a raw exuberance to it. The lyrics run from plain to completely cryptic. The music goes from a hard-edged rock to acoustic folk. In short, this is the Tull we remember from their incredibly creative early days. If you are a fan of Tull's early music, this CD is a must have. If you object to the later release with the "extras" on it, look for the previous version without. Awesome music worth 5 stars.

Listening to Benefit again yesterday with the better sound and extra tracks showed me how great Tull were...there is a folk delicacy and blues rock urgency found in their music capturing the spirit of their day...the psychological tension is relieved by the sweetness...I am a completist and dig this early period of Tull the best..the lyrics and feel are emotional never distant..all of their albums are fine art but for this listener their first 4 album's stand up the best...can not knock the intensity of Thick As A Brick onward but someone like me that also digs the Soft Machine,King Crimson,Traffic, Tull is and will always be on the short Prog Rock list with a uniqueness truly their own.

The music: in a word, groovy. The band's evolution continued apace, and the addition of John Evan on keyboard allowed textures that the band hadn't previously been capable of. It's a curiously dark, introspective album, and on the best songs that darkness can be quite beautiful.

The remaster: the best remasters series out there (such as the Who's and the Kinks', and anything on Rhino) include lengthy, detailed essays, reproductions of single sleeves, ads, band photos and other memorabilia, and try to round up all available rare tracks from the period covered by the album in question.

The new Tull remasters fall a bit short on these counts. They include nice essays by Ian Anderson, but these are a bit sketchy and could have been complemented by more information from another expert. All original album art is restored, but no other period photos or memorabilia are reproduced. And while the extra tracks that are included are wonderful and necessary, there is a little more out there that could have been included. It would have been nice if they could have rounded up some unreleased or live material, but the biggest omission here is the alternate version of "Teacher." Contrary to what the Amazon description says, this reissue only includes ONE version of the song, what is called the "original UK mix." This is the version that was on MU and other Tull compilations, and was on the US version of the album (at least the cassette I had in the '80s). There is another version, quite different and quite wonderful, which was released as the b-side to "Witch's Promise" and included on the 20 Years Of Jethro Tull box set. Since the box has been out of print for many years, it would have behooved the record company to include this version on the remaster, as well. It's a glaring omission. --Quibbles, yes, but a well-done reissue is such a joy...

That said, the sound and packaging are a vast improvement over the previously-available CD.

Jethro Tull suffers an undeserved low esteem in the pop music scene nowadays (That is, here in the U.S.), in good part because of the vice of not pretending to be the least bit lowbrow. Not to say that they are particularly highbrow, but they are intelligent, English, well-read, and skillful, all of which are generally undesirable in the pop music and media scene in general, at least in record and video stores. They even use the word "whom" in one of these songs!

That faux-pas notwithstanding, this is to me their best offering. It is certainly the one that really launched them on a successful career in the 20th C, and their songs range from heavy and fateful, to gentle and tender. They were the kind of band that usually was listened to by the college set in the 70's and 80's, and not appreciated as much elsewhere.

There was a movement among a lot of rock musicians back then to prove to the world that they actually posessed skills that could rival traditional "classical" music, exemplified by Yes, Kansas, ELO, and maybe best by Rick Wakeman. But Jethro Tull wasn't so allured to try to take on "classical" music because they could actually play it from the word go.

They would soon develop a penchant for older English folk music, and showed the world they were unashamed anglophiles, thus wrecking their popularity here in the U.S., who were still trying to get over the American revolution. But this penchant hadn't yet begun to develop, and this early album was a genuine collection of sincere, simple rock music played with more skill and elegance than was found very often in this time period. Five stars.

The record like its predecessor "Stand Up" is full of great songs. It takes a move up in terms of sound quality, though the production is somewhat idiosynchratic and annoyingly trebly at times.

The band and production infuse the material with fine energy and nice instrumental flourishes. Lots of great stuff here but to me the best track of all is and has been "For Michael Collins, Jeffrey, and Me" - awesome.