Benefit is the third studio album by the British rock band Jethro Tull, released in April 1970. It was the first Tull album to include pianist and organist John Evan and the last to include bass guitarist Glenn Cornick, who was fired from the band upon completion of touring for the album. It was recorded at Morgan Studios, the same studio where the band recorded its previous album Stand Up; however, they experimented with more advanced recording techniques.

Frontman Ian Anderson said that he considers Benefit to be a much darker album than Stand Up, owing to the pressures of an extensive U.S. tour and frustration with the music business.

Production

Guitarist Martin Barre noted that Benefit was much easier to create than the band's earlier albums, as the success of Stand Up gave the musicians greater artistic freedom.

Bassist Glenn Cornick explained that the band aimed to capture a more "live" feel with the album, remarking, "I felt the last one sounded like a group of session musicians performing various songs. It was pretty cold."

Benefit incorporated studio techniques such as reverse recording (flute and piano tracks on "With You There to Help Me"), and manipulating the tape speed (guitar on "Play in Time"). In a 1970 interview Anderson noted that the addition of keyboardist John Evan had changed the band's style: "John has added a new dimension musically and I can write more freely now. In fact anything is possible with him at the keyboard".

Musical style

Ian Anderson said that Benefit was a "guitar riff" album, recorded at a time when the riff-oriented music of artists like Cream, Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin was much in evidence. Anderson also noted that Benefit is "a rather dark and stark album and, although it has a few songs on it that are rather okay, I don't think it has the breadth, variety or detail that Stand Up has. But it was an evolution in terms of the band playing as 'a band.'" Overall, Anderson considered the album "a natural part of the group's evolution".

According to Martin Barre "To Cry You a Song" was a response to Blind Faith's "Had to Cry Today", "although you couldn't compare the two; nothing was stolen ... The riff crossed over the bar in a couple of places and Ian and I each played guitars on the backing tracks. It was more or less live in the studio with a couple of overdubs and a solo. Ian played my Gibson SG and I played a Les Paul on it."

Releases

The UK and the US release are different. The US version (with flute) of "Teacher" was placed on side two of the album, and the track "Alive and Well and Living In" was excluded. In the UK, "Teacher" was the B-side of the non-album single "The Witch's Promise", and was without a flute.

For the 50th anniversary of the album, an enhanced edition was released in 2021, consisting of four CDs and two DVDs.

Critical reception

Critics were generally unimpressed with Benefit upon its release. Rolling Stone called the album "lame and dumb". Disc and Music Echo was also unimpressed but recognized the band's quality: "This album doesn't advance by such a drastic leap as Stand Up did from This Was. It's more like the Jethro Tull we've seen and heard for the past year. It seems to be a remarkably long album, and shows what an exciting group this is. Exciting because they can have quite long guitar breaks and still retain a very tight and together sound". The Village Voice critic Robert Christgau appreciated the riffs around which all the songs were constructed, but wasn't impressed by the lyrics that he judged hard to recall.

Track listing

1970 UK release

1970 US release

2013 A Collector's Edition (3 Discs)

Personnel

;Jethro Tull

  • Ian Anderson – vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar (uncredited), flute, balalaika, keyboards, production
  • Martin Barre – electric guitar
  • Glenn Cornick – bass guitar, Hammond organ (uncredited)
  • Clive Bunker – drums, percussion

;Additional musicians

  • Dee Palmer – orchestral arrangements
  • John Evan – piano, organ

;Production

  • Robin Black – engineer
  • Terry Ellis – cover design, executive producer
  • Ruan O'Lochlainn – cover design, photography

Charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

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! Chart (1970–1971)

! Peak<br/>position

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! scope="row"| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)

| align="center"| 12

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!scope="row"|Danish Albums (Hitlisten)

|align="center"|6

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! scope="row"| Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)

| align="center"| 7

|-

|-

! scope="row"|Italian Albums (Musica e Dischi)

| align="center"| 18

|-

|-

|-

|}

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

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! Chart (2013)

! Peak<br/>position

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{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

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! Chart (2021)

! Peak<br/>position

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Certifications

References

  • Jethro Tull - Benefit (1970/2001 Version with Bonus Tracks) album review by Bruce Eder, credits & releases at AllMusic.com
  • Jethro Tull - Benefit (1970) album releases & credits at Discogs.com
  • Jethro Tull - Benefit (1970) album review by BludgeonySteve at SputnikMusic.com
  • Jethro Tull - Benefit (1970/2001 Remastered Version) album to be listened as stream at Play.Spotify.com
  • Jethro Tull - Benefit (1970/2013 Steven Wilson Remix & Remaster) album to be listened as stream at Play.Spotify.com