BENEFIT

Jethro Tull

Prog Folk

3.92 | 1216 ratings

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LiquidEternity
Prog Reviewer

This is the weakest album until A Passion Play, in my opinion.

It's not terrible. I just find it thoroughly boring and not a very intriguing release from the band that usually knows how to pack intensity and excitement into albums like your grandma knows how to pack for a long vacation. Instead, here we find the band looking for melody without their wild side, which is not a bad aim, except the melodies are not strong enough to allow for such a gutless album. It's not all worthless, true, but I really can't bring myself to listen to it very often. Tull has been known for releasing a couple great albums and a great number of mediocre ones to fill the spaces in between. This falls into the mediocre category, though I think it might be a bit below par. On the whole, also, there seems to be a certain lack of much progression or progressive-minded music. The creativity seems to have vanished before recording started on this album.

On a song basis, there really are not any tracks that stand out to me. A Time for Everything? is a good song, but even so it is not a very exciting or memorable one. The melodies do work well, especially with the flute. However, there is an awful high pitched squeal for ten seconds or so in the middle that almost guarantees an instant headache. Play in Time and the simultaneously released single (available on the remaster) Teacher are both interesting tracks, with some good flute and popular vocal melodies. Aside from those three, however, none of the songs off of Benefit really do much in the way of standing out at all.

From my perspective, this album should be only for serious fans of the band. A casual listener would likely be pretty unimpressed.

LiquidEternity | 2/5 | 2008-10-1

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