BENEFIT

With You There To Help Me: A sensitive song, with a desperate verse and a powerful chorus that convinces you our hero will finally make it, because he believes! A much better song than most people think, has layers to decode.

Nothing To Say: Fantastic pop-oriented ballad, with a great riff and unforgettable vocal lines by Anderson. Could have become a radio hit if times were different. Classic!

Alive And Well And Living In: Very versatile song, skillful and entertaining, with simple but meaningful lyrics. You wanna play it again to know it better, since it's only 2:47 long. They were on fire in this album!

Son: What an idea! Bombastic riff, unusual vocal lines, "calm" section in the middle... A father-son dialog with deep social messages, progressive and all, in under 3 minutes. Anderson's talent is hard to realize, even after all those 50 years. A true giant.

For Michael Collins, Jeffrey And Me: Progressive pop is the best term I can think of this one. A beautiful song, with a variety of melodies and personal lyrics. The acoustic guitar riff reminds me of the "Friends" main theme, as it's basically the same riff with some double notes. A very interesting song.

To Cry You A Song: My favorite song of the album. Instantly classic riff, hard rock core, the best guitar work by Martin Barre in the entire album, super radio-friendly even though it's 6 minutes long (they feel like 3).

A Time For Everything: My God, what an album this has been! This one is another song with a splendid riff, catchy vocals, and a perfect duration for air play. The lyrics are surprising, since they are written through the eyes of a middle aged man that sings about his lost opportunities. Anderson was only 23 y.o. at the time!

Inside: The first not-so-special song of the album. Kinda repetitive and uninspired, they should cut this out and put in "Teacher" instead (released as a single at the time, a great song).

Play In Time: An OK song, but nothing significant. Compared to the other superb songs of the album, it fades easily.

Sossity: You're A Woman: Poetry. Fantastic lyrics, sensitive melody, yet again very interesting vocal lines, and trippy folk music that would be fully explored some years later on Minstrel in the Gallery. A beautiful ending for a monumental album.

RATING: Maybe the most underrated JT album. It's quality is elusive, with only two songs out of ten being less than very good. 3 or 4 songs can be easily included to a Best Of JT compilation any given time. Totally 4,5 stars by me, have to go with 4.

Share this JETHRO TULL review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to BigDaddyAEL1964
• Report this review (#1378675)
• Buy JETHRO TULL music online with PA partners
• Show all JETHRO TULL MP3/Stream
• Go to JETHRO TULL page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Benefit page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for JETHRO TULL related discussions