Record Reviews

JETHRO TULL ~ BENEFIT CHRYSALIS 535457 ~ UK ~ Progressive Rock Recorded: 1970 3rd album by Jethro TullFind albums by this artist and the last of the formative years output. Some everlasting tunes, that would accompany the band in years to come are included, especially `Nothing Is Easy`. The group parts with the blues roots and is almost there as far as creating a unique and consistent artistic style for itself. Definitely a very good piece of Prog to have.

CD 1 Remastered Bonus Tracks Recommend To A Friend

JETHRO TULL ~ BENEFIT (THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY ENHANCED EDITION) CHRYSALIS 190295201616 (Barcode: 190295201616) ~ UK ~ Progressive Rock Recorded: 1969 - 1970 Released: 2021 This is a 50th Anniversary Edition reissue of the third album by the British Prog Masters Jethro TullFind albums by this artist and another chapter in the series of reissues of their seminal albums which are being remixed to new stereo and 5.1 surround sound versions by Steven WilsonFind albums by this artist, who is doing similar projects with classic Rock / Prog albums by other artists as well. It follows a similar treatment that Wilson applied to the reissues of all early Jethro Tull releases. The reissue consists of four CDs and two DVDs. The first CD contains the new stereo remix of the original album (ten tracks) and seven “associated recordings", also newly remixed. The second CD contains another twenty-one “associated recordings", original mono and stereo singles mixes and new remixes of four tracks later included on the “Living In The PastFind albums with this title” compilation album and finally two radio spots. The third CD contains the “Live At Tanglewood” concert from 1970. The fourth CD contains the “Live In Chicago” concert, also from 1970. The first DVD contains the album and eight of the "associate recordings" remixed in two High-Resolution formats (5.1 DTS, AC3 Dolby Digital Surround Sound and in High Resolution stereo format 96/24 LPCM). Also included are the original stereo mixes of the album in High Resolution stereo format 96/24 LPCM. The second DVD includes the “Live At Tanglewood” video with audio tracks in High-Resolution formats. If you are confused by all these technical terms, don´t be – it is all complete bullshit piece of hype! Basically you don´t even get the original stereo mix of the album in a CD form, but you get almost two hours of a live concert on CD, remixed versions of the album, and a bunch of bonus tracks, which honestly contribute very little, if anything at all. The entire set is lavishly packaged in a digibook format, with great photos of the band, background material, the song lyrics and other goodies, which are all beyond reproach. It arrives ten years too late, as it should have been done already in sequence with the other reissues, but better late than never? It’s worth to mention that Wilson already produced a remix of this album in 2013, released as “Collector’s Edition”, which includes almost all the audio material included here, but not the concert audio and video material, and was released in normal digipak format and not in the new digibook format. The group´s lineup on this album adds a keyboardist for the first time, namely John EvanFind albums by this artist, although he is not yet considered formally as a member of the group, and is the last one to include bassist Glenn CornickFind albums by this artist. Ian AndersonFind albums by this artist as usual handles the vocals and plays the flute parts and acoustic guitar and the lead guitar is magnificently handled by Martin BarreFind albums by this artist, with drummer Clive BunkerFind albums by this artist steadily in charge of the rhythmic pulse. Musically the album offers a natural development of the group’s style, moving even more away from the early Blues influences into Rock riffs and Prog complexity, with a somewhat darker sound, and remains a classic of the early period of the group. For many Jethro Tull fans this album marks the end of the early phase of the group standing on the verge of becoming a Prog icon. I believe everything the group created over the years was top notch and it was the listeners following fads and fashions who could not always follow the intricacies and complexity of the music Anderson whimsically weaved. A classic by any standard! Side Note As for the Steven WilsonFind albums by this artist contributions, I´m perplexed time after time why anybody being of sound mind would allow him to butcher the original material and then hype the results as spectacular. These original mixes are untouchable and anybody trying to change them is more or less re-painting Van Gogh, re-sculpturing Michelangelo or re-writing the Bible, all truly barbaric acts of disrespect. Additionally I find his stereo mixes to be dry, artificial and deviant, badly damaging the original ambience of the recordings. Perhaps for people who are not familiar with the original sound this sounds fine, but for me it´s unbearable and sacrilegious. In addition I find the surround sound completely redundant, hoping for years that it will go away as did quad and other industry inventions meant to earn some more money from the suckers following the trends. The whole high resolution hype is so ridiculous; in reality most people are deaf anyway and can´t tell one note from another even if it bites them in the ass and use ridiculously lo-fi equipment. In short Emperor´s new clothes, as usual, and no shame whatsoever.

Updated: 24/01/2022Posted: 24/01/2022

4CD+2DVD 6 Digibook Box Set Oversampling DVD-A Remastered Bonus Tracks Recommend To A Friend