Benefit by Jethro Tull

Benefit, Jethro Tull's third album, came out in April 1970, and it's a moodier, more cloistered affair than the folky Stand Up, which had just gone to number one in Britain. Ian Anderson produced it himself, back at Morgan Studios where they'd cut Stand Up, but this time the band played around with more ambitious studio techniques.

It was the first Tull album with John Evan on piano and organ, and the last with bassist Glenn Cornick, who was fired once the tour behind it wrapped. Anderson's flute and voice lead a tight crew with Martin Barre on guitar and Clive Bunker on drums, and the music leans into heavier riffs and knottier arrangements. Anderson has since called it a far darker record than its predecessor, weighed down by the grind of a long American tour and his disgust with the music business. "Teacher" is the track that keeps turning up on the countdowns.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.