Jethro Tull - Benefit (vinyl)

Well, Ken, I agree it's a great album. Stand Up, too. Both are easy to get on CD. Mine get played often. 

MDS  

i have both (+others) on vinyl, and for some reason prefer to listen to these on vinyl -- i suppose for nostalgic reasons? hopefully i will be lucky with my order to DiverseVinyl

i hadnt played 'Benefit' for a long time and it was very refreshing to hear it again yesterday, especially as the system is in top voice....

enjoy

ken

Yes, Ken. My first Tull album was Benefit when it was first released so I too have a nostalgic liking for the album. But I gave up vinyl a long time ago. Many years passed before I rediscovered Benefit when I bought a CD version.  I particularly like the tracks Nothing to say and Sossity: you're a woman. Hope you track down a pristine vinyl copy soon.

MDS 

The early Tull albums were superb. I've a really nice original copy of Benefit Ken. I'll play it when you're over next.

+1
I second Steve's. There are excellent second hand copies of the album if you shop around and you probably won't have to break the bank. Good luck!

Thanks Tony, i will look around. The Diverse (and Amazon) one is a 180g, if that means anything quality-wise

enjoy

ken

Ken,

I am never keen on reissues, although I did buy KC's RED(Amazon) to give my original copy a break. It did  turn out  to be not half-as-bad as I thought it would. You can always order the 180g and keep an eye for the original release. Once you get that sorted, sell your original,"tired" copy and recoup some of your costs.

Phew!

Patience will pay off in the end.

KR,

Tony

good suggestions Tony...

enjoy

ken

You can pick up an original Chrysalis 1st press for not too much more than a reissue Ken and it will sound so much better.

where from, Steve?

enjoy

ken

I'll ask my man at the market to keep an eye out for you. You can also try eBay and Discogs.

If you liked what Steven Wilson did with Aqualung you could be in for a treat as Benefit is getting similar treatment. CD, DVD and LP are due at the end of October. Check out the Burning Shed site.

The LP will have a new SW mix, however.

Thanks for the heads-up, Mancusco. I certainly did like Wilson's remaster of Aqualung. Massively better than the version I originally had.

MDS  

Well, I hope he does a better job than TAAB which was pretty awful IMO.

I didn't know that - glad I didn't get it then.  I did enjoy Aqualung, however, so I guess its a crap shoot.

Collector's version of Benefit (2 x CDs + DVD) now available on Amazon for pre-order for 31st Oct. Just placed mine.

MDS

The vinyl version is also available.

My first ever vinyl purchase, in a school lunch break, ten shillings. Still got it.

I have the  Steve Wilson remix on pre order. I'm interested in the 24/96 version. The vinyl might be worth a punt. There's bound to be plenty of opinion posted after release.

As I have the original 1st press in good nick I'm not going to order the vinyl until there is some feedback.

I got the CD remaster last night and had a quick listen to 3 or 4 tracks from the main CD.

Seemed quite a 'lively' presentation to me that worked really well on the louder tracks but maybe less on others.

Early days with it. Interested to hear other's views when they have had time with it.

Bruce

I've ripped the DVD. And spent a pleasurable hour or so listening to the remix last night. The voice and guitars are given more prominence and overall the treble is somewhat up. It was interesting and I thought, well done. Because I've been regularly listening to this album for over 40 years, I may not get used to the shift. Aqualung was IMO more subtly and effectively done and to a large extent (perhaps the only extent) it comes down to the material you are given to work with. I didn't get time to listen to all the bonus tracks and I have yet to try the flat transfer. That should be interesting. And I'll have to dig out my favourite 16Bit version, although I believe the 24Bit is a bit ahead on dynamics, detail and separation. With luck I will have all my answers today.

Harry

Interesting

What does 'flat transfer' mean by the way? I'll be listening to the CD versions and suspect the DVD will be unused but I was unsure what the different versions on that disc meant-and how they relate to the CDs.

It all used to be so simple!

Bruce

TBH Bruce I think it's whatever people want it to mean. My general understanding is that it's a straight pull off the master tape with a minimum of (preferably no) EQing and general arsing about, past getting a volume level and addressing any glitches due to the condition of the material. I expect (although I do not know) that some material is good enough to be flat transferred and some isn't. I think we're looking more at a distribution than a definition. TAAB came over flat very well I thought.

Getting back to the title of the thread. Has anybody listened to the vinyl remaster of Benefit?

A curable case of premature enunciation here.

My previous comments refer to the flat transfer. It’s different and in some respects interesting and refreshing, but it is squashed like a bug by Wilson’s remix. I can hear what the rhythm section is doing, how they are playing off each other – or not, and they stand out more. Instruments are well etched in placement and texture. Multi tracked guitars now blend as opposed to play over each other by dint of being separated and defined enough to make out the timing. And the vocals. I didn’t know so many of the vocals were multitracked.

This is a towering achievement in 24/96. A proper introduction to the first album I ever bought with my pocket money and secretly sequested dinner money.  Well up with Aqualung and at long last a fitting demonstration of the care and cleverness that went into the composing, arrangement and playing. I’m not sure that Wilson has added any extra information, effects or tracks to the remix. He seems more to have lifted a veil, and quite a thick one I might say.

The CD sounds oddly flat compared to the 24/96 remix. In some respects kind of like the flat transfer but not.

The vinyl? I guess someone will be along with that in due course.