[2] Frontman Ian Anderson said that he considers Benefit to be a much darker album than Stand Up, owing to the pressures of an extensive U.S. tour and frustration with the music business.

[3] Guitarist Martin Barre said that Benefit was a lot easier to make than previous albums, as the success of Stand Up allowed the musicians more artistic latitude.

[4] Bassist Glenn Cornick stated that the band's intention was to capture a more "live" feeling as "I felt the last one sounded like a group of session musicians performing various songs.

[6] Ian Anderson said that Benefit was a "guitar riff" album, recorded at a time when the riff-oriented music of artists like Cream, Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin was much in evidence.

The Collector's Edition also includes a booklet featuring an 8,000-word essay written by Martin Webb, as well as interviews with band members and a selection of photos, some previously unseen.

Bruce Eder stated that: "Most of the songs on Benefit display pleasant, delectably folk-like melodies attached to downbeat, slightly gloomy, but dazzlingly complex lyrics, with Barre's guitar adding enough wattage to keep the hard rock listeners very interested.

"[14] Paul Stump, in his History of Progressive Rock, said that Benefit "maintained the invention (and sales) of its predecessor, once again teasing unexpected emotional reflexes from time-honoured voicings and rhythms to signpost something that, if not a wholly new kind of pop song, at least offered the listener new bearings in his or her search.