This Was (studio album)
by Jethro Tull

This Was by Jethro Tull
Year: 1968
Overall rank: 3,839th   Overall chart historyOverall chart history
Average Rating: 
74/100 (from 152 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution   Average rating historyAverage rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1968 (58th)
Award Top albums of the 1960s (325th)
Award Best albums of all time (3,839th)

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Availability

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JETHRO TULL "THIS WAS" RARE UK COPY OF CLASSIC
Condition: Used


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Jethro Tull – This Was LP 1983 Press Chrysalis PV 41041 Vinyl is NM
Condition: Used


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Jethro Tull - This Was/Stand Up/Benefit (2014 EU Sealed 3CD)
Condition: Brand New


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Jethro Tull bestography

This Was is ranked 9th best out of 46 albums by Jethro Tull on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Jethro Tull is Aqualung which is ranked number 323 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 5,328.

Jethro Tull album bestography « Higher ranked (3,807th)
A Passion Play
This album (3,839th)
This Was
Lower ranked (5,367th) »
Living In The Past

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

Upcoming concerts

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This Was track list

  Track ratingsTrack ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 75 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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1.
Rating: 77 (21 votes)Comments: View 0
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3.
Rating: 77 (21 votes)Comments: View 0
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4.
Rating: 75 (20 votes)Comments: View 0
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6.
Rating: 76 (21 votes)Comments: View 0
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8.
Rating: 73 (19 votes)Comments: View 0
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10.
Rating: 70 (20 votes)Comments: View 0
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This Was rankings

This Was collection

This Was ratings

Average Rating: 
74/100 (from 152 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 152 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
80/100
 Report rating
11/05/2025 01:21 mnmont  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 23191/100
 
25/100
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10/30/2025 01:33 Proto  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 3,62633/100
 
80/100
 Report rating
08/07/2025 13:38 spinout  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 3,11981/100
 
50/100
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07/30/2025 23:26 thepardunk  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 2,53469/100
 
70/100
 Report rating
06/06/2025 14:23 MarkusKosmo  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 59684/100

Rating metrics: Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 25% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 73.6/100, a mean average of 72.7/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 73.7/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.7.

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This Was favourites

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This Was comments

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Rating:  
85/100
From 09/22/2022 11:57
I like this a lot, bluesy and jazzy, but not without the flute of the madman ;)
#289864 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 01/06/2022 10:43
Gran disco de debut, aunque no marcarían claramente su rumbo hasta el siguiente. Toques de jazz y blues para un álbum magnífico.
#278714 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 12/24/2019 14:35
Just your usual hard rock album of the late sixties... with a very out of place flute. Anyway, they try to make blues heavy and they succeed. Do they succeed exceptionally more so than their contemporaries? With Jimi in their back and Led Zeppelin hovering in the near distance, I can see why they're mostly forgotten.
#245917 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
From 09/06/2016 21:42
Good bluesy album. Almost a Mayall vibe here.
The guitar replacement soon will leave Ian leading the band completely. Golden JT era ahead.
#174424 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 08/23/2012 15:10
A very strong debut album. Hints at what Tull were to become but stand out. Their 3 earlier albums (Stand Up, This Was & Benefit) are blues rock and stand slightly apart from the rest of their musical corpus. If you are into late 60s-early 70s blues-rock, these early Tull albums are essential.
#49083 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +6 votes (6 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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Best Albums of 1968
1. The Beatles (The White Album) by The Beatles
2. Electric Ladyland by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
3. Astral Weeks by Van Morrison
4. Odessey And Oracle by The Zombies
5. The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society by The Kinks
6. Beggars Banquet by The Rolling Stones
7. White Light/White Heat by The Velvet Underground
8. Bookends by Simon & Garfunkel
9. Music From Big Pink by The Band
10. At Folsom Prison by Johnny Cash
11. A Saucerful Of Secrets by Pink Floyd
12. Waiting For The Sun by The Doors
13. Lady Soul by Aretha Franklin
14. We're Only In It For The Money by The Mothers Of Invention
15. The Notorious Byrd Brothers by The Byrds
16. Cheap Thrills by Big Brother And The Holding Company
17. Os Mutantes by Os Mutantes
18. Wheels Of Fire by Cream
19. Sweetheart Of The Rodeo by The Byrds
20. S.F. Sorrow by The Pretty Things
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