This Was
by Jethro Tull

This Was by Jethro Tull
Year: 1968
Release date: 1968-10-25
Overall rank: 3,933rd   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
74/100 (from 160 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1968 (57th)
Award Top albums of the 1960s (329th)
Award Best albums of all time (3,933rd)

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Product Details
Availability

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Jethro Tull ~ This Was / Stand Up / Benefit 3CD 2015 Chrysalis Records ••NEW••
Condition: Brand New


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This Was by Jethro Tull (CD, 2008)
Condition: Like New


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JETHRO TULL This Was Original 1968 UK Stereo LP Pink Island Label IAN ANDERSON
Condition: Used


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Jethro Tull bestography

This Was is ranked 8th best out of 48 albums by Jethro Tull on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Jethro Tull is Aqualung which is ranked number 317 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 5,284.

Jethro Tull album bestography « Higher ranked (3,422nd)
Minstrel In The Gallery
This album (3,933rd)
This Was
Lower ranked (3,990th) »
A Passion Play

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

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This Was rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 3,933rd | 1960s rank: 329th | 1968 rank: 57th
Filter Filter
Sort Sort by
YearSourceChartRankRank Score
2026mrmcrookTop 12 Music Albums of 196812/120
2026bonnequestionTop 100 Music Albums of the 1960s94/1001
2026 LeonardTop 88 Music Albums of 196856/882
2026Juneof44Top 100 Music Albums of the 1960s90/1002
2026stevengnzTop 100 Music Albums of the 1960s76/1005
2026Marswolf68Top 100 Music Albums of the 1960s7/10019
2026Juneof44Top 50 Music Albums of 196815/504
2026amirmishaliTop 100 Music Albums of 196873/1001
2026 FischmanTop 100 Music Albums of 196857/1002
2026mrmcrookTop 60 Music Albums of the 1960s49/604
2026 jeremy9Top 15 Music Albums of 19686/153
2026 AAL2014Top 78 Music Albums of 196877/780
2026bonnequestionTop 31 Music Albums of 196817/312
2026SkernsTop 55 Music Albums of 196834/552
2026OlliTop 84 Music Albums of 196850/842
2026Marswolf68Top 100 Greatest Music Albums14/10085
2025 RepoTop 61 Music Albums of 196844/611
2025 paladisiactop 60r albums (61), #0101-0200*91/95 -
2025stevengnzTop 42 Music Albums of 196818/423
2025Steppenwolf666Collectable record labels, The Pink Island (UK) label albums12/73 -
Total Charts: Help The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. 89
Total Rank Score: Help The total rank score. 374
You can include this album in your own chart from the My Charts page!

This Was collection

This Was ratings

Average Rating: 
74/100 (from 160 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help 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 160 ratings for this album.

Sort Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
80/100
 
05/10/2026 19:25 emnasut  Ratings distribution  15387/100
 
65/100
 
05/10/2026 11:57 Adhura  Ratings distribution  1,64977/100
 
85/100
 
05/06/2026 06:54 JoshN125  Ratings distribution  21285/100
 
100/100
 
04/27/2026 03:22 Marswolf68  Ratings distribution  93278/100
 
60/100
 
04/26/2026 03:31 Olli  Ratings distribution  7,25862/100

Rating metrics: Help 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 23% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 73.6/100, a mean average of 72.8/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 73.7/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.6.

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This Was favourites

Showing all 9 members who have added this album as a favourite

This Was comments

Showing all 5 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)

Rating:  
85/100
From 09/22/2022 11:57 | #289864
I like this a lot, bluesy and jazzy, but not without the flute of the madman ;)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 01/06/2022 10:43 | #278714
Gran disco de debut, aunque no marcarían claramente su rumbo hasta el siguiente. Toques de jazz y blues para un álbum magnífico.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 12/24/2019 14:35 | #245917
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.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -2 votes (0 helpful | 2 unhelpful)
From 09/06/2016 21:42 | #174424
Good bluesy album. Almost a Mayall vibe here.
The guitar replacement soon will leave Ian leading the band completely. Golden JT era ahead.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 08/23/2012 15:10 | #49083
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.
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