STAND UP

This was (no pun intended) my first Tull album, bought soon after its release. Whereas their debut LP "This Was" was bluesy this follow-up is a showcase for Ian Anderson's songwriting and goes beyond the bluesy feel on many songs. Martin Barre makes his debut as lead guitar because Mick Abrahams didn't like the less bluesy approach.

The album opens with "A New Day Yesterday" a bass-driven tune that is followed by "Jeffrey Goes to Leicester Square" a short ditty on which Barre plays flute.

Both nice songs but the first gem comes next as they play "Bouree", an instrumental (apart from Anderson's breathy flute style) that's Bach-inspired and was originally my fave. A concert staple for years and needs no intro to Tull fans.

"Back to the Family" follows and the side ended with, for my money, its best song "Look Into the Sun", a lovely ballad.

But side 2 has come to the fore in time as its subtleties grew on me. It opens with "Nothing is Easy" an up-tempo tune that's followed by "Fat Man" originally my fave on this side. Anderson, a natural multi-instrumentist, plays a lively tune on balalaika here.

Now we come to the two real gems - "We Used to Know" a song about nostalgia giving Barre a chance to wah-wah a tasty solo and "Reasons For Waiting" a love song which starts with a lightly strummed acoustic guitar but develops with a string arrangement behind Anderson's voice. Two great tunes beautifully arranged and performed.

The faster "For a Thousand Mothers" closes the original album with style.

The 2001 remaster includes bonus tracks including Tull's 2 early singles "Living in the Past"and "Sweet Dream". They have completely different sounds to them as the first is jazzy, the second feels "big".

All in all, a great set of songs but not really prog as we know it. Nothing longer than 4 minutes(ish) but rather some proto-prog moments. The album is class rock through and through.

Tull's great epic "Thick as a Brick" was just a few years away and tops this one but "Stand Up" is still my second favourite in Tull's discographhy and deserves 5 stars (as does "TAAB").