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Stand Up (Japanese mini-vinyl)

Jethro Tull - Stand Up (Japanese mini-vinyl) Audio CD

A fair review of the Jethro Tull "Stand Up (Japanese mini-vinyl)" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Jethro Tull reviews here, or go back to the Jethro Tull tabs.

Band: Jethro Tull
Title: Stand Up (Japanese mini-vinyl)
Rating:

Release Date: 2008-08-05
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: New Day Yesterday 2: Jeffrey Goes to Leicester Square 3: Bour�e 4: Back to the Family 5: Look into the Sun 6: Nothing Is Easy 7: Fat Man 8: We Used to Know 9: Reasons for Waiting 10: For a Thousand Miles 11: Living in the Past [*] 12: Driving Song [*] 13: Sweet Dream [*] 14: 17 [*]

An Incredible Remaster
This outstanding album features a unique blend of British folk, hard rock and jazz and was the first in a series of classic Tull albums, closely followed by Benefit (1970), Aqualung (1971), Thick As A Brick (1972) and Living in the Past (1972). Stand Up, originally released in 1969, was Jethro Tull's second album and its first with core member Martin Barre (lead guitar) joining founder and fellow core member Ian Anderson (songwriter, flute, acoustic guitar and vocals).

The songs on Stand Up rank among Tull's very best. Highlights include the blues-rock influenced "A New Day Yesterday," the J. S. Bach inspired (or stolen) "Bouree" and the ballad "Things We Used To Know. " The songs from the original album are supplemented with four "bonus" tracks (the first three of which also appear on Living In The Past and are among the highlights of that release). The bonus tracks fit in with the sound and overall musical feel of the remainder of the album and do not detract from it, as is often the case.

Moreover, Stand Up has probably never sounded better than it does on this fine remastered Japanese offering. The music is rich and warm, and incredibly detailed, with each instrument and the vocals well-defined. It is a joy to listen to. As with other Japanese "mini-LPs" the artwork of the intricate original LP cover, which features a print from a woodcut depicting the band members, is recreated on hard cardboard stock, and the original "pop-up" of the band members in the gatefold has been faithfully recreated. Finally, at the time of this writing, this import CD is being offered at a very reasonable price by Amazon as well as by its marketplace vendors.

All of this begs the question: why aren't more classic cds remastered, packaged and priced the way this one has been?

For anyone who enjoys Tull's music -- or classic rock in general -- this is a must purchase. Very highly recommended.
.

The Classic Tull Album--one of their best!!
This has to be in my top five Tull albums (the others being "Benefit", "Aqualung", "Thick As A Brick" and "Passion Play")!. . It is such a flawless album!

Their first album , "This Was" hinted at what was to come, but relied on a more blues sound on some of the songs. Once Mick Abrahams left and Martin Barre came in, the stage was set for Tull to create their own musical style.

Every song is a gem, but my fave raves are "Nothing Is Easy" ( I love the build up near the end and the beats go up from 1, 1-2, 1-2-3. , etc. . . . It's such an exciting song! The Isle of Wight version is THE best version of it--very exciting stuff!), "A New Day Yesterday", which rocks out immmensely, the pensive "We Used To Know", the frolicky "Jeffrey Goes To Leicester (pronounced "Leester") Square", and the angry yet funny "Back To The Family". . . Not forgetting the all-out rockin' "For A Thousand Mothers"and the classical Bach instrumental "Bouree".

If you are a Tull fan, you already know this is a classic and a MUST OWN.
If you're new to Tull, buy this now!
Note: The Japanese version replicates the original album cover with the band standing up when the cover opens. . I love that , too!.

"Nothing Is Easy" but it isn't hard to like this one!

Change may be normal in the music business but when a critical part of a machine is removed so early in the game could the replacement be equal or greater? Jethro Tull's debut and intense album "This Was" highlighted the blues guitar offerings from Mick Abrahams. As the author of the Jefferson Airplane book "Take Me To A Circus Tent" and a former radio disc-jockey, I am often asked to write and or discuss various recordings from the 60's and 70's. As the band would consider more and more adapting a style closer to English Folk, Abrahams and group parted ways. Enter one Martin Barre.

The same way the Rolling Stones struck gold with Mick Taylor taking over for Brian Jones, Jethro Tull did likewise. In no way is this slighting Abrahams ability. Barre's forte was the ability to diversify and succeed in any musical genre.

Tull opened the second album with the bluesy-based "A New Day Yesterday. " Instantly the listener is fixated to the songs construction. Throughout the compositions Anderson's vocals and Barre's tasty playing (as well as the perfect tone for each tune) mesh as one. To solidify the musical side of things Glen Cornick's bass and Clive Bunker's drums are locked together. As you have digested the recording, in the past Barre's skill may have been more prevalent to the ear because his guitar is such an integral part of the sound (He has played with Ian Anderson since 1969) but don't overlook the fine performance Bunker gave.

"Bourée" has become one of the most highly praised instrumentals ever. Almost 40 years later it still is receiving airplay.

"Back To The Family" blends folk and rock. The vocal inflection is perfect. You feel as Ian Anderson is singing for one and not the masses.

"Nothing Is Easy" is another song still being played on the radio. The riff deserves its legendary stature. Barre plays the song with such ease intensity yet ease, it wouldn't feel right coming out of another guitarists hands.

"Fat Man" further explores their folk side with some esoteric sounds to boot.

Time has not diminished the album, only catapulted it standing. With the addition of four bones tracks, it is now easy to go living in the past.

Enjoy the music and be well,
Craig Fenton
Author of the Jefferson Airplane book "Take Me To A Circus Tent"
.

An absolute classic
Personally, I'd take the whole album. A previous reviewer wrote that "Fat Man" would be his Desert Island song. Stand Up is an absolute classic. Most bands "peak" with a certain album and it's all downhill from there. JT is unique in that they had several peaks over the very long life of the band, and this is one of them. It's hard to compare this album with anything else except perhaps Benefit, which I'd also rate 5 stars - another peak.

Tull's Finest Hour
`Even if we'd used a brown paper bag for a cover this would still be one of the finest albums Island has ever released' ran the ads in the British music press. Stand up was recorded in early 1969 and released on 25th July of the same year. And the cover does the music justice, a wonderful woodcut by New York artist Jimmy Grashow. The original LP had a `pop up' of the band that `stood up' when the gatefold seeve was opened.
`Stand Up' is very much a product of its time. British rock music was gliding into a period when it dominated world music. This was the time when Led Zeppelin recorded their first albums, Yes likewise. A track from `Stand Up' (We Used to Know) featured on the Island records sampler `Nice Enough to Eat' - and what a sampler it was; Traffic, King Crimson, Nick Drake, Fairport Convention, Blodwyn Pig, Mott the Hoople and Free.
Stand Up was Jethro Tull's second album. Their original guitarist Mick Abrahams had quit the group late the previous year and was replaced by Martin Barre (after a brief interregnum by an ill suited Tony Iommi, later of Black Sabbath - pronounced Sabbaff by true fans). Free of Abrahams influence Ian Anderson, flautist, songwriter and frontman, had free rein for the first time and Tull explored the woody, folky, rootsy edges of their music for the first time. There are umpteen wonderful moments on the album from the opening heavy bluesy riff on A New Day Yesterday (in retrospect a farewell to the blues influences that littered their first album `This Was' ) to the flutey progressive For a Thousand Mothers'.
Many will know Bouree, Tull's flute lead interpretation of Bach's piece, but the album scores because it has strength in depth. Anderson's use of the mandolin on Jeffrey Goes to Leicester Square is both wistful and enchanting, but my personal favourite is `Fat Man'. Why? It is my desert island track - that piece of music I'd take with me to warm my soul wherever I may find myself. The breathiness of the flute, the rattling mandolin and tambourine, bowled along with a bongo beat; it is alive and full of energy - I've used the phrase joi de vivre to describe Tull's first album in a separate review - but this track encapsulates that feeling. It's the musical embodiment of the feeling of running down a hill on a warm summers day with the grass at one's feet and the wind in ones hair.
So, should you buy this album? Though many, especially in the US, will be more familiar with Aqualung and Thick as a Brick, Stand Up captures a lighter, more innocent Tull, still full of vitality, not yet descended into self parody. This is pure and unalloyed Tull, so very British (I hesitate to say English because Anderson plays up his Scottishness) and so very likeable. Unless you are an out and out rocker, or completely in thrall to the notion of rock musicians as impresarios (c. f. Rick Wakeman) then this is the must have Tull album. Habup, Jolph.

You can see a complete list of all Jethro Tull discography, or go back to the Jethro Tull tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.