STAND UP

Stand Up is the album where band Jethro Tull has achieved their classic, well-known sound. This Was already had some of the band's classic members, and even a few classic songs, but as soon as Martin Barre had joined the band, it had already achieved it's new style.

Starting with the part-classic A New Day Yesterday, to the sounds of Martin Barre's ultimate dominating guitar sound, evolving in a second into a classic Jethro Tull sounding track with Glenn Cornick's outstanding bass work and Clive Bunker's unimaginably good drumming, then to Ian Anderson's vocals, with Anderson doing an odd accent which is not even his original accent, and then to a fantastic flute solo. This song is classic Jethro Tull, as mentioned around 100,000 times in this review.

Jeffrey Goes to Leicester Square is a mellow song, which most definitely is a showcase of Anderson's fantastic flute playing skills. Now we hear Anderson's true voice, which is a mark of progressive rock ever since then. Barre's guitar work is powerful even in such a little funny line he plays, synchronized with Anderson's flute.

Bouree is the first Jethro Tull classic which is really a classic on this album, doing a fine rendition Bach's, you know it, Bouree. Bunker's drumming on this track is amazing, like the rest of the album. Again, this track showcases Anderson's flute. Tull even goes into a bit of their own in this one, and it is sure to raise a grin on anyone's serious, classically-trained, face. This is one fine rendition that Bach lovers are sure to enjoy. A tiny break for a little Cornick bassline and back to the song, and back to the riff. A funny little thing here is Anderson's counting near the end which you can hear, if you get a little frisky with your volume.

Back to the Family is a song that is not a real classic, but anyone who already knows Jethro Tull already knows, or will like when he first hears it. This song has a famous Barre/Cornick riff but no part for Bunker until he enters in the chorus with his famous cymbolic (pun and misspelling intended) sound. This song is not exactly your Jethro Tull song, but in some parts of the song, the Tull do their thing. The song ends with a nice little improvisation for you Tull fans.

Look Into the Sun is not a really "known" Tull song, but it features a nice chord sequence, which isn't exactly the band's sound, but still pleases. The chorus is a very catchy sing-a-long, to anyone, and I mean ANYONE, who listens to music, even in general. It's one of those songs that catch you 'round the bend with their catchiness and sing-a-long-ness. This song features very little amounts of flute in it, so for the young ear it may be a little hard to hear in some cases. The song also features no drums whatsoever, not even in the slightest, but it doesn't stop it from being catchy and great.

Nothing is Easy is, like Back to the Family, a Jethro Tull fan classic, featuring a very famous chorus and guitar part. We're back to Bunker's famous shuffle-on-the-ride-cymbal drum parts, Cornick's I-follow-the-rest-of-the-bands-parts-so-good-it-sounds-so-much-better bass parts, and Anderson's flute solos which come every 2 seconds.

Fat Man is a song consisting of nothing but Anderson's acoustic guitar, balalaika, bouzouki, mandolin, flute and vocals and Bunker's percussion. The song has a few short percussion/flute, etc. solos, which are pretty nice, and also ironic as they don't sound empty, even on a song with such little instruments (or is it many?). It's a short song which isn't realyl versatile but still a great song.

Now comes We Used to Know, which in my opinion is the best track on this album. This song has a chord sequence similar to Hotel California, but only a "few" years before. The song gets louder and stronger every round of the sequence, transforming into many solos of many instruments, based only on this short chord sequence of Em-B-D-A-C-G-F#-B. Great song, and one of Jethro Tull's best, even outside of this album.

Reasons for Waiting, ahh. This song features Barre playing the flute alongside Anderson, morphing 2 very important bodies of Jethro Tull history on the same instrument, which is also, a very important instrument in Jethro Tull history. This song's chords sometimes sound like a mix of Look Into the Sun and Back to the Family, but nothing too obvious for the young ear. This song is beautiful, with it's very selective instrumentation in the beginning, but then having an orchestra join in closer to the end, making it even more beautiful and amazing.

Now comes the final song on the album, For A Thousand Mothers. It's drum opening is symbolic for heavy Tull fans, not to mention the riff, which is very famous in general. This is one of those classic Jethro Tull sounding songs, with Anderson's classic accent, flute solos all over the place, Barre/Cornick riffs, and Bunker's amazing ride-cymbal beats. The song doesn't leave its riff for more than 5 seconds, and literally, it doesn't leave its riff for more than 5 seconds. The song is actionful and mindblowing, with harmonies, overdubs, and transpositions. After a while it sounds like the song comes to an end, but then Bunker's drum opening starts it again and it goes back to the riff, and the ends with a proper, Jethro Tull ending. Nice song to end an album with!

This is a great album, and, in my honest opinion, one of Tull's very best. It features tight playing even when some of the bands members didn't join until the same year, and amazing songs written by people so young. 5/5, as this is a mindblowing album, especially as it is only their second!

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