STAND UP

Was there anything this fresh and exciting released in early 1969? Maybe King Crimson's debut. The flute had truly come to the fore on this album; both in the heavy and soft progressive music genres. No other band had ever achieved this and for that matter no other band really tried to copy it. Although This Was had been released the year before, Stand Up really marks the beginning of the unique sound that was "Tull".

The opening track "A New Day Yesterday" in my honest opinion is the first grunge rock track ever recorded. Go on and play it and think Pearl Jam or Nirvana. Anderson relates the story of Eddie Vedder coming back stage to a Tull gig in the US in the 1990s clutching a "Stand Up" album and relating that Stand Up was *the* album of all time or something to that effect. Whether this is true or not, who knows but I can see how many of the heavier songs on Stand Up have a grunginess about them...these being "Back To The Family", "Nothing Is Easy", "We Used to Know" and "For a Thousand Mothers"...not to forget "17" which is found on both the 2001 and 2010 remastered CDs.

I suppose you can credit Martin Barre for this as his guitar playing brought a more heavy timbre than Mick Abrahams ever did; more versatility for progression and this was certainly the case as the next 40 odd years proves it to be.

I know the Beatles mentioned balalaikas in "Back In The USSR" but had anyone actually used balalaikas as part of a rock tune before Tull did on Stand Up? I know someone will tell me.

The acoustic tracks on Stand Up are classic; Jeffrey Goes to Leicester Square, Look Into The Sun, Fat Man, Reason's For Waiting and Bouree (which isn't really acoustic; more jazz oriented).

I could go on for hours but I won't.

This album was Number 1 in the UK...it is number 1 for me as well.

Stand Up and give me 5 stars.

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