Stand Up and Fight, the sophomore album from NWOBHM act Quartz, was originally released in 1980 on MCA Records, and now is being reissued & remastered by Metal Mind Productions. Quartz' major claim to fame was being discovered by the Black Sabbath camp in the late 70's and having Tony Iommi produce their debut album, but otherwise their music and career never really made much of an impact, and the group disbanded in 1983.
Over the years, there's always been a lot of talk about this band in the underground hard rock & heavy metal circles, and to be honest, I'm not really sure why. Stand Up and Fight is middle of the road hard rock/metal/boogie material, and despite the obvious Sabbath/Humble Pie/Nazareth/Cactus influences, much of what you'll hear on this CD is competent but fairly unmemorable. Mick Hopkins delivers some crunchy riffs and bluesy licks on tunes like "Revenge", "Rock n Roll Child", "Stoking Up the Fires of Hell", and "Questions", but it's almost hard to look past the cheesy lyrics and weak vocals of Mike Taylor. The singer is easily the one thing that brings down Stand Up and Fight, as you could almost get past the slightly generic yet commendable heavy rock tunes, but his scratchy blues-rock delivery does more harm than good.
As long as your not looking for the next long lost gem from 70's/80's hard rock vaults, it is possible to have a little fun with Stand Up and Fight. Despite some primitive sounding musical passages, bad lyrics, and sub-par vocals, these lunkheads did manage to put together some raw and crunchy heavy rock here, but if you are looking for the cream of the NWOBHM crop, better check out Diamond Head, Angel Witch, Saxon, and Iron Maiden instead.
Track Listing
1. Stand Up And Fight 4:42
2. Charlie Snow 3:25
3. Can't Say No To You 6:18
4. Revenge 4:13
5. Stoking Up The Fires Of Hell 4:07
6. Rock 'n' Roll Child 4:51
7. Questions 4:22
8. Wildfire 6:00
9. Circles 3:36
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