Hard to believe it's been 41 years since Jethro Tull released their successful sophomore effort Stand Up. Lead guitarist Mick Abrahams had already left the band after their debut This Was, and new guitar player Martin Barre was in place, along with leader Ian Anderson, drummer Clive Bunker and bassist Glenn Cornick, as the four-piece slowly veered away from their blues based sound into something that mixed elements of hard rock, blues, folk, and progressive rock. Though Stand Up was remastered earlier this decade, it's presented here once again in a 3 disc set, containing on CD 1 the 2001 remaster along with a host of bonus tracks, the 1970 Carnegie Hall concert on CD 2 (previously available in an earlier 25th Anniversary box set), and a DVD audio cotaining the Carnegie Hall set in 5.1 Surround Sound. This expanded digipack also features a replica of the pop up art originally found on the LP.
Stand Up itself probably needs no introduction for Jethro Tull fans. It has always been a spectacular release containing plenty of beloved numbers, such as the heavy blues rock of "A New Day Yesterday", which signaled the arrival of Barre as a guitarist of significant talents, the bands rock interpretation of the classical gem "Bouree", hard rockers "Back to the Family" and "Nothing is Easy", whimsical fare such as "Fat Man" and "Jeffrey Goes To Leicester Square", plus the more adventurous pieces such as "For A Thousand Mothers", "We Used to Know", and "Look Into the Sun". Throughout it all, Ian Anderson adds his unique vocal, flute, and acoustic guitar talents to these bluesy, folky, and often times heavy rocking songs. Recorded and engineered by Andy Johns, Stand Up was always a great sounding album considering the time period, and this 2001 remaster sounds great. Included here are songs recorded during the same time period that wound up on Benefit and the Living in the Past albums, namely the excellent "Living in the Past", "Driving Song", and "Sweet Dream", along with the rare "17". Also included is the 1969 BBC Radio session which featured a few of the top tracks from the then new album, the standouts being "Bouree" and "Nothing is Easy", although "Fat Man" and "A New Day Yesterday" are also quite fine as well. You get a great snapshot of this new incarnation of Jethro Tull starting to reall gel and mold into the force they would shortly become.
Over on CD2 you get the 1970 Carnegie Hall benefit concert, which was previously released in part on the Jethro Tull 25th Anniversary Box Set back in the early 1990's. At this point in time, John Evan had joined the band on keyboards, and the band were in fine, raucous form. Though a good portion of the set features Stand Up material, there are also tracks from the just release Benefit album, as well as a very early peek into Acqualung with an epic version of "My God". Highlights here include a monstrously heavy version of "Dharma For One", a driving "Nothing is Easy", the proto progressive metal of "To Cry You a Song", and the mysterious, bluesy rock piece "Sossity, You're A Woman/Reasons For Waiting/Sossity, You're A Woman". Throw in some extended guitar, piano, drum, and flute solos, and you have a wild affair in New York City from 1970 that Tull fans who didn't pick up the earlier box set will want to have in their collections.
The bonus DVD contains the entire Carnegie Hall show in 5.1 Surround Sound, plus a 2010 interview with Ian Anderson as he talks about the album and reissue. Those with high end TV stereo equipment can now crank this live set and get the best possible audio available. Too bad they couldn't have put together some sort of video to throw on this DVD as well-though I'm sure there's practically little live footage to be found that hasn't already been made available elsewhere, even some live clips of the band performing some of the Stand Up tunes from any era would have been a nice addition here, something the King Crimson reissues have made sure to include.
All in all though, this 2010 reissue of Stand Up will be a mandatory purchase for any loyal fan of the band, and if you've never owned this classic album before, now's the time to add it to your CD collection.
Track Listing
CD 1
Original album, remastered
1. A New Day Yesterday
2. Jeffrey Goes To Leicester Square
3. Bouree
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 Mothers
Bonus tracks
11. Living In The Past
12. Driving Song
13. Sweet Dream
14. 17 [mono]
15. Living In The Past [original mono single version]
"Top Gear" BBC Radio session recorded 6/16/69; broadcast 6/22/69
16. Bouree [mono]
17. A New Day Yesterday [mono]
18. Nothing Is Easy [mono]
19. Fat Man [mono]
20. Stand Up US radio spot #1
21. Stand Up US radio spot #2
CD 2
Live At Carnegie Hall [1970]
1. Nothing Is Easy
2. My God
3. With You There To Help Me/By Kind Permission Of
4. A Song For Jeffrey
5. To Cry You A Song
6. Sossity, You're A Woman/Reasons For Waiting/Sossity, You're A Woman
7. Dharma For One
8. We Used To Know
9. Guitar Solo
10.For A Thousand Mothers
Disc 3 - DVD Audio [physical package only]
Live At Carnegie Hall [1970]
Carnegie Hall audio: DTS & Dolby Digital 24 bit 48kHz
5.1 surround sound and 2.0 24 bit 48 kHz LPCM stereo [audio only]
1. Introduction
2. Nothing Is Easy
3. My God
4. With You There To Help Me/By Kind Permission Of
5. A Song For Jeffrey
6. To Cry You A Song
7. Sossity, You're A Woman/Reasons For Waiting/Sossity, You're A Woman
8. Dharma For One
9. We Used To Know
10. Guitar Solo
11. For A Thousand Mothers
DVD Bonus Feature
An interview with Ian Anderson [London, 2010]
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