I’m nearing the end of a very relaxed weekend
and will shortly be meeting up with some wonderful people. I’ll be walking
there, so I’m squeezing this review in now so I can listen to something new on
the way over.
Disc 1255 is… Stand Up
Artist:
Jethro Tull
Year of Release: 1969
What’s up with the
Cover?
The band, re-imagined as leprechauns. No wait - after looking at a photo of the
band in the liner notes I can confirm…this is what these guys look like.
How I Came to Know
It: I
think my friend Chris introduced me to this album. I can’t remember if he also
bought me the CD as a gift or if I picked it up independently. I think the
latter (Chris did get me two other Jethro Tull albums as a gift, so you can
understand my confusion).
How It Stacks Up: I have five Jethro Tull albums. Of the five, I
must reluctantly place “Stand Up” in last place.
Ratings: 3 stars
I really like Jethro Tull’s eighties synthesizer-heavy period, but my
relationship with their earlier stuff is…complicated. “Stand Up” is very early
Tull, and while I admire the talent, I can’t always go where this album wants
to take me.
First the good stuff. This record has some exceptional musicianship. The
songs are complex, but the talent is so high everything remains crisp. Also, guitarist
Martin Barre delivers some killer rock guitar throughout the record.
The album is of its time and has that late sixties hippy vibe which works
well with Ian Anderson’s vibrato vocals. The mix of folk and rock elements
works well in places, particularly on “Back
to the Family” that blends pastoral imagery with stoner guitar in ways that
shouldn’t work but does. Even the jazz flute works here.
The record is also funny in places. “Fat
Man” is the whimsical consideration of a slender Ian Anderson of what sort
of challenges he’d face if he were fat. Among them, “People would think I was just good fun.” I guess being considered
jolly and nothing else would grate over time.
However, even on the songs I liked on “Stand Up” it just felt like too
much was going on. I don’t mind some progressive rock, but I would have
preferred a little bit more focus. And as for those cool Barre guitar licks,
there just aren’t enough of them. I had a hard time concentrating and when I
did concentrate it often felt like work.
Also, despite this being rock music there is a lot of jazz going on with
this record, and I’m not just talking about all that flute business either.
There is jazz in the drums, jazz in the bass, jazz in the melodic structures.
This record has jazz lurking around every corner.
“Bouree” sounds like Dave
Brubeck was kidnapped by faeries. Brubeck is one of my favourite jazz
musicians, but I don’t want him mucking about with my folk music like this. At
least “Nothing Is Easy” provides a
warning the title that the song is going to feature all manner of crazy arrangements
that are both brilliant and annoying. You know, like jazz.
My copy of the record has four bonus tracks which are OK but pushes the album
to 51 minutes but felt even longer. By the end, I was just feeling fatigued
from the busyness of it all.
“Stand Up” is music for music nerds, which means I should like it. I
definitely want to like it, and I’m even a little ashamed that I don’t, but
there it is. I’m going to acknowledge I’m objectively wrong about how good this
record is and give it 3 stars. That said, I’m not going to keep it.
Best tracks: Back to the Family, Fat Man, Look Into the Sun
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