Side 2 of the LP kicks off with “Nothing is easy”, a slightly jazz influenced rocker with much Roland Kirk style flute, but a fine piece for all that.
Track 2 is one of the splendid balalaika songs, “Fat Man”, a rather odd one, but great fun to listen to.
This is followed by the omnipresent gem “We used to know”. I became very familiar with this song, as it appeared on the sampler “Nice enough to eat”, which was played over and over again at the youth club in 1970. It appears on many mp3/atrac sets I do: sampler sets, Island sets, classic sets, Tull sets, and bliss sets. One of its best aspects is Martin Barre’s guitar solo in the second half, starting where the flute solo ends. In many ways, this is a perfect song.
The penultimate song on the album is “Reasons for waiting” which is one of the loveliest and most beautiful love songs I have ever heard. This is largely achieved by the use of a string section arranged and conducted by David Palmer. This really is one of the highest points in this excellent record.
The final track on the LP is “For a thousand mothers”, the weakest tune on the album, but very good indeed nevertheless. It is a classic rocker, but just not up to the standard of “A new day yesterday”, at the other end.
As the cover notes put it:
” “Stand Up” was produced by Terry Ellis and Ian Anderson for Chrysals Productions and ….. er, well yes! It really has turned out nicely.”
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