12. Quartz Stand Up and Fight 1980 (MCA)
Heavy Metal
Groovy coke snortin’ metal
Album
Quartz were already an old band by the time the NWOBHM came around, but in many ways they were NWOBHM before the phrase was even coined. This was largely because their debut album the eponymous
Quartz had been released back in 1977 (see my 1977 review) and this was a quality album which was highlighted by its heavier tracks such as “Mainline Raiders” “Street Fighting Lady” “Around and Around” and “Pleasure Seekers” all tracks which would display the qualities associated with the future NWOBHM scene. Problems though with their label, had seen the album pulled before its release back in 1977 and the album was thus held back till 1980 where it was re-released as
Deleted for the dawn of the NWOBHM. Sadly and much like the Diamond Head debut, it was finally released in a bland carboard sleeve, which of course spelt disaster from a marketing perspective circa 1980. Quartz though were quick off the mark to release their second album proper
Stand Up and Fight also the same year and this at least provided us with an expected album cover. Quartz on
Stand Up and Fight put out a consistently cool metal sound and cover mid-metal terrain similar to say Saxon who they shared some similiarites with, but Saxon though would get all the plaudits that Quartz failed to attract. Fundamentally Quartz were a strong and talented band (once championed by Tony Iommi) and in Mike Taylor they had a vocalist that could go toe to toe with any other NWOBHM vocalist out there and as mentioned in the previous Quartz review, guitarist/keyboardist Geoff Nicholls who would eventually go onto join Black Sabbath and was one of the few musicians to play keyboards in a band associated with the NWOBHM.
Stand Up and Fight would be the band’s most cohesive set and the album opener and title track “Stand Up and Fight” positively throbs with coolness, as does the infectious “Charlie Snow” and “Revenge”. The heavy switch is firmly on with songs like “Rock ‘n’ Roll Child” “Questions” and “Wildfire”. The only downside of the album is probably its sole AOR themed track “Can’t Say No to You” which far from being a bad track, simply fails to sit comfortably with the overtly metal atmosphere heard on the rest of the album. The simple fact of the matter is, that Quartz were one of the most talented bands associated with the NWOBHM, but as is often the case they lacked a certain amount of focus in track selection and most of all time wasn’t on their side in the fast moving music scene of the late 1970s and early 1980s.