Nazareth - Razamanaz
(Castle) 1973
1. "Razamanaz"
(3:53)
2. "Alcatraz" (4:23)
3. "Vigilante Man" (5:22)
4. "Woke up This Morning" (3:53)
5. "Night Woman" (3:29)
6. "Bad Bad Boy" (3:58)
7. "Sold My Soul" (4:49)
8. "Too Bad Too Sad" (2:56)
9. "Broken Down Angel" (3:45)
BONUS TRACKS
10. "Hard Living" (3:03)
11. "Spinning Top" (3:06)
12. "Woke up This Morning" (3:13)
13. "Witchdoctor Woman" (4:07)
Although 'Razamanaz' was the band's third album, it was the first album to step into the relatively new heavy metal territory. With bands like Uriah Heep, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple also taking their music into heavy metal, I guess it was only a natural step for Nazareth to do the same. The resulting album is one that scarred parents in the early 70's because of it's energy, drive and the fierce, shrill vocals of Dan McCafferty. The title track is one mean song, and one of the band's all time best. Other tracks like the primitive, tribal "Alcatraz" and the bluesy "Vigilante Man" also showcase the band at their finest. The entire album, however, is a fine example of the excellent heavy metal that was coming out of the 1970's. "Woke up This Morning" showcases the band's sense of humor as it is a song about a guy who has terminally bad luck. I mean his dog dies, his cat dies, his house burns down, shoot this could have been a country song if they had included a bit about the pickup truck breaking down. It's also interesting to note that Deep Purple's Roger Glover produced this album. I found this European import disc for a mere $5.
Artch and Artillery have both covered "Razamanaz".
Nazareth - Hair of the Dog (A&M) 1975
1. "Hair of the Dog"
(4:10)
2. "Miss Misery" (4:41)
3. "Love Hurts" (3:52)
4. "Changin' Times" (6:03)
5. "Beggars Day" (3:45)
6. "Rose in the Heather" (2:45)
7. "Whiskey Drinkin' Woman" (5:30)
8. "Please Don't Judas Me" (9:50)
Probably the most well known and popular Nazareth disc containing the FM radio staples "Hair of the Dog" and "Love Hurts". In '75 there were few band who were as raw and gritty, save for Ted Nugent, and perhaps Aerosmith. The title track starts off with a mean guitar riff, a cowbell driven beat and one of the nastiest sounding vocals to come out of the 70's. Dan McCafferty sounds great! While this song is straight forward 70's heavy metal, the rest of the album is more experimental with everything from the bluesy southern vibe of "Whiskey Drinkin' Woman" to the epic "Please Don't Judas Me" to the Black Sabbath/Blue Cheer inspired "Miss Misery." This album also includes a huge hit in the power ballad reinterpretation of the Everly Brothers classic "Love Hurts." Overall, "Hair of the Dog" is one of the finer heavy metal platters to come out of the 70's.
Nazareth - Close Enough for Rock 'n' Roll (A&M) 1976
1. "Telegram"
(7:46)
....Part 1: On Your Way
....Part 2: So You Wanna Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star
....Part 3: Sound Check
....Part 4: Here We Are Again
2. "Vicki" [instrumental] (2:24)
3. "Homesick Again" (4:30)
4. "Vancouver Shakedown" (4:04)
5. "Born Under the Wrong Sign" (3:56)
6. "Loretta" (3:18)
7. "Carry Out Feelings" (3:18)
8. "Lift the Lid" (3:51)
9. "You're the Violin" (4:43)
10. "Holy Roller" (3:24)
11. "You're the Violin" (3:35)
12. "Carry Out Feelings" (3:19)
Well, no one could accuse Nazareth of trying to recreate the same album over and over again. After conquering the fledgling heavy metal market in1975 with "Hair of the Dog," Nazareth returns with a back-to-roots, experimental album that covers everything from traditional blues-based hard rock to country-rock. No surprise this one wasn't as successful as "Hair of the Dog". Regardless, "Close Enough for Rock 'n' Roll is still a good 70's rock album. Of course the highlight on this CD is "Telegram," a four-part epic song about life on tour for a band. This particular song starts off as a rocker, giving the impression that this disc will be every bit as heavy as "Hair of the Dog" but ends of as a piano-led sing-along song. Another favorite of mine is the menacing "Born Under the Wrong Side" which is probably one of the funkiest songs the band has ever written. I particularly like the voice-box guitar parts. Overall, not the band's finest, nor is it my favorite, but still a good listen every now and then. Picked up this disc brand new for $4.99.
Nazareth - Expect No Mercy (Snapper Classics) 1977
1. "Expect No Mercy" (3:26) |
|
A hard rockin' album from Scotland's Nazareth complete with one of their coolest covers, next to "No Mean City". The album has a few ballads as well, but this was pretty much the standard for heavy metal and hard rock in the 1970's. The heaviest of albums had ballads, and quite frankly, I thought it served to give many albums more diversity. Of course, Nazareth's signature call are those raspy vocals, which are up front and center on "Expect No Mercy". If "Revenge is Sweet" and "Expect No Mercy" don't get you movin', then chances are you are just not a fan of heavy 70's music. "Expect No Mercy" is straight forward heavy rock and roll.
I have an autographed A&M Records vinyl copy of "Expect No Mercy" (pictured above) as well as the Snapper Classics CD re-issue, which is remastered and contains two, b-side, bonus tracks. Probably one of the nicer reissues I've seen. The CD comes wrapped in a nice digi format with a 12-page full color booklet, all the original liner notes, photos, lyrics and a biography. There is a different re-issue that contains the two b-side tracks above and five other tracks, but these are made up of alternative mixes of album songs and a live version of the title track.
This album features the album of Frank Frazetta who up to this point had not allowed his paintings to be used on album covers. After "Expect No Mercy" he would become famous for some of his album cover paintings, especially for Molly Hatchet. There are also two slightly different versions of this cover with the logo and album title placed differently. My CD and vinyl copies feature the same artwork that was used in the U.S. in 1977. The alternative cover was released in Japan and Europe. Both feature the Frazetta painting.
Nazareth - No Mean City (Castle) 1978
1. "Just
to Get into It" (4:24)
2. "May the Sunshine" (4:55)
3. "Simple Solution, Pt. 1and 2" (4:59)
4. "Star" (4:55)
5. "Claim to Fame" (4:30)
6. "Whatever You Want Babe" (3:42)
7. "What's in It for Me" (4:20);
8. "No Mean City, Pts. 1& 2" (6:32)
BONUS TRACKS
9. "May the Sunshine" (3:31)
10. "Whatever You Want Babe" (2:59)
11. "Star" [US Version] (4:55)
1978 and Nazareth were still rocking hard and heavy. For this album, Nazareth also took a clue from some other popular late 70's heavy metal bands and added a second guitar player to their lineup. With the addition of the second guitarist, Nazareth create a nice dual-guitar attack that would rival the great bands of that time, like Aerosmith and Thin Lizzy. One of my favorite tracks is "May the Sunshine," which starts as a Celtic acoustic song, but soon adds electric guitars and rumbling bass line to become a stomping folk metal tune in the style of Zeppelin or even the aforementioned Thin Lizzy. The whole album is, of course, brought together by the vicious vocal attack of Dan McCafferty. Dan had a very unique, gritty voice that few were using in metal in the 70's but would soon become a norm in the 80's. Anyhow, overall, one of the band's finest ranking up there with 'Hair of the Dog' and 'Razzamanaz.' Also, this is one of the coolest album covers to come out of the 70's. In just a few short years, coves like this would begin to be the standard for heavy metal. I have this one on CD and vinyl.
