Nazareth: Greatest Hits

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This is a compilation LP I remember buying way back in 1975. It is a pretty comprehensive collection of Dunfermline's finest hard rockers' classic years from 1973-75.

Let's get a wee dram of whisky down us and get rockin'.....

The sound is truly outstanding, pumping out the bass into your living room, as that glorious intro to Razamanaz pounds out of your speakers and Dan McCafferty howls "we got to get it togetherrr" you feel like dashing to your drinks cabinet to get the "Famous Grouse" out to give him a wee livener. Dan is much-missed, by the way.

Holy Roller was a 1975 non-album single about revivalist preachers. It is melodic, catchy and rocking in an understated mid-pace way. The hit single from the 1974 Rampant album was the Stonesy Shanghai'd In Shanghai and a veritable corker it is too. Perfect pop rock. It came complete with mid-song Satisfaction riff and preceding lyrical tribute to The Stones - "Mister we got a gig in Arizona, second billing to the Rolling Stones". 

The much-covered Boudleaux Bryant song, Love Hurts, is tailor-made for McCafferty's gruff but soulful voice. Ex-Traffic drummer Jim Capaldi had a hit with it at the same time, strangely. I like his version, but I prefer Nazareth's.

Turn On Your Receiver, from 1973's Loud 'n' Proud album, has a few vague twinges of country rock about it, and a slightly less frantic pace than the two openers, but it still rocks solidly. It is certainly no CSNY, that's for certain, this is Dunfermline, wee man. Similarly, the sawdust-throated Bad Bad Boy was much hated (unreasonably) by Radio One's Tony Blackburn at the time. 

The Loud 'n' Proud album's hit single, the band's cover of Joni Mitchell's This Flight Tonight, turns the song from a wistful folk song into a rumbling, rhythmic rocker with a superb vocal from McCafferty. It deservedly provided them with their third chart hit and I have to say that I much prefer it to Mitchell's original.

The group's first hit single was the extremely infectious pop-rock of Broken Down Angel. Released in the spring of 1973, at the height of glam rock, it had a real glammy stomp to it and a singalong chorus worthy of that sub-genre. It was probably Nazareth's most blatantly commercial song.

Hair Of The Dog is a magnificent track, kicking off with a Honky Tonk Women cowbell before a big, chunky riff and Dan McCafferty's gravelly voice arrive. The chorus - "now you're messin' with a son of a bitch" is totally irresistible. It was big in the USA, I believe.

In comparison, Sunshine is just a beautiful, anthemic, singalong rock ballad while My White Bicycle scored a big hit in the summer of 1975. It was a cover of Tomorrow's psychedelic hit from the sixties, 1967, I think. It is definitely very typical of its time, lyrically and atmospherically. 

The abrasive Woke Up This Morning, from 1973's Razamanaz album, showed that the school of hard rock knocks is open for morning lessons. It has a great bit of drum, bass and guitar interplay at the end and had previously appeared on the group's previous album, 1972's Exercises, but this re-recording is a much heavier, improved offering. 

Alright pal, I'm in need of another - if you're buying....

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