Nazareth - The Anthology

Nazareth is one of those bands that also came from my dad, but not until I was in my teens. Sure I knew Hair of the dog before that, but that's it.

The album opens with Razamanaz which is a great tune. Very upbeat, with a kicking get down and boogie kind of feel. This also helps set up the sound you can expect to hear for most of the first disc, and a good chunk of the second.

After that comes Bad Bad Boy, and by this point you start wondering who the hell this AC/DC rip off bad is. However, that's not the case since the first four songs on this collection, which includes my favourite Nazareth song, come from their first album Razamanaz which was released in 1973. As for the song Bad Bad Boy itself, it's a really good, and fun track.

Broken Down Angel is a sweet song lyrically, while musically having a nice solid Rock groove and vibe. It's not a soft ballad, like the title may suggest. It's not a heavy song either. The best way to describe this song would be 1950's Rock.

My absolutely favourite Nazareth song is Woke Up This Morning. First off, I am a sucker for Blues styled slide guitar. When you add a bitchin' guitar riff to that it become all kinds of fun. Then there are the lyrics, which I understand too well. "Woke up this morning / My dog was dead / Someone disliked him / And shot him through the head / I woke up this morning / And my cat had died / I'm gonna miss her / Sat down and cried / Came home this evening / My hog was gone / The people here don't like me / I think I'll soon move on / And now somethin's happened / That would make a saint frown / I turned my back and / My house burned down / Woke up this morning / My dog was dead / Someone disliked him / And shot him through the head / I woke up this morning / And my cat had died / Don't you know I'm / gonna miss her / Sat down and cried". I've never had these exact experiences, but I've had my fair share of these kind of wake ups.

Now, I must say that my only Nazareth album for a good fifteen years was Greatest Hits released in 1975. It's a good collection, but it didn't have seven of the tracks included just on the first disc of this set. The first of those I came across is Go Down Fighting. This is a pretty basic Rock track, but it's fun and full of pep and vigor.

I've never been very big on Turn On Your Receiver. It's an okay song, but it's bit dated to me. I will say that it does have a cool Surf Rock sound to it, though. Which is really interesting for a band from Scotland.

Teenage Nervous Breakdown is the first song to appear on this collection that was penned by someone not in the band. Which is a shame, because this song has a great boogie vibe to it, and although the lyrics are a bit simple, I find them totally enjoyable. "Well, some contend that this rocknroll / Is bad for the body, bad for the soul / Bad for the heart, bad for the mind / Bad for the deaf and bad for the blind / It makes some men crazy and then they talk like fools / It makes some men crazy and then they start to drool / Unscrupulous operators could confuse / Could exploit and deceive / The conditional reflex theories / Change the probabilities, I said its a / Crass and raucous crackass place / With a pavlov on the human race / Its a terrible illness, a terrible case / And usually permanent when it takes place / Its a teenage nervous breakdown / Its a teenage nervous breakdown / Its a teenage nervous breakdown."

I never noticed until I checked the liner notes for the song above that This Flight Tonight, not only isn't a Nazareth song, but it was written by Folk hero Joni Mitchell. Which is pretty cool. Although I'm willing to bet ten to one that her version doesn't have music that sounds as cool as this one does.

Sunshine is very Folk influenced, and you'd almost think that this was the song written by Joni Mitchell. I don't mind this track, but it's not one of those ones that I would listen to on my own. But, I don't feel a need to skip it either. It's a ballad, but a decent one that can be respected.

Shanghai's In Shanghai is one of those songs that's pretty damn good, eventhough the lyrics are a bit odd in a very fun way. "Standing on a corner in downtown L.A. / Waiting for the man to come along / She comes up to me and says "too bad, too sad" / You know that he's been dead and gone. / L.A. lady, kinda shady / She picked him up and took him home / I woke up groggy my sight was smoggy / And I knew that it had been blown / Early in the morning sitting in a hotel / Moscow's looking fine through the wine / Spaced out I crashed out / When the K.G.B. came on the line. / It's a cold one, bein' sent down / It's gotta be fifty below / Mama here's a postcard to let you know / I'm in a saltmine and looking for coal / Shanghai'd in Shanghai / Stood on in Tuscon / Ripped off and kicked right out the bed / Flyin' across the desert from Texas to Tuscon / But we're headed for a southern star / The captain says it's fine in Havana / This dude behind me needs a cigar. / He's a big one, he's got a big gun / I guess we better go along / Mister we've got a gig in Arizona / Second billing to the Rolling Stones / Shanghai'd in Shanghai / Stood on in Tuscon / Ripped off and kicked right out the bed / Shanghai'd in Shanghai / Laid low in 'Frisco / Done in and left behind for dead". I enjoy this song much more now than I ever did when I was a kid.

Which brings us to the most popular Nazareth song of all time, and if you think I'm talking about Love Hurts, please go walk out into traffic right now and have a city bus knock some sense into you. Hair Of The Dog is the song. It's not my favourite song from this band, I've already covered that, but it is one of the greatest Rock songs of all time. I'm a bit saddened I only ever got to play part of it live once with my buddy Matt. It was a great little impromtu jam on the song, but there's just something about singing "Now you're messing with a / Now you're messing with a sonofabitch".

Which brings us to Love Hurts, and I will sum up with, "Stupid. Fucking. Ballad." The only real bright side is that the band didn't actually write this one. They also didn't write My White Bicycle which follows that. I don't mind this track, but it's a little too Queen sounding, which is fine when it's Queen, not so cool when it's anyone else. But, don't go thinking this is a bad song, it's just not my thing.

Musically I'm not very big on Holy Roller. However, it's the lyrics behind this song that are totally awesome. "Holy roller, lookin' down / Where you think you know / All the answers / Arrogance and pride....are sin / Better look to your, own chances / Holy roller can you save your own soul / Can you save your own soul / Holy roller". That's only the first verse and chorus, but it's enough to show how much people of the Christian faith have a major tendancy to be complete hypocrits.

Telegram was brand new to me when I picked up this collection on the weekend that just passed (Nov. 16/2012), and I'm already in love with it. This song has punch, bite, and a whole lot of heart and soul. This is one of those songs that just sounds so fucking bad ass. Also, for a track from 1976 it's odd that it contains sampling, but it totally works. This is also the longest song on the album clocking in at 7:49. However, when it hits just before the six minute marker it turns into almost a completely different song. Which has a great fun chanting chorus kind of feel.

The band goes a little Disco vibed with the track Expect No Mercy, and if Disco had been this bad ass I would be more inclined to support it. Think AC/DC Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, but with a Disco back beat shuffle. It's really kickin'. After that we go Rockabilly with the same Disco back beat shuffle as the last track. However, this is not one of their's originally, so it makes sense that it has that Country vibe, without the Blues vibe found in the band's original material.

Place In Your Heart is also not their's, and if I were putting this collection together I would have left this one out. It's okay, but not my thing.

No Mean City finishes off the first disc, and the only thing I have to say is that this band should have included a lot less covers. This song is really good, and has that great big bad attitude. I mean these guys really sound like Bon Scott era AC/DC right down to the vocalist, but Nazareth came first. However, you can also hear a lot of that killer ZZ Top like Blues. Then there's the fact that this song runs 6:31 and is evil and sadistic sounding most of the way through. This song is the dark alley at night.

Now I've mentioned AC\DC a lot when talking about this band, but don't go thinking that all the songs sound the same. Just Get Into It kicks off the second disc and it reminds me of The Yardbirds, but only because it has me thinking of Aerosmith's Train Kept A Rollin', but I felt the need to credit the right group. I really don't pay attention to the lyrics all that much, but this is a crusin' tune and the words don't matter.

May The Sunshine is a pretty groovy (as in a hippy saying it) tune. There's this great uplifting folky chorus that just keeps repeating, but in a good way. Then there's this bitchin' electric guitar adding some killer flair and punctuation to the song. I find it an awesomely spiritual experience while listening to this one. Whatever You Want Babe is not a Nazareth penned song, but I really like it. There's a great vibe and feel that bounces the whole way along. It's fantastic.

Holiday is one of those songs that you just have to listen to for yourself. It's one of those songs that's pretty much about trying to get away from being a rock star. But it's decent, within it's cheese.

I don't care for Heart's Grown Cold. It's a little too down home sounding for me. There is some really cool guitar in the song, but over all it dosen't work for me. At this point I sould mention I don't care for the second disc as much as the first one. There are too many slower tracks on the second disc and that's what it makes it all do. So, I suggest skipping the last song and Moonlight Eyes. It's a snooze fest.

There's only one live track on this collection and it's a cover. The song opens up real nice and slow. There's such a beautiful tone and vibe that just sets my heart a flutter. Then the song breaks down into the cool reggae-esque riffing, and once the music kicks in you finally realize this is a cover of the Clapton classic. I'm a huge fan of the original. I think it's one of the greatest songs of all time. This cover goes in a completely different direction, but yet stays within the borders of the original music.

Now for some reason the band started using electric drums in the studio in 1981, which is where Little Part Of You came from. If it wasn't for these stupid drums, or the very early 80's Pop/Rock production I may have found this song more enjoyable. It has me thinking Rick Springfield.

You can skip Dream On. It's boring and not a cover, and while you are at it you might as well keep going past Where Are You Now as well. Unless you are into Scandinavian Power Pop sounding bands.

Now it's time for a cover of The Rolling Stones Ruby Tuesday. The electric drums killed this one, and the production didn't help either. If you can overlook those, then it's an okay cover.

This Month's Messiah suffers from electric drums on a track that could have been really good. This one sounds like No Mean City from the first disc, but with those souless drums. I would love to hear a version of this song done with only real instruments, none of that digital shit. Maybe a little better production as well. Once again a classic song is covered into a Power Pop song. However, I don't mind the way Piece Of My Heart was done. It still has those dumb electric drums, which sucks, and the production isn't overly cool either, but the vocals are done in a cool way.

You'd think by 1989 the band would have busted up, or imploded under the stress of releasing too much of this digital tripe, but that's not the case at all. Instead they just kept pushing on releasing shitty power ballads like Winner On The Night. It doesn't get much better with Every Time It Rains, except that the accoustic guitar sounds nice. Drums still suck.

The last four tracks on the second disc help save this album. Thinkin' Man's Nightmare is from the same album as the last track, which is 1991's No Jive. But unlike the last track, I'll listen to this one and not mind so much. It's a little more like the bad ass stuff from the previous disc.

I have no clue why they were still using that fucking digital drum crap in 1994, but for some reason they were. Also if I've been calling the drums digital all this time and I find out they aren't I'm sorry, but they seriously sound like electric crap. They screw up really kicking songs like Steamroller. This is another song where the drums prevent it from being awesome.

I'm not sure if the 1998 track When The Lights Come Down have electric drums, but they sound a little more natural. Which I'm very thankful for, because this is a pretty damn good track. The production is still kind of shit, but if you can over look that, it's pretty damn good.

The album ends with Goin' Loco, which was released originally in 2008. This song ends the collection right. This song is modern era bad assery. I'm still not found of the production, but it's the best sounding song on the second disc after Whatever You Want Babe. But forget all the stuff I've been bitching about for a while now. This song has Blues, Funk, Rock, and a whole lot of attitude and I'm glad they opted to end it this way, because it helps preserve the legacy of what they once did. Also this would make a bitchin' cover.

Now, I know I spent a lot of time running down the second disc, which is not exactly great, but it's not horrible. However, I enjoy both discs mixed into my CD player, but I'd have no issue just putting in the first disc. Either way, the eight dollars I dropped on these two discs, brand new from a certain major music store chain, was totally worth it.

7/10 - content

6/10 - production

8/10 - personal bias