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Rating: "AC-DC really didn't invent anything" one might say when listening to this album by Nazareth. And considering that "Hair of the Dog" was released in 1975 (the year the Young brothers' band was finally formed), the Scottish band Nazareth emerges with heads held high from an oblivion that lasted too long.
The Nazareth of Dan McCafferty have churned out an enormous amount of albums over time, some truly irrelevant; but it was especially in the first half of the Seventies that they produced their best works, defining a hard-rock standard that was later more imitated than what evolved with more famous contemporary bands (Deep Purple above all). The piercing stray cat voice, the distorted guitar with malice - at least for the time - and the revised riffs of the rock'n'roll and blues tradition, seasoned with lyrics certainly not suitable for schoolboys: a recipe to which AC-DC and many others have been indebted.
Surely Nazareth did not display astounding technique and did not focus on breathtaking solos; rather, it was the cultural blend and the modest image that gave depth to their style. They didn't have much that was Scottish, rather they adopted a type of street character that mingled with fantasies and adventurous suggestions. Just recall the pirate-themed cover of the "Rampant" album or that of the masterpiece in question "Hair of the Dog" which features bat-like monsters that seem a comic version of certain creatures from Max Ernst's paintings. A significant calling card for this LP, which undoubtedly represents their creative peak.
Not at all aged in its sound and vocal structure, the opening track of the title says it all about the content of the work. The original title was supposed to be the repeated line in the chorus... a son of a bitch... but Hair of the Dog was preferred, in a time when certain epithets still caused headaches.
Following is "Miss Misery", an aggressive and rough rock worthy of the best American rock'n'roll, and then the languid ballad "Guilty", which on one hand shows the less intense side of Nazareth (and less fortunate), but on the other hand follows a formula that has remained unchanged over the decades: even metalheads sometimes want a slow song.
Traversing the album with other tracks that seem really taken from an AC-DC record, it triumphantly arrives at what I consider the band's masterstroke: "Please don't Judas me". An exceedingly long ballad that floats between western sensations and esoteric mysteries, with a sinister incipit contaminated by synthetic sounds and a martial development filled with highly enjoyable details, on which McCafferty's voice passionately screams his best. A blessed track, which induces repeated listening, dense with atmospheres and stylistic elements that have set a precedent. Covered and remade by renowned groups (Metallica above all), this closing piece is a worthy culmination of the promises made right from the cover. A pearl of hard-rock history, worth the album purchase by itself.
Well done Nazareth, in those years. Less ennobled than other scene representatives, they keep their banner flying high thanks to this "Hair of the Dog"... a record that I endorse without hesitation.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Hair of the Dog (04:11)
Heartbreaker...Soulshaker!!!
I've been told about you...
Steamroller, Midnight Shoulder...
What they've been sayin must be true...
Red Hot Mama,
Velvet Charmer,
'Times come to pay your dues...
CHORUS 2x
Now you're messin' with...
...a Son-Of-A-Bitch...
(Now You're messin' with a Son-Of-A-Bitch)
Talkin' jivy poison ivy...
You ain't gonna cling to me...
Mantaker...Born Faker...
I ain't so blind I can't see...
Red Hot Mama,
Velvet Charmer,
The time's come to pay your dues...
CHORUS 2x
Now you're messin' with...
...a Son-Of-A-Bitch...
(Now You're messin' with a Son-Of-A-Bitch)
Now you're messin' with... a Son-Of-A-Bitch,
Now you're messin with a Son-Of-A-Bitch
02 Miss Misery (04:42)
Since you came into my life
Its the same old situation
Empty days and lonely nights
Filled with bitterness and frustration
Walking lonely in the cold
Trying to find the answer
Spend my money on a crystal ball
And the charms of a gypsy dancer
Trying to break the spell you hold on me
chorus:
Your miss misery
That song you lay on me
Set me free, Set me free
Please, please, please
Every day is filled with shame
My nights are filled with anger
Hollow lies, Forced denial
If you told the truth I can't remember
You know I've got to find my way
Got to find a reason
Got to find your weakness
So I can end your witchin season
Got to break this spell you hold on me
Chorus:
Lead:
Can't think how I got myself
Caught up in this nightmare
Evil Schemes, Midnight screams
Come on somebody listen to my prayer
I'd give all I've got to give
Just to find my way out
Got it goin but I can't let go
I'm trapped on this crazy 'round about
Tryin to break this spell you hold on me
Chorus:
03 Guilty (03:39)
Yes baby, I've been drinkin'
Shouldn't come by anymore
But I found myself in trouble darlin'
And I have no place else to go.
I got some whiskey, from a bottle
Got some cocaine, from a friend
And I had to keep on movin' darlin'
Till I was back in your arms again.
And I'm guilty, I am guilty
And I'll be guilty for the rest of my life
How come I'm never gonna do
What I'm supposed to do
Seems like everything I do
Never turns out right
That's how it is with me darlin'
You know I just can't stand myself
But it takes a whole lot of medicine darlin'
For me to pretend that I'm somebody else.
04 Changin' Times (06:01)
When I was younger I used to understand
That when you're with a girl, you gotta act like a man
Mama told me that's the way it should be
And I know my mama never lied to me.
What do you think about you're changin' times
'cause when I'm with you I just can't make up my mind
Since I met you don't know right from wrong
Somebody tell me just what's goin' on
Just can't get myself thinkin' straight
I'm all shook up and in a terrible state
Sometimes I think I got it all figured out
Then you do something new and it just knocks me right out
Someday baby I'm going to have to make a stand
The way that you treat me baby
Don't make me feel too much like a man
And baby, baby, the changes you're goin' through
You're drivin' me half crazy
Can't make up my mind what to do about you.
Tellin' myself that time is on my side
You're gettin' this feelin' that my mind's on the slide
Dumped on the floor, I feel I'm trapped in a spin
Don't know how to end, can't think of where to begin
She don't care I know she don't even try
But when she turns it on
You know she gets me so high.
She's a lady that's making my life a sin
You know that I'm runnin' in a losin' race
There ain't no way I can win
Baby, baby, the changes you're goin' through
They're drivin' me half crazy
Can't make up my mind what to do about you.
05 Beggar's Day (03:52)
If this is heaven, then I'm in hell
If trust is misfortune, then wish me well
While I think of sadness baby
Your light shines through, your light shines through
Your light shines through
chorus:
Because it's beggar's day
Because it's beggar's day
Because it's beggar's day
I've lost control of my darker side
A world all for free, on a nastier ride
*And I have crossed myself in anger
All your mercy can't save me, all your mercy can't save me
All your mercy can't save me
Because it's beggar's day
Because it's beggar's day
Because it's beggar's day
lead:
It's beggar's day
You know it's beggar's day
Because it's beggar's day
See this love, I've stored for you
Wheel it and deal it, but our feelin's are true
repeat *
chorus (2x)
(written by Nils Lofgren)
(published by almo music corp./hilmer publishing co. ascap)
07 Whiskey Drinkin' Woman (05:29)
Close up the bar you know the gates of the brewery
She's out there every night
And she sure ain't drinkin' tea
I love that woman, she's the best one that I had
But she's got this habit now and it sure is gettin' bad
chorus:
That whiskey drinkin' woman
Is makin' a poor man out of me
She's got bottles in the kitchen
Even got them in my bed
Most times I see her now
She's three parts out of her head
Don't know where I went wrong
I sure try to treat her right
But it sure upsets me
Seein' her juiced up every night.
chorus:
lead:
Got to solve this problem
Won't you help me find the key
The way that things are going
I'll have to buy the distillery
She just stands there smilin'
With a whiskey in each hand
Got to think of something
Don't know how much I can stand
chorus:
Got to get myself together, start workin' something out
Maybe if I tried some booze, I'd know what it's about
I love that woman, she's the best one that I had
But she's got this problem now
And it sure is gettin' bad.
chorus:
lead:
08 Please Don't Judas Me (09:49)
Please don't Judas me
Treat me as you'd like to be treated
Please don't blacklist me
Leave me as you'd wish to find me
Don't analyze me
Sacrifice me
Please don't Judas me
Please don't chastise me
Show me just one shred of kindness
Try to help me see
Guide me in my eyes of blindness
Don't despise me
Categorize me
Please don't Judas me
No, no, don't Judas me
No, please don't Judas me
Please don't headshrink me
Don't disguise your innuendos
Give no lies to me
I can see the way the wind blows
Don't debase me
Annihilate me
Please don't Judas me
Please don't number me
Don't betray my trust and promise
Please don't anger me
I find it hard to bear no malice
Don't frustrate me
Manipulate me
Please don't Judas me
No, no, don't Judas me
No, please don't Judas me
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Other reviews
By Pibroch
Nazareth are absolutely worth exploring; the LP is very good, with at least three songs as the outpost of the castle of masterpieces.
The album opens with the 'carefree' title track, hysterical voices supported by kazoo-like gadgets, granite riffs, and a nice job of ladles banging on Teflon pans.
