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Rating: The Nazareth.
To many rock fans, this name might not mean much, but in the 70s there was a band that recorded at least three albums of excellent hard rock influenced by blues and rock'n'roll.
Born in 1969 in Scotland, and formed by: Dan McCafferty on vocals, Manuel Charlton on guitar, Pete Agnew on bass, and the powerful Darrel Sweet, unfortunately died from a heart attack in 1999, on drums, they made a name for themselves with the excellent raw rock'n'roll album "Razamanaz". With the subsequent "Loud'N'Proud", they confirmed their status as an excellent but little-known British hard rock band, overshadowed by other great stars that had more commercial success.
The high-speed dance begins with "Go down fighting" where the direction of the album is already evident: a solid rock characterized by a simple yet powerful rhythm section and a guitar that creates a wall of sound. But the true trademark, in my opinion, is the singer Dan McCafferty's very distinctive voice: hoarse, intense, and as powerful as needed. At times, it recalls the early Brian Johnson of Ac/dc or Geordie (his previous band). The album continues with the intense "No Fakin It", "Turn on your deceiver" and "Teenage nervous breakdown", three intense Hard N Roll songs from start to finish with guitar and vocals as protagonists and a rhythm section that leaves no room to breathe. Two less explosive but still excellent tracks are: "Free Wheeler" and "This flight tonight" (incredibly a cover of Joni Mitchell) which serve to let us breathe with their excellent bluesy textures that have greatly influenced bands like Ac/Dc, who are never cited as a musical reference inappropriately. "Child in the sun" is the first real slow track of the album with its cadenced rhythm and excellent multi-voiced refrain. A never banal ballad that serves to make us understand that Nazareth is not only about wild Rock n roll but also knows how to compose something more calm and thoughtful. In closing, we find "The ballad of Hollis Brown", a Bob Dylan cover, a slow but mighty piece with an obsessive riff of distorted guitar that accompanies us throughout the track and reminds us that Nazareth can create music that is not only fun and carefree but also sultry and menacing.
An album that confirms the excellent skills of the four Scottish rockers who, after the album "Hair of the Dog," returned to being an obscure band that perhaps deserved something more for its skills but unfortunately remains a gem only for connoisseurs of the genre. Along with "Razamanaz," which I personally think is slightly better produced, it represents the best album of Nazareth.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Not Faking It (04:01)
(copyright 1973 mountain music,ltd.,carlin music corp.
All rights reserved.
Yellow dog music in canada and u.s.)
Slim jim was a stool pidgeon
On the payroll of the f.b.i.
Reverend fred sold instant religion
With a license from the man in the sky
Billy the kid was a gunslinger
Edgar wallace was a dead ringer
Me, I'm just a rock'n'roll singer
Keyhole pete was a keen watcher
Had a telephoto lens in each eye
Jack the ripper was a cool stalker
But his birds no longer fly
James joyce was a mudslinger
Jesus christ was a forgiver
Me, I'm just a rock'n'roll singer
I'm not fakin' it
Foolin' myself that I'm makin' it
I'm not fakin' it
Tricky dicky was a fast talker
But his promises were always a lie
Nostradamus was a doomwatcher
Predicted when we're gonna die
Cleopatra was a love giver
Jesse james was a born killer
Me, I'm just a rock'n'roll singer
03 Turn on Your Receiver (03:19)
Turn on your receiver
I'm gonna lat it on the line
'Cause I'm a great believer
In hangin' on to what is mine
So come over here and listen
I don't want you to be missin'
What I say
And I ain't gonna waste my time
Sayin' it all again
I've been hearin' stories
'Fact the word's all over town
I've had my share of worries
Ever since you've been around
So come over here and listen
I don't want you to be missin'
What I say
And I ain't gonna waste my time
Sayin' it all again
Turn on your receiver
There's a message comin' through
Keep your hands off my woman
Keep your hands to yourself
Keep your hands off my woman
04 Teenage Nervous Breakdown (03:43)
(copyright lowell george,1971 naked snake music)
Well, some contend that this rock'n'roll
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 it's a
Crass and raucous crackass place
With a Pavlov on the human race
It's a terrible illness, a terrible case
And usually permanent when it takes place
It's a teenage nervous breakdown
It's a teenage nervous breakdown
It's a teenage nervous breakdown
05 Free Wheeler (05:31)
(copyright 1973 mountain music ltd.,carlin music corp.
all rights reserved.
yellow dog music in canada and u.s.)
I'm a freewheeler, an underground dealer
The kind of guy you never get to know
So you can quit thinking about stoppin' my drinkin'
You know I'll go the road I choose to go
I'm a freewheeler, living undercover
When things get hot I have to move out fast
When they know I'm lyin', the women come cryin'
But still I go the road I choose to go
No-one's ever going to re-arrange me
No-one's ever going to try to change me
You know I'll go the road I choose to go
I'm doin' fine, takin' my time
I don't want to settle down
No,no,no
06 This Flight Tonight (03:24)
Look out the left the captain said
The lights down there that's where we'll land
Saw a falling star burning
High above the Las Vegas sand
It wasn't the one that you gave to me
That night down south between the trailers
Not the early one that you wish upon
Not the northern one that guides in the sailors
You've got that touch so gentle and sweet
But you've got that look so critical
Can't talk to you babe you know I get so weak
Sometimes I think that love is just mythical
Up there's a heaven, down there's a town
Blackness everywhere any little lights shine
Blackness, blackness draggin' me down
Come on light a candle in this heart of mine
Starbright, starbright, you've got the lovin' that I like
Turn this crazy bird around
Should not have got on this flight tonight
I'm drinkin' sweet champagne got the headphones up high
Can't numb you, can't drum you out of my mind
They're singin'-"Goodbye baby,
Baby bye-bye,
Ooh! love is blind"
Up go the flaps,down go the wheels
Hope you got your heat turned on baby
Hope they've finally fixed your automobile
Hope it's better when we meet again babe.
07 Child in the Sun (04:51)
(copyright 1973 mountain music ltd.,carlin music corp
.all rights reserved.
yellow dog music in canada and u.s.)
I am just a child in the sun
Just another soul on the run
One more of your unwanted sons
Tell me where can I go
I had a line I tried for a while
Now I'm walkin' mile after mile
On my face no trace of a smile
Why does time pass so slow
Take me down to the river
Take me down to the sea
Where I can drown all my sorrows
Wash all my troubles away
Watch all my cares sail away
I have no ties my hands are unbound
There is no friend no love I have found
I have no ups I'm fixed to the ground
Tell me river where you flow.
08 The Ballad of Hollis Brown (09:14)
(copyright bob dylan,1963 m. witmark & sons.warner bros. music)
Hollis Brown he lived, on the outside of town
Hollis Brown he lived, on the outside of town
With his wife and five children
In his cabin broken down
He looked for work and money, and he walked a ragged mile
He looked for work and money, and he walked a ragged mile
Your children are so hungry
That they don't know how to smile
Your baby's eyes look crazy and they're tuggin' at your sleeve
Your baby's eyes look crazy and they're tuggin' at your sleeve
You walk the floor and you wonder why
With every breath you breathe
The rats have got your flour, bad blood it got your mare
The rats have got your flour, bad blood it got your mare
Is there anyone that knows
Is there anyone that cares
You prayed to the Lord above to please send you a friend
You prayed to the Lord above to please send you a friend
Your empty pockets tell you
That you ain't got no friend
Your baby's a cryin' louder now it's poundin' on your brain
Your baby's a cryin' louder now it's poundin' on your brain
Your wife's screams are a stabbin' you
Like dirty, drivin' rain
Your grass is turnin' black and there's no water in your well
Your grass is turnin' black and there's no water in your well
You spent your last lone dollar
On them seven shotgun shells
Way out in the wilderness a cold coyote calls
Way out in the wilderness a cold coyote calls
Your eyes fix on the shotgun
That's hangin' on the wall
Your brain it is a bleedin' and your legs can't seem to stand
Your brain it is a bleedin' and your legs can't seem to stand
Your eyes fix on the shotgun
That you're holdin' in your hand
There's seven breezes blowin' around the cabin door
There's seven breezes blowin' all around the cabin door
Seven shots ring out
Like the oceans pounding roar
There's seven people dead on a South Dakota farm
There's seven people dead on a South Dakota farm
Somewhere in the distance
There's seven new people born.
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