Customer Reviews

Hair of the Dog

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If there were a museum that showcased the most essential albums in hard rock, Nazareth's "Hair of the Dog" would surely be behind a glass display case. It streamlined all of the important aspects that characterized the genre; gritty, riff-driven rock and a great level of accessibility. The album is full of talking-guitar techniques, powerhouse structures, and most importantly, a flexibility that is rarely found in most heavy metal albums: ballads that meant something and rockers that meant even more. Nazareth was one of the few bands that could pull off an equal balance of driving rock and power ballads that didn't sound overdone and empty. For instance, it's hard to find a band that could execute the anthemic title track, then craft a ballad such as the rendition of 'Love Hurts.' (It's a shame however that the power-ballad category would be turned into nothing more than a musical joke in the next decade, due to acts like Poison, Whitesnake, or Warrant.) Some more interesting moments are found in 'Rose in the Heather,' the doom of 'Miss Misery,' and the paranoid closer 'Please Don't Judas Me,' one of the songs that shows that not all songs associated with the word 'experiment' are wastes of time. All told, "Hair of the Dog" is an essential piece of rock music, the blueprint for many acts to follow.

Opt for the import version with the 6 bonus tracks instead of this release. A much better "bang for the buck" and the bonus tracks are pretty decent (compared to Judas Priest, Blue Oyster Cult, & Motorhead releases where the bonus tracks are virtually unlistenable). But man, can ya get much better on a intro than the title track, "Hair Of The Dog"? "The Dog" is a bonified classic, right up there with Montrose's "Rock The Nation" for top hard rock intro of the 70's.
This album is a must have for any fan of 70's hard rock. So if you ain't got it yet, add to cart.

These new Slavo remasters of the Nazareth catalogue are superb: they feature fantastic sound, excellent liner notes, killer bonus tracks, and historical accuracy. So far, Salvo has remastered and rereleased everything from the first Naz album through "Hair of the Dog," and these are all well worth picking up. As for "Hair of the Dog" itself, the Salvo version preserves the track listing of the initial UK release, which has a great cover of Randy Newman's "Guilty" in place of the now mega-famous cover of B. Bryant's "Love Hurts," which the record company added to the US release at the last minute in the interest of trying to land a smash hit . . . which they did, of course. For my money, the originally intended cover of "Guilty" (included here in its proper spot as the third track) makes the album much more interesting and dark, but for those who side with the record company, don't worry: "Love Hurts" is included as a bonus track, along with lots of other fine material. No serious and self-respecting fan of hard rock should spend any amount of time on planet Earth without owning "Hair of the Dog," and this is the edition to buy.

I'd like to know the ages of some of my fellow reviewers. I was a teenager in the mid-70's, so I LIVED THIS! Nazareth's "Hair of the Dog" was such a powerful presence, this album was an absolute must in our 8-track players and at our parties, alongside albums by such hard rock staples as Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin. So, who's calling "Love Hurts" a "power ballad"? It never occurred to me to attach a label to this song. I'd rather not attach labels, thank you. Plain and simple, it's a great song. The album's title song, however, was hands-down the favorite of my crowd. The band at my boyfriend's prom (he was a year behind me) played it -- despite lyrics that were rather shocking by 1977 standards! -- and we all screamed out the words to the chorus along with the band (undoubtedly to the dismay of the chaperones). This was a very important album in the 70's. I'm overjoyed to find it's available on CD now. My vinyl copy is a bit worn out, and I just can't get the 8-track to play at all!

I would give this album 5 stars, if I could just get more cowbell.

This is one of the best if not the best classic "Hard Rock" albums ever. Its ashame that Beggars Day and Changin' Times are not included on a Greatest Hits album. If you dont have this one your not a classic "Hard Rock" junkie, period.

Nazareth's Hair of the Dog is one of the best hard rock albums of the mid-1970's. Although the band is best known for their two hits, the power ballad "Love Hurts" and the title track, which contains one of the most recognizable guitar riffs in rock, Hair of The Dog is a stellar hard rock album from beginning to end. The tracks "Miss Misery" and "Beggars Day" boast both killer riffs and mean vocals from Dan McCafferty, whose voice is very similar to AC/DC's Brian Johnson. "Changin' Times" reminds you a little of Led Zeppelin's "Black Dog" before the long jam at the end while "Whiskey Drinkin' Woman" is a cool blues tune with a guitar sound similar to Lynyrd Skynyrd. The instrumental "Rose in the Heather" is very cool as the synthesizers and guitars blend very well. The epic "Please Don't Judas Me" is also pretty good although it if a couple of minutes were shaved off at the end, it would have been better. All told, Hair of the Dog is a very strong album and proves that Nazareth was more than just a two-hit wonder. Highly recommended to fans of great hard rock.

This album (as they were called back then) had the most profound influence on me as I was growing up, I think I was 8 or 9 when I first heard it in my uncles Hot Rod, the most memorable song for me is "Miss Misery" when he cranked up that song in his car and we shot down the highway very fast, I remember thinking, This must be what Groovy means, I was totally blown away by the guitar as I've never heard anything like it before, I asked my Uncle what that sound was and he told me it was an Electric Guitar, that was it, I was in love with Rock 'N 'Roll, I believe Hair Of The Dog needs no introduction as it's the greatest rock song ever written, after finally converting to CD's last year, I had to have It on CD, but still treasure my Nazareth cassette tape collection, If only Nazareth produced more albums in this vein of music.......Do not let this CD escape it's place in your collection!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If someone were to argue that Nazareth is one of the greatest rock bands ever, Hair of the Dog would be Exhibit 1. The vocals are amazing. The singer is extremely powerful both in vocal strength and emotion. What a combo!

The Scots delivered terrific hard rock back in 1975! The production is even more metallic than in their previous effort, the already high-voltage RAZAMANAZ. In HAIR OF THE DOG, when McCafferty and company crank the volume and begin to scream and riff unashamedly, then you are taken to heavy rock heaven!

The title song is a MONSTER (isn't the riff a power chord version of "Day Tripper"?), and I guess it can be included in the Top 10 most devastating of the seventies. The sonic land-slide continues with "Miss Misery", about a heartbreaker "gypsy dancer". Heavy riffage, incredible "rip-saw vocals shredding everything in sight", cool slide solo ... It can be formulaic, but if one has a warm spot in the heart for rock'n'roll, it is hard to resist.

"Changin' Times" reminds me of "Black Dog". You know, the heavy bluesy riff, and the verses in between. Hot stuff! And "Beggars' Day" is even more powerful, an anthemic rock that comes close to "Hair of the Dog". I've never heard Nazareth alive, but I guess "Beggars..." gets what it takes to be one of the highlights in the band's sets. "Whiskey Drinkin' Woman" is a lighter, yet enjoyable southern-rock boogie .

"Rose in the heather" is a gentle instrumental that's not remarkable, and "Please Don't Judas Me" is a 9-minute-long song. The melody is very predictable, and maybe some won't have the patience to listen to all of it, but the band is in fine shape, trying' to sound epic. Actually, I prefer the no-nonsense heavy rock attack of the rest of the album.

Oh,and there's the hit "Love Hurts". Some tried to put it down by saying it is "a proto-power ballad", and they are right! But we should recognize it is a lovely romantic rendition, combining the energy of the band with a sweet, fifties-like feel (check the smart use of slide in the solo). The song is OK, and if I were a teenager in the mid 70's (instead of a baby), I wouldn't mind dancing with my date while listening to "Love Hurts"!

Summing up: Grear rock album! I think only ACDC "Highway to hell-Back in Black" came close to Nazareth in riff-power. But Nazareth came first and they had a more diverse sound. HAIR OF THE DOG is essential listening to understand the hard rock experience!