Customer Reviews

Nazareth

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

 

 

My favorite hard rock band of all time. This is their masterful debut album that never gets the recognition it deserves. I love 'Hair Of The Dog' and their harder-rocking stuff. But for me, none of their other albums can match the diversity and intrigue of this one. In short, it's a masterpiece. It has a little of everything - country, boogie rock, hard rock, beautiful ballads and orchestrated epics. Say what you will, but I enjoy this much more than 'Led Zep 1', 'Black Sabbath' and possibly even 'Deep Purple In Rock'.

And 'Hair Of The Dog' fans, don't give me that "it's not a consistent album" mumbo jumbo because there are moments of musical brilliance on this album. Dan McCafferty's voice sounds NOTHING like it would in the future. He's so known for that gritty, raspy voice but he sounds like a completely different guy here.

The hard rocker "Witchdoctor Woman" is a devastating opener, full of killer fuzz guitar and McCafferty's overwhelming vocal power (especially at the end). The solo part is awesome too, listen to the way the guitar scorches while the bass is thumping away like a mastodon. Obviously, they had been listening to what Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Uriah Heep did the previous year.
"Dear John" is pure piano boogie rock. Awesome song.
"Empty Arms, Empty Heart" has a phenomenal riff that should definitely be on any list of greatest guitar riffs. But few people know about this album so I guess that will never happen.
"I Had A Dream" is beautiful. Dan McCafferty can adapt his voice to practically any style of music, and this proves it. Listen to this song and you'll be thinking "this can't be the same guy who sang 'Hair Of The Dog' and 'Razamanaz'". But it is! What a lovely vocal melody and soothing harmonium.
"Red Light Lady" is interesting. Starts out simple enough as a kick-ass rock tune, then slows down and goes into a weird orchestral part. Unique, definitely.
Speaking of unique, how about "Fat Man"? Killer riff with some weird, distorted vocals. Man, these guys just had a plethora of ideas. Chronicling a day in the life of an unpopular fat guy.
"Country Girl" is a marvelous country ballad with great slide guitar from Manny. Dan sings beautifully.
"Morning Dew" is THE masterpiece on this album, and in my book, one of the top 5 greatest songs the band ever did. Yeah, you can keep your radio tunes and hit singles, but this song is Nazareth's Mona Lisa. Definitely the best version of this song ever made, it even blows away the Jeff Beck Group's version. The intro is priceless, with a pounding bass line being driven into your brain, before some brilliant, spooky guitar effects come into play (love the way Manny uses echo here). And here's Dan adapting his voice once again, starting out peaceful and smooth before exploding into full-fledged rock 'n roll as the rest of the band explodes with him. Simply priceless.
"The King Is Dead" is a chilling tale of anarchy, complete with string accompaniment. This one can really haunt you to death, with Dan's whispery vocals and Manny's beautiful acoustic guitar.

The b-side "Friends" is included here and it's a real treat. Yet another country-styled acoustic ballad that really is wonderful. This is about as far from 'Hair Of The Dog' as you can get! Anyway, it's a nice, relaxing little ditty about relaxation. Has funny lyrics too ("Roll yourself a joint, friend...Empty your head, friend"). Great stuff.
The alternate versions of the original songs are pretty pointless, but they take nothing away from the musical mastery of this great, forgotten album.

Their debut album, very bluesy-hard rock. A 7 minute excellent version of morning dew is a must for Nazareth fans. The whole album is strong and worth picking up. If you enjoyed Rampant,Hair of the dog & loud 'n'proud you'll get your money's worth.

Someone once told me Nazareth's first album is a good example of a lost, forgotten hard rock classic. He was right! The songwriting right from the very beginning of their career was top notch stuff. I can't think of a single weak point on the entire album. When a band starts off THIS strongly on their first album, that usually means they will go on to have a successful career. That stands true for Nazareth.

"Witchdoctor Woman" is the best way to open a hard rock album (and a bands career for that matter). Just a snappy little slice of hard rock. "Dear John" is another highlight in terms of great songwriting. "Morning Dew" has a quiet, exciting build-up. Good stuff all around. I love the chorus in "Red Light Lady" (repeatedly singing the line "I fell in love with that lady"). "Country Girl" is awesome. Just a really solid debut for a legendary rock band. There needs to be more people out there familiar with this album, that's for sure.

Originally released in 1971,as this was Nazareth's debut record.Problem is I assumed I knew 'of' most,if not all of their material.I simply don't remember this album at all.Decent hard rock effort from the Scottish ensemble,though.Tunes I found somewhat inspiring were the heavy "Witchdoctor",the boogie tune "Dear John",the nicely done "I Had A Dream","Red Light Lady" and "Country Girl".Too bad Nazareth never really got off the ground(at least in the US)such as other like bands of that same era-Deep Purple,Grand Funk Railroad,Foghat and Uriah Heep did.I've heard several patrons mention that before.Worth checking out.

This is Nazereth's first LP and probably unknown to a lot of people. Saw these guys in 1974 opening for Buddy Miles and Deep Purple. They played most of this album and blew everyone away with "Morning Dew". A DJ, Rick Shayne, played these tracks a lot on the local radio station. I like this album a lot and it's really not the type of music they wound up playing when they were popular. Good music.

Scotland's Nazareth burst onto the nascent hard rock scene in late 1971 with the release of their self-titled debut album. The record was definitely a precursor of things to come as it featured a variety of styles - some straying far from the hard rock palate established by such contemporaries as Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Nazareth would get heavier by mid-decade but then the all things to all listeners approach started to wear thin by 1976 and their muse seemed to have evolved much differently. However, album held much promise and is very enjoyable in many respects. "Witchdoctor Woman" is probably the one track that is most consistently early metal whereas "Morning Dew", "Empty Arms" and "Red Light Lady" change tempos and moods throughout so to call them straight hard rock would be highly inaccurate. Curiosities abound in songs such as "I Had a Dream", "Fat Man" and "Country Girl"; highly surprising for a band to be so diverse this early in the game. In all `Nazareth' will rewards constant listens and grow to be one of their most accomplished records though it made little noise upon its first release.

It defies the laws of probability that the greatest rock band to ever come out of Scotland would emerge from Dunfermline, a small city of around 50,000 souls some 30 kilometers northwest of Edinburgh. Add to that the fact that this amazing blend of style and talent was made up of well educated family men with good jobs. Vocalist Dan McCafferty was an engineer, bassist Pete Agnew an architect, drummer Darrel Sweet an accountant, and guitarist Manny Charlton a radar technician with the Navy. All had played in bar bands for a few years before jelling into Nazareth in 1968. They were getting so many gigs they had to make a choice between stability and what they really loved to do. Obviously they chose rock and roll.

By 1971 they were a seasoned proffessional band, picked up by the small Pegasus label. This is their recording debut, with David Hitchcock producing and Roy Thomas Baker (who would go on to fame producing bands like Queen) in the engineer's chair. The results are quite an amazing opener to a career that continues unabatted to this day. While the band hadn't quite perfected their own sound, they were already excellent musicians and gifted composers.

Album opener, Witchdocter Woman is a prime slab of doom metal, though Manny's guitar soloing is closer to Mick Box of Uriah Heep than Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath. Heavy guitar and bass lines with frantic drumming and McCafferty's trademark vocal style already in place. Dear John is a jammin' bluesy boogie of the sort Nazareth would hone into a trademark sound on later recordings, punctuated by a bouncey honkeytonk piano in the neighborhood of Nicky Hopkins. Empty Arms, Empty Heart is fairly typical early 70's hard rock, but with some already distinctive Naz flavor. In places it comes across as a predecessor to songs like Glad When Your Gone (from Rampant), though this is far more dark and heavy. Brilliant vocals from Dan. I had A Dream is a beautiful slow number with an almost old time hymn sound (maybe some Band and/or Neil Young influence here). Good lyrics with an anti-war message. Red Light Lady closed out side one of the original vinyl, and it's a real piece of work. Really solid drumming and bass from Darrel and Pete, and Manny turns in some more doomy heavy guitar. About half way through, the song totally shifts gears with soft vocals and dreamy organ before morphing into a powerful symphonic conclusion.

Nazareth opens side two with a chuggung fuzzed out heavy boogie and a sense of humor, the cool and catchy Fat Man. Track two, Country Girl, is the first in a long line of country songs that would show up on just about every album Nazareth ever recorded. They had (and continue to have) a true feel and deep understanding of this American style of music, and often surpass in quality the output of the majority of their peers who dabble in c&w music. They had no small part in helping me gain a much greater appreciation for a type of music I thought I didn't really like back in the 70's.

Nazareth's cover of the Tim Rose classic, Morning Dew, is in a class by itself. While covered many times by many bands (most notably Jeff Beck), no one surpasses the version on this disc. Powered by a rolicking bass line (similar to what Agnew did in the band's cover of Joni Mitchel's This Flight Tonight), Sweet starting with kind of a shuffle on the drums, Charlton travels the full spectrum on this one, going from an almost rural Scotish sound to heavier rock, and even dark and doomy psychedelic soundscapes that can be both beautiful and threatening. McCafferty turns in some fantasic vocals, going from a soft and almost mournful tone to his hard and griity style he became famous for. A real epic.

Album closer, The King Is Dead, is almost classical, with full orchestra. It's the first in a trilogy of anti-christian songs recorded by Nazareth on their first three albums. This would be followed by I Will Not Be Led on '72's Exercises, and Sold My Soul on '73's powerhouse Razamanaz. To round things out Castle Records has added on some bonus cuts, most of which are single edits of songs already here, and which I find little use for. However, the country & western B-side Friends is a real keeper, and a welcome addition to this brilliant debut from one of my alltime favorite bands. I highly recommend all of Castle's rereleases of the Nazareth catalog. Great sound quality and well illustrated booklets, with descent albeit brief liner notes. Get it while you can.

I am not reviewing the Record-I am reviewing the advertising associated with the site. I have been looking for the vynal copies of the early Nazareth records locally without success. I saw the statement "Buy the MP3 album for $1.78 at the Amazon MP3 Downloads store" next to the picture of the Nazareth Record cover I was searching for. I took the bait without looking further into and what I got was "love Hurts" and "hair of the Dog"! Two songs which I have on Record and CD. I should have known I wouldnt get an entire record for that price when the CD is so expensive however I have never bought a downloaded record before and expected to get what I thought was being advertised! Not the record I thought I was getting! Amazon should not say "album" if they mean songs which are not even from the record shown!!!