Customer Reviews

No Mean City

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

 

 

If you are a Nazareth fan this is an album you must have.

I've been listening to this since it came out in 1978. "Just to Get into it", "May the Sun Shine" and "Whatever You Want Babe" are classic Nazareth. The 8 original tracks are all solid, not a bad one in the bunch. "Claim To Fame" "Whatever You Want Babe" and "What's In It For Me" appear sequentially on the album and seem to all be about the same relationship, viewed from 3 different times, or perspectives. The 5 bonus track edits don't really add anything. A must have for Nazareth fans. If your looking to buy a Nazareth CD, I'd reccommend this as the one.

Originally released in 1978, this was the Scottish rocker's follow-up to their notorious in-your-face 'Show No Mercy'. For this album, Nazareth pulled in an additional member, guitarist Zal Cleminson (of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band). Tracks on this effort may not be AS recognizable as some of their other material, but 'No Mean City' is still good nonetheless. Tunes that, I personally liked the most were their somewhat Zeppelin-like "May The Sunshine", "Star", "Claim To Fame" and the title cut "No Mean City,Parts 1-2". Basically,decent old school '70's hard rock.

"Just to Get Into It" is worth the price. If you play this opening cut on "11", just hang on. Best cut to never make any of their compilations.

The addition of Zal Cleminson (formerly of SAHB) to the Nazareth lineup had me scratching my head at the time. Expect No Mercy was a powerful record and they had been playing as a four piece forever so it didn't make sense at the time. I didn't undrstand. After playing both sides in 1978, I realized what they had done was brought another songwriter into the fold who could also play guitar. And this thing really rocked. Just to Get into It, Simple Solution (Pt. 1 and 2) and No Mean City (Pt. 1 and 2), wow! Still not sure why (Pt. 1 and 2) for 2 different songs but what the hey! And the ballad Star, should have been bigger than Love Hurts a few years earlier if released as a single. I own the Castle reissue that has contains no bonus tracks but is still a winner. The 5 tracks are bonus cuts of songs already on here, just edited or alternate version. A very good record. Only 4 stars due to the filler May the Sunshine, Claim to Fame, and Whatever You Want Babe. Not every song has to be a winner.

Not really treading water but not exactly setting the world on fire, Nazareth trudged along through the end of the `70's with another workmanlike effort, `No Mean City' release at the very beginning of 1979. The record was in many ways a typical Naz album, hard rockers standing alongside slower numbers with the later slated for single release. However there were a couple of noteworthy aspects to the new LP. First and foremost was the first new addition to the classic Nazareth lineup in a decade as fellow Scotsman Zal Cleminson joined as co-lead guitarist. Also `No Mean City' had no covers; another first for a band that often had the knack of rerecording the material of others to give it the Nazareth stomp. Hard rockers such as lead track "Just to Get Into It", "Simple Solution (written by Cleminson)" and the title track were adequate slabs of late seventies pseudo-metal while "May the Sunshine", "Star" and "Whatever You Want Babe" were for the hit radio crowd. `No Mean City', even with its band chemistry experimentation and all originals track lineup didn't seem to make any more of a dent into the general hard rock consciousness than any of the records post 1975. The liner notes are funny though...since when did Nazareth make noted contributions to the NWOBHM?????

This is Nazareth's best album in my opinion. It was released after a couple of great if not coherent albums (Play n the game, Expect No Mercy). Don't get me wrong. Those are great albums with great songs individually but collectively "No Mean City" is their best. Manny Charlton is very much underrated as a guitarist and should have received more credit not only for his playing but also for his writing and production abilities. Just listen to the title track, "Just to get into it", and "Whatever you want babe". Of course Nazareth being Nazareth, there is a great ballad type song (Star) on it as well. The cover art rivals if not is better than Hair of the Dog and sets the tone for the album. I highly recommend this CD along with another Nazareth CD, Rampant. They stand out however the other Nazareth albums from the 70's contain some excellent music as well. Check them out. They are something to howl about.

The guitar work on this album will grow on you! Who else at this time in the 70s had heavier guitars WITH the loudest and raspiest singer around? Brian Johnson overtook the crown a year later, but up to 1980 Nazareth reigned supreme. Originally I thought this one was SO much more mainstream rock than Hair of The Dog, but upon repeated listens, this one is just as heavy. It's played a bit tighter and the songs are crafted a bit better--- OO ya and if you like this, get Rampant too--- you won't be sorry.

This is essential for Nazareth fans. LOUD crunching guitars and stellar vocals. Get a copy and "May The Sunshine" on YOU!(cool album art,too)