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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nazz opened my ears to all-time classic LP., March 12, 2002
By A Customer
As a 9th grader in '68, I literally could not wait to run home from school everyday to crank up this album. With the heavy energy of Cream, the gorgeous harmonies of the Beach Boys, topped off with the emerging songwriting talents of another youngster - Todd Rundgren - Nazz sonically journeyed where few other rock bands dared to go back then. Searing rockers (Open My Eyes, The Lemming Song, Wildwood Blues, She's Going Down) perfectly coexisted with beautiful, harmony-drenched ballads (Hello It's Me, If That's The Way You Feel, Crowded) making Nazz quite an enigma among all the political, drugged-out, blues-based rock music of that year. This remastered CD sounds better than the vinyl ever did. And you gotta love the new spoken-word intro to Open My Eyes. Nazz still sparkles - more than 30 years later - much as it did during my after-school listening sessions. Highly recommended.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Nazz, among the best, July 15, 1998
By A Customer
Formed in 1966 from former members of jazz and folk bands, the Nazz combine beautiful songwriting with an insight for future music. Their first album, simply titled, Nazz, is a wonderfully adept collage, featuring the beginnings of the Todd Rundgren "wall of sound" effect. The sound evident on this 1967 album is strangly similar to that of 1970's pop and hard rock bands. This comes as no surprise, because it was from this band that pop superstar Todd Rundgren emerged. If you don't know what to expect from a band named for the B-Side of a Yardbirds single, "The Nazz are Blue", just listen and find out what makes the Nazz one of the greatest rock bands of all time. Singles from this album include "Open Your Eyes/Hello It's Me".
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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Captivating Venture from an Anglo Mod Band, August 3, 2000
Back in the days of vinyl, I could buy LP's at a local discount appliance store for three dollars. The selection was slim, but the price was right. My purchasing criteria (besides price) was simple: cool album covers. Since Meet the Beatles (1963) featured the band member's faces floating on a black background, I bought Nazz. The album was a stunning surprise, and has remained so for over three decades. Nazz is a crafty and infectious combination of high energy rockers, and ballads with beautifully blended vocal harmonies. The influence of British mod bands (see the Who-sounding `When I Get My Plane' ), the Beach Boys (Back Of Your Mind, Hello It's Me) and Jimi Hendrix (She's Goin' Down) are clearly evident.Despite its superb pop sensibility, Nazz (competing with acid rock from the West Coast) didn't sell. Too bad: Nazz was like a "How To" instruction manual for power pop later followed by groups such as the Raspberries. The audio quality of the Rhino release is exemplary. Remastered by Bill Inglot and Ken Perry, it is difficult to believe that this recording is over thirty-years old. Rhino does a remarkable job of combing recording libraries for first-rate master tapes, then engineering these recordings to CD. The sonics are immaculate. Unlike the vinyl release, the CD enhances the thundering bass guitar work of Carson Van Osten: his technique is inventive and complex (Open My Eyes, See What You Can See, When I Get My Plane). Nazz is neither "classic" nor "revolutionary," but it is a captivating venture from an Anglo mod band who faded into the rock ocean with hardly a splash.
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