Makes Black Sabbath Sound Like Child's Play!

After two unsuccessful albums, Nazareth decided that hard, ferocious rock would be their calling card from then on. The result was the mighty "Razamanaz", one of the greatest hard rock albums ever, and one that makes anything by Sabbath sound lame in comparison.
Of course, the title track is a blistering display of guts and aggression, right up there with Purple's "Highway Star" and Sabbath's "Paranoid". Turn this bad boy up real loud and be prepared for an adrenaline rush like you've never experienced before! The riff is a slightly modified version of Deep Purple's "Speed King", but this does not detract from it's greatness, believe me. Other than the first part of the riff, it actually sounds nothing like "Speed King" at all. Anyway, great, vicious vocals from Dan, and Manny gets in his usual scorching guitar licks (if you think this is wild, it's nothing compared to the first live version on BACK TO THE TRENCHES, which makes this studio version sound almost boring!). The band's take on Leon Russell's "Alcatraz" is equally ferocious, with a pounding riff and that great, sinister beat. "Vigilante Man" is fantastic, mainly because of the way it goes from a slow, bluesy tune to an all-out furious rocker. Great, great stuff. The re-make of "Woke Up This Morning" from the EXERCISES album is great fun. A nice, bluesy tune. "Night Woman" has a drum beat that sounds a lot like Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love", but the tune is glorious. One of those great sing-along types. Very catchy. "Bad Bad Boy" is one of my personal favorite Naz tunes ever. KILLER song! Spectacular riff, and you just gotta love the way Dan wails out "I'M A BAD BAD BOY, AND I'M GONNA STEAL YOUR LOVE!". It just makes me lament the fact that these guys were so damn underrated. "Broken Down Angel" was of course the big hit on the album. But, as is usually the case with radio hits, it's nowhere near the best song on here. Great chorus, though. And "Sold My Soul" isn't anything special, just an evil-sounding, Black Sabbath type of song.

All in all, though, this is one of hard rock's many masterpieces. Such a shame that it's not available in America.

A cornerstone in rock

This is undoubtly the best album by Nazareth, and probably one of the greatest records ever produced ('though I liked the production of "Woke up this Morning" better on Excercises).

The songs, well, they are all great. The overall feeling of the record is very southern. If I didn't know these guys were from Scotland, I would have guessed Texas. "Vigilante Man" starts as an almost embarrassing-to-listen-to country-like song with lots of slide guitarr, but as the song moves along the sound gets rougher and rougher until it rocks really hard. The slide guitarr intro of "Woke up this Morning" is a logical progression to that.

Sold my soul is not only a great song, but also tells with much wit and humor exactly how it is to pray. "I prayed to God and Jesus, but I guess they didn't hear... I looked to the lord in heaven, but he must have went away." Take it for what it is, very intelligent humour, which most songs and records by this group is so full of. It may look like an ordinary "Wine women and Whiskey" attitude (like that of Guns'n'Roses), but it is done with a humour that I haven't seen with many other bands.

As some of the other reviewers have already pointed out, AC/DC and Guns'n'Roses got everything they know from these guys. Enough said!

HARD ROCK!

Nazareth is one of those good old hard and heavy rock'n'blues bands that were forgotten after the new wave hype. Even heavy rock fans tend to overlook Nazareth, and that's bad, because in their best moments, those scots could rock as well as, say, Aerosmith in the '70s, and their vocals were the biggest influence for Axl Rose's style. RAZAMANAZ captures the band struggling for their first sucess, and it was very well-received by the rock audience back in 1973. It is a no-nonsense slab of hard rock, well produced by Roger Glover, the Deep Purple bassplayer.

The title track, and "Alcatraz" are all terrific old-school hard rock (people at the time would call it heavy metal, but by today's standards is too rock 'n' roll for that); "I sold my soul" is a darker, Sabbath-influenced slow tempo number. "Bad Boy" has a Southern Rock feel, with good slide-guitar and the singer giving a lesson in rough voice that Axl paid close attention; "Woke up these morning" is very catchy, with the bass propelling the boogie and more hot and dirty slide and vocals.

Oh yes, "Vigilante Man" is allright! It begins fragile, with a country blues feel, but then it evolves into the fat sound with agressive vocals that is so good to hear when you are in the mood for some rock 'n' roll music.

This album has some other good moments, like the more commercial "Night Woman" and "Broken Down Angel" (their first radio hit). Summing up, it delivers good rock and for those who miss the band, RAZAMANAZ and HAIR OF THE DOG are essential listening. For people interested in the heavy rock scene of the early seventies and only know Zep, Aerosmith and KISS, Nazareth can be a pleasant surprise. Recommended!

E-mail me if you like this kind of music.