Nazareth is a band which you will probably know has been around forever. The very distinctive voice of Mr Dan McCafferty gives the signature tune. Some of my earliest musical memories involve seeing them belt out (well, OK mime) My White Bicycle and This Flight Tonight on Top of the Pops. Pocket money was scraped together to by Loud ‘n’ Proud, Razamanaz, the all-conquering Hair of the Dog in a truly classic period from the band which did no doubt influence the (by then) emerging NWOBHM scene.
By the I had my first job with meagre wages spent on Rampant, Close Enough For Rock ‘n’ Roll, Expect No Mercy right up to No Mean City. I adored that album though lent it to some long lost friend and never got it back so what a relief it was to be able to pick up the reissue of that.
Anyway – my consuming passion for Nazaerth started to wane significantly after the lightweight efforts of Malice in Wonderland and The Fool Circle and I pretty much swore off them after the (in my opinion) truly awful The Catch.
Sure, they still put out albums though I’d steer well clear thinking that they’d “lost it” so I’d stick to the good stuff from the classic days and not bother with anything post The Catch. So I spent many years in a Nazareth wilderness closing my ears.
Then I heard about the release of The Newz a couple of years or so ago and bought it more out of curiosity than anything else. Whilst it may not be up there with the best Naz I thought it was a strong effort overall and it was pleasing to know that the (mostly) old boys still had it. Fast forward to this year and Big Dogz came out which I believe is a marvellous effort and should be heard by a wider audience than perhaps it will be.
So I figured it might be time to check out my “lost” period between The Catch and The Newz especially as Salvo Records were doing a lot of reissues from that period in dual-packs for a very nice price. A few minutes later I’d ordered The Catch and Cinema and Move Me and Boogaloo with my ears not knowing what to expect bar The Catch. The wrapping came off and I took a deep (aural) breath as they went in to the CD player.
Yes, The Catch still sucks though if you want to hear how good it could have been then check out the live recording of This month’s Messiah on the Cinema bonus tracks. Cinema was Manny Charlton’s last with the band and sees them right back on form to good old powerful rocking with the lameness banished. A fine album with crafted riffs. I like…….
Billy Rankin replaced Charlton for Move Me which has a more bluesy feel to it though still with plenty of power and some fine work from Rankin who puts his stamp on things nicely including most of the writing credits.
Boogaloo saw another new guitarist – Jimmy Murrison – sign in and he rips it up too as Nazareth continue to remember they are a hard rock band and deliver an album to measure up to that.
After listening to Move Me/Cinema/Boogaloo I discovered three excellent offerings from a band I’d all but given up on but three albums which now rank right up there with the best Nazareth have done.
If you thought the Dunfermline boys lost it totally after The Catch then think again. I know I’m glad I did. Whip out your credit card and snap yourself up the reissues. Your ears will thank you as mine did.
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