Nazareth hit us with a fine new album – the second featuring the excellent Carl Sentence on vocals following the retirement a few years ago of the unique Dan McCafferty due to health issues.
Let’s get something out of the way first. Dan’s retirement and people since saying it’s not Nazareth without Dan with Pete Agnew the last remaining original member.
Each to their own opinion of course – though a band which has been together as long as Nazareth (over fifty years) is bound to go through changes.
The current line-up (Sentence apart) has been stable since the 1990s. Jimmy Murrison joining in 1994 and Pete’s son Lee drumming taking over in 1999 after Darrel Sweet’s death.
Sure, the days of Hair of the Dog, Rampant etc. are long gone. However Nazareth continue as a legitimate band making good music albeit a bit different to the “classic” era.
Sentence has brought new stuff. He’s a fine vocalist full of energy and has the pedigree too.
Here on Surviving the Law the budget certainly hasn’t been spent on the artwork. But it’s the music which matters and it’s rather jolly good. Fourteen tracks over around a 45 minute running time.
Mostly short, sharp, punchy, hard-hitting stuff around three minutes each. Bar the closer which Pete Agnew wrote and sings on coming in at five minutes. A rather slow ballad and he deserves the indulgence.
The other thirteen all make an enjoyable listen. Take the opener – Strange Days. Crunching spiky, jaunty Murrison riff, Sentance in full flow and it’s catchy as you like too. A short, sharp three minute shock to kick it off. Have a listen:
Everything else comes thick and fast. Highlights being Runaway, Mind Bomb and Psycho Skies. Though it’s all good throughout.
Song writing is split between Lee Agnew (5), Sentance (3) and Murrison (5) then there’s Pete’s closer. The Sentence songs tend to be the faster, spiky, catchy stuff with Lee and Jimmy’s a bit more blues-based.
Surviving the Law shows Nazareth are not standing still and moving along with an album full of energetic, relevant classic rock and a band with plenty left to offer. Murrison particularly effective for me. Punches it all along with some big, concise riffs.
>> NAZARETH SURVIVING THE LAW ON AMAZON <<