Stephen
Nazareth is one of the few bands that still survive and keep releasing albums after more than 40 years of career. They went through a lot of change in their musical scope and formation, but their determination of sharing their creative idea is applauding and even thought nowadays, folks that used to listen to them are probably had passed away or stopped listening to rock, 'Big Dogz' is a declaration to the world that Nazareth's bluesy-feel heavy rocking outfit is still alive and well.
I'm not a big fan of classic rock, I do like a few bands such as Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, or AC/DC, and I must admit I only listen to a few Nazareth albums, so I'm trying to sound my opinion from a general hard rock fan point of view. The first two tracks are definitely not the best start for th em. 'Big Dog's Gonna Howl' is too average to remember and 'Claimed' is perhaps the worst filler here. 'No Mean Monser' started to raise the flag, a nice hard rock tune to pull my interest back. 'When Jesus Comes To Save The World Again' is strange, weird ballad, kinda bluesy, but different, not my fave though.
'Radio' is the best track. The happy vibe, the wonderful verse with sing-along chorus, some nice riffs, all blends perfectly, a big hooray for this one. 'Time And Tide' is also pretty good but too long at 7 minutes, the solo is very laid-back and lovable. 'The Toast' is like listening to a band playing in a packed bar, a huge uptempo track. 'Butterfly' is soul-soothing, magnificent ballad and perhaps the second best track of the album. 'Sleeptalker' started nicely but then begin to veer to boredom near the end, shame because it could be a strong closer.
Overall, it's a bit hit-and-miss for me, some weak tunes, some average songs, some great songs, I'll probably will rate this around 65%. If you dig the classic rock sound and used to listen to them, you might be able to appreciate more than I did, but this album will quickly lost in the shuffle among other grand releases of 2011. Kudos to them anyway for being brave enough to stand the test of time!