Kev Rowland Nazareth are one of the longest-running and most important rock bands to ever come out of Scotland, and even if we discount the years that most of the founders were playing together as The Shadettes, here is a band who has celebrated more than 50 years together. ‘Surviving The Law’ is their 25th studio album, released last year, by which time bassist Pete Agnew was 75 years old, and his son Lew had been drummer in the band for more than 29 years. Jimmy Murrison has been there since 1994, which makes him the longest serving guitarist the band has ever had, while singer Carl Sentence has been there since 2015.

Between 1971 and 1977 nine (yes, nine) studio albums, and quite a few of them are classics, although in honest none of them stand up against ‘It'sNaz’ (known by many as ‘Snaz). It was one of the most epic live albums of all time, absolutely essential, featuring the classic line-up of Dan McCafferty (vocals), Manny Charlton (guitar), Pete Agnew (bass, backing vocals) alongside Billy Rankin (guitar) and John Locke (keyboards) which allowed them to have an immense sound, but they were a quartet for the first ten years of their existence, and after bringing in a few other people, it was back to the core four in 1983 and they stayed that way until 1990 (when Manny left, Billy came back, and they stayed that way until 1994).

Carl has a great voice, but to be honest I can’t think of Nazareth without the gravel of Dan, and they have never been the same since Manny left. The original proud boys of Dunfermline were special, and while this is a pleasant old school British hard rock album with hints of metal, there is nothing here to make it stand out from anyone else. I am sure they are still a blast on the live circuit, but while there may be a few songs from this album included, most people will be holding out for the classics. For any band to be in existence for more than 50 years is sensational, and in many ways they have been at it for more than 60, but this album is fairly standard hard rock with nice vocals and little in the way of memorable songs, which is pretty much what I said about the last one, ‘Tattooed On My Brain’ as well. I think I may just put on ‘Razamanaz’, as there is the real Nazareth.

Unitron "Now you're messin' with a son of a bitch"

Hair of the Dog is Nazareth's peak and most successful album for a reason, it's such a defining album for both the band and the early days of heavy metal. Raw and raucous, it's a true meeting of swaggering blues and thunderous heavy metal with that Scottish angst that only Nazareth had perfected.

The opening title track is one of the band's biggest hits, and no surprise, few songs scream pure attitude as much as this. Whiskey Drinkin' Woman is pure blues swagger, Changin' Times and Beggars Day are the band's blues metal style at their best, and the pure pounding metal stomp of Miss Misery takes the cake as my favorite from both the album and probably favorite Nazareth song in general. So much power is exuded, and Dan McCafferty's raw and gravely vocals define the sound. It's been in constant rotation ever since I first got this album.

The only point that often prevents Nazareth's albums from being a fantastic journey all the way through are their usually sappy and yearning ballads. Guilty (or Love Hurts in the more common issues) is this, but the only dud. The other ballad, closer Please Don't Judas Me is a different story. I'd say this is probably the first metal ballad. It's ominous and lumbering, yet soulful and sounds immense without being distorted much. It's the song that the cover art best compliments, and there couldn't be a better finale for an album.

The self-titled and No Mean City are close seconds, but this remains my favorite. Both Nazareth and Scottish metal at its finest.

Unitron "Call off your dogs for I am no fox"

While Hair of the Dog is probably Nazareth's definitive album, No Mean City is the apex of the Scottish heavy metal band's sound before switching to a more pop rock style in the 80's. No Mean City, while including a few softer rock songs as the band always has, is perhaps the band at their most vicious.

This is heard best in the closing title track, with its menacing atmosphere. McCafferty is at his most aggressive, especially with the caustic delivery of such lines as the aforementioned that opens up this review. That coupled with the rapid echoed guitar riffing that evokes a proto-black metal sound, makes for an ominous finale. Claim to Fame as well, this time a heavy stomp, is a great surge of anger through song.

Songs like Just to Get Into It and Simple Solution (The latter's probably my favorite on the album) makes me wonder why they dropped the metal come the 80's. Simple Solution especially, sounds like it could've come straight from an 80's metal album. Its infectiously catchy chorus brings it right up there with Saxon and Judas Priest classics as one of metal's best melodies.

Like other late 70's heavy metal albums, No Mean City has a perfect balance between the bluesier 70's with the sound of the beginning of the next decade. One of the band's best, and an end of an era, for the band wouldn't bring metal back into their repertoire until much later.

Kev Rowland When I was young we used to have a record store in town, and in a glass frame on the wall they would put their record of the week. I can clearly remember seeing ‘Razamanaz’ there for the first time and wondering who could deliver a cover with that much power, and then I heard the title cut and it all became clear. With Dan McCafferty gargling broken glass and whisky, Darrell Sweet bashing the skins, Pete Agnew on bass and Manny Charlton riffing, the proud sons of Dunfermline could do no ill in my mind or ears. Criminally overlooked, their live album ‘Snaz’ (when the line-up had expanded to include second guitarist Billy Rankin and keyboard player John Locke) is still one of the very greatest in-concert albums ever released. Manny left in 1990, with Billy stepping into the shoes before Jimmy Murrison came onboard in 1994, and Darrell died far too young (51) from a heart attack, being replaced by none other than Pete’s son Lee. From 2002 – 2013 the quartet of McCafferty, Agnew, Agnew and Morrison continued to tour and record, but then the bombshell that McCafferty had to retire due to ill health. Given that Dan joined Pete in Shadettes (the name changed to Nazareth in 1969) back in 1965, it was quite a shock, so what next?

After a false start with singer Linton Osborne, the band are now back with Carl Sentence (Persian Risk) centre stage, and a new album for their new label. It’s a solid album, plenty of bottom end, plenty of hard riffs, but is it Nazareth? Well, those who have been buying their recent releases have put it into the charts in Austria and Switzerland, but there has been little or no success in the UK, US or Canada (which used to be a main market) for more than 35 years, and there is little here to suggest it was going to be a breakthrough. It is a nice album, yet there is little here in terms of hooks or anthems for fans to get their teeth into. However, Nazareth are not a band who survive on record sales, it is all about putting bums on seats, and while I am sure they will play a few songs from this on their 50th Anniversary tour, people will want to hear “Holiday”, “Dressed To Kill”, “Hair of the Dog”, “Razmanaz”, “This Flight Tonight”, “Telegram” and of course “Love Hurts”. Sentence isn’t McCafferty, so they will sound different to what people expect, but given that there isn’t anyone who can sound like Dan it is good that the band have moved away to someone who can certainly sing, but isn’t quite as gruff and raw.

Solid, fun, but not a touch on what they were doing in the Seventies.

voila_la_scorie Having been on top of the game for good hard rocking music in the mid-seventies, Nazareth were looking for new direction as they removed some of the heaviness and went more for a blues sound with more feeling. By "Expect No Mercy" there was little left of the hard and heavy sound that had reached its apogee with 1975's "Hair of the Dog".

Then a curious development occurred. The four-piece Scottish band added a fifth member, guitarist Zal Cleminson. With an extra six strings and ten fingers on board, Nazareth went and recorded one of their hardest rockers and perhaps their grittiest album in their catalogue. The fantasy cover, a muscle-bound, green-skinned, skull-faced creature in armour, clutching sinister razor knives walking among stone ruins, certainly looks metal. The previous album also featured a fantasy-type scene of warriors in battle but was lighter and more diverse in sound. "No Mean City", while including the catchy country rock "May the Sun Shine" and the ballad "Star" as well as the melodic yet cantering "Whatever You Want Babe", is about 60% sneering, growling, nail-chewing, and rusty saw vocals with some solid heavy rock guitar and fast-paced, hard boogie rock.

One of my personal favourites has always been the medium tempo, slightly heavy prog track "Simple Solution". The song is mean and has groove. Catch the harmonized guitars before the song title is barked out in Dan McCafferty's trademark raw-throated vocal. The opening track, "Just to Get into It" is a gravelly and abrasive, speedy rocker. And while "Star" may not match "Love Hurts", it's a soothing ballad that doesn't seem out of place on the otherwise phlegm-spitting album.

After the soothing ballad, side two knocks us awake with the heavy-pounding rhythm of "Claim to Fame". "What gives ya this crazy thought that you can talk to mah womaaaahn?" challenges McCafferty. The guitar solo is a simple and melodic one as in "Love Hurts" but this time has an ominous feel to it as if McCafferty's mind is about to snap with rage.

Though very melodious and catchy, a great sing-a-long song, "Whatever You Want Babe" has some enjoyable guitar work. Then it's time to get back to business with another clenched-fist number, "What's in It for Me?" The drums have an almost tribal feel to them, and Manny Charlton delivers lots of slide guitar.

The album closer is the two-part title track, which I'll admit has never been a favourite of mine, though I can see the band working once more in slightly progressive territory, going beyond the standard hard rock number. It begins with a fairly standard hard/heavy rock style, one guitar delivering the simple riff while the second provides lots of background soloing. In the middle is where the band develop the darker image of the story. "Call off your dogs cuz I am no fox," McCafferty demands with a shredding vocal that surely must have inspired Brian Johnson. Coming back to this song after a long time, I appreciate it much more now.

In my grade ten year, the year that "Cinema" was released, Nazareth was my favourite band and I had all 16 studio albums (as of 1986) on cassette. When I began buying Nazareth CDs, "No Mean City" was one of the first albums to add to my collection, and to date only a few Nazareth albums have made it. Not that I don't want most of the others, but there is simply too much good music out there to track down.

One of Nazareth's harder/heavier albums and a surprise album in their late seventies / early eighties catalogue as they did little else as heavy during this time. And an awesome album cover!