Nazareth

A gift

Surprisingly strong for a debut, this is a very bluesy mix of hard rock and folk with a couple of covers thrown in for good measure. Included here of note is their punishing cover of "Morning Dew", which I feel is the best version of the song ever cut. If you can get a copy of one of their BBC Sessions comps with the live version then by all means do it. Pete Agnew's distorted bass sounds straight out of hell and it just drives the song like a Mother! The rest of the album is pretty solid as well. Their breakthrough album "Razamanaz" would unfortunately overshadow this and it's follow-up album "Exercises" and strong cuts such as "Dear John" and "Red Light Lady" would disappear from the setlists going forward. I think that hanging on to more of their sound from this period might have saved them in the 80's when they were trying hard to water down their sound. However, cuts such as "Country Girl" showcase that softer approach without being too polished. Balance that with the bluesy/hard edged side of their sound and you have an extremely unique band that had the chops to go far. This was the case with this band and they are still going at it. I think that their formative albums are more than worth tracking down if you can do it. And be sure to do so before the morning dew is gone.

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Fantastic album.

Excellent product, exactly what I expended.

My favorite hard rock band of all time. This is their masterful debut album that never gets the recognition it deserves. I love 'Hair Of The Dog' and their harder-rocking stuff. But for me, none of their other albums can match the diversity and intrigue of this one. In short, it's a masterpiece. It has a little of everything - country, boogie rock, hard rock, beautiful ballads and orchestrated epics. Say what you will, but I enjoy this much more than 'Led Zep 1', 'Black Sabbath' and possibly even 'Deep Purple In Rock'.And 'Hair Of The Dog' fans, don't give me that "it's not a consistent album" mumbo jumbo because there are moments of musical brilliance on this album. Dan McCafferty's voice sounds NOTHING like it would in the future. He's so known for that gritty, raspy voice but he sounds like a completely different guy here.The hard rocker "Witchdoctor Woman" is a devastating opener, full of killer fuzz guitar and McCafferty's overwhelming vocal power (especially at the end). The solo part is awesome too, listen to the way the guitar scorches while the bass is thumping away like a mastodon. Obviously, they had been listening to what Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Uriah Heep did the previous year."Dear John" is pure piano boogie rock. Awesome song."Empty Arms, Empty Heart" has a phenomenal riff that should definitely be on any list of greatest guitar riffs. But few people know about this album so I guess that will never happen."I Had A Dream" is beautiful. Dan McCafferty can adapt his voice to practically any style of music, and this proves it. Listen to this song and you'll be thinking "this can't be the same guy who sang 'Hair Of The Dog' and 'Razamanaz'". But it is! What a lovely vocal melody and soothing harmonium."Red Light Lady" is interesting. Starts out simple enough as a kick-ass rock tune, then slows down and goes into a weird orchestral part. Unique, definitely.Speaking of unique, how about "Fat Man"? Killer riff with some weird, distorted vocals. Man, these guys just had a plethora of ideas. Chronicling a day in the life of an unpopular fat guy."Country Girl" is a marvelous country ballad with great slide guitar from Manny. Dan sings beautifully."Morning Dew" is THE masterpiece on this album, and in my book, one of the top 5 greatest songs the band ever did. Yeah, you can keep your radio tunes and hit singles, but this song is Nazareth's Mona Lisa. Definitely the best version of this song ever made, it even blows away the Jeff Beck Group's version. The intro is priceless, with a pounding bass line being driven into your brain, before some brilliant, spooky guitar effects come into play (love the way Manny uses echo here). And here's Dan adapting his voice once again, starting out peaceful and smooth before exploding into full-fledged rock 'n roll as the rest of the band explodes with him. Simply priceless."The King Is Dead" is a chilling tale of anarchy, complete with string accompaniment. This one can really haunt you to death, with Dan's whispery vocals and Manny's beautiful acoustic guitar.The b-side "Friends" is included here and it's a real treat. Yet another country-styled acoustic ballad that really is wonderful. This is about as far from 'Hair Of The Dog' as you can get! Anyway, it's a nice, relaxing little ditty about relaxation. Has funny lyrics too ("Roll yourself a joint, friend...Empty your head, friend"). Great stuff.The alternate versions of the original songs are pretty pointless, but they take nothing away from the musical mastery of this great, forgotten album.

Scotland's Nazareth burst onto the nascent hard rock scene in late 1971 with the release of their self-titled debut album. The record was definitely a precursor of things to come as it featured a variety of styles - some straying far from the hard rock palate established by such contemporaries as Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Nazareth would get heavier by mid-decade but then the all things to all listeners approach started to wear thin by 1976 and their muse seemed to have evolved much differently. However, album held much promise and is very enjoyable in many respects. "Witchdoctor Woman" is probably the one track that is most consistently early metal whereas "Morning Dew", "Empty Arms" and "Red Light Lady" change tempos and moods throughout so to call them straight hard rock would be highly inaccurate. Curiosities abound in songs such as "I Had a Dream", "Fat Man" and "Country Girl"; highly surprising for a band to be so diverse this early in the game. In all `Nazareth' will rewards constant listens and grow to be one of their most accomplished records though it made little noise upon its first release.

The version of Morning Dew that is on this album is MUCH different (and better) than the latter version on the best of album(s). The song is ahead of it's time in general and the vocals and lead guitar are just amazing. If you are a Nazareth fan, do an internet video search for "Morning Dew 1971" and you will see what I mean. This CD though sounds even better than that.The rest of the album is also very good for the most part. Red Light Lady is classic heavy metal, with a unique sound that is hard to describe. Fat Man is a good song as well, albeit a little strange.Weird that this is one of my favorite albums of all time, and it was made before I was even born.

This work of art from Nazareth creativity. Beautiful compositions force to come back to this album again and again. It is an example, when the first album of group, such successful!

Es handelt sich bei der Japan-Edition um das Original Nazareth-Album mit 9 Titeln plus 6 Bonustracks. Die Papersleeve-Hülle ist verkleinert exakt das ehemalige LP-Cover. Zusätzlich wird eine abnehmbare Einbandklappe mit japanischen Schriftzeichen geliefert. Alles andere ist in der original englischen Schrift gehalten. Auf dem inneren Schutzumschlag sind sämtliche Texte in englischer Sprache abgedruckt.Die in technisch sehr guter Qualität gepresste CD enthält 9 Songs aus der Zeit als sich Nazareth genau im Übergang zum Starruhm befanden. Hier sind sie noch wirklich unbefangen und kreativ. Sänger Dan McCafferty ist in Hochform und zeigt alle Facetten seines Könnens. Höhepunkt des Albums bleibt die mehr als 7-minütige Version von "Morning Dew". Hier passt wirklich alles. Ein toller Song, der alleine den Kauf des Albums lohnt. Zum Vergleich sind eine weitere Studio- und eine Singleversion des Titels als Bonustracks mit dabei. Außerdem eine Single-B-Side (Friends)in zwei Varianten sowie Alternativ-Versionen von "Witchdoctor Woman" und "Dear John".Das gesamte Album ist wie aus einem Guss und zeigt meiner Meinung nach Nazareth auf dem Höhepunkt ihres Schaffens, obwohl der kommerzielle Erfolg erst danach einsetzte.

Alle Stücke auf der CD sind Klasse.

Zweite CD (ging in Post verloren) kam leider nie an. Alles super!! Danke! x x x x x x x