Nazareth-Razamanaz (Castle) 1973Nazareth
Nazareth-Razamanaz (Castle) 1973
1. "Razamanaz" (3:53)
2. "Alcatraz" (4:23)
3. "Vigilante Man" (5:22)
4. "Woke up This Morning" (3:53)
5. "Night Woman" (3:29)
6. "Bad Bad Boy" (3:58)
7. "Sold My Soul" (4:49)
8. "Too Bad Too Sad" (2:56)
9. "Broken Down Angel" (3:45)
BONUS TRACKS
10. "Hard Living" (3:03)
11. "Spinning Top" (3:06)
12. "Woke up This Morning" (3:13)
13. "Witchdoctor Woman" (4:07)
Although 'Razamanaz' was the band's third album, it was the first album to step into the relatively new heavy metal territory. With bands like Uriah Heep, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple also taking their music into heavy metal, I guess it was only a natural step for Nazareth to do the same. The resulting album is one that scarred parents in the early 70's because of it's energy, drive and the fierce, shrill vocals of Dan McCafferty. The title track is one mean song, and one of the band's all time best. Other tracks like the primitive, tribal "Alcatraz" and the bluesy "Vigilante Man" also showcase the band at their finest. The entire album, however, is a fine example of the excellent heavy metal that was coming out of the 1970's. "Woke up This Morning" showcases the band's sense of humor as it is a song about a guy who has terminally bad luck. I mean his dog dies, his cat dies, his house burns down, shoot this could have been a country song if they had included a bit about the pickup truck breaking down. It's also interesting to note that Deep Purple's Roger Glover produced this album. I found this European import disc for a mere $5.
Nazareth-No Mean City (Castle) 1978
1. "Just to Get into It" (4:24)
2. "May the Sunshine" (4:55)
3. "Simple Solution, Pt. 1and 2" (4:59)
4. "Star" (4:55)
5. "Claim to Fame" (4:30)
6. "Whatever You Want Babe" (3:42)
7. "What's in It for Me" (4:20)
8. "No Mean City, Pts. 1& 2" (6:32)
BONUS TRACKS
9. "May the Sunshine" (3:31)
10. "Whatever You Want Babe" (2:59)
11. "Star" -US Version (4:55)
1978 and Nazareth were still rocking hard and heavy. For this album, Nazareth also took a clue from some other popular late 70's heavy metal bands and added a second guitar player to their lineup. With the addition of the second guitarist, Nazareth create a nice dual-guitar attack that would rival the great bands of that time, like Aerosmith and Thin Lizzy. One of my favorite tracks is "May the Sunshine," which starts as a Celtic acoustic song, but soon adds electric guitars and rumbling bass line to become a stomping folk metal tune in the style of Zeppelin or even the aforementioned Thin Lizzy. The whole album is, of course, brought together by the vicious vocal attack of Dan McCafferty. Dan had a very unique, gritty voice that few were using in metal in the 70's but would soon become a norm in the 80's. Anyhow, overall, one of the band's finest ranking up there with 'Hair of the Dog' and 'Razzamanaz.' Also, this is one of the coolest album covers to come out of the 70's. In just a few short years, coves like this would begin to be the standard for heavy metal.