Tuesday, December 29, 2015

CD Odyssey Disc 816: Nazareth

It is December 29 and I’ve already spent all my Christmas money on clothes and music. Yeehaw!

Since this isn’t a fashion blog I’ll stick to the music. I purchased some sea chanteys, a bunch of rap (Killer Mike, Edan), an old Okkervil River album, an even older Sleater-Kinney album and a relatively new Dwight Yoakam album.

However of all the albums the one I am most excited about is Courtney Barnett’s “Sometimes I Sit and Think and Sometimes I Just Sit” which is one of the best albums from 2015. Check her out.

Anyway, this next album is none of those (I prefer reviewing albums randomly, folks) but it is one I heartily recommend all the same.

Disc 816 is….Hair of the Dog
Artist: Nazareth

Year of Release: 1975

What’s up with the Cover? Nazareth usually has awesome album art and this is no exception. Three devil dogs growl and look menacing. At least one of them seems to be equipped with wings. I’m sure these dogs have an owner that tells everyone “O don’t worry, they are totally harmless.” To which I would only say, “dear God man – look at the bones!

How I Came To Know It: I’ve known Nazareth since I was a little kid. Their 1975 Greatest Hits album was the second record I ever bought. When I was in university I bought “Hair of the Dog” on cassette and now I have it on CD.

How It Stacks Up:  I have four Nazareth albums. “Hair of the Dog” comes in at number two overall. It is close to being number one, but couldn’t quite beat out…another album I’ll talk about when I roll it. That’s a teaser.

Ratings: 4 stars

After a painful encounter with Radiohead in my last review, “Hair of the Dog” was a welcome tonic. This is music that is direct and powerful and stirs something primal when you listen to it.

Scottish rockers Nazareth were heavy to begin with, but they are never heavier than on “Hair of the Dog.” This album churns the depths of guitar and blues rock like few others I’ve heard. “Miss Misery” pounds like a North Sea storm, turning the simplest of riffs into an anthem heralding the metal gods that would be born just a few years later.

Changing Times” is as thick and crunchy as anything Led Zeppelin was doing at the time. Lead singer Dan McCafferty doesn’t have the vocal chops of Robert Plant, but he knows how to use what he does have to full effect. McCafferty’s voice is smooth as 40 grit sandpaper and is what nails on a chalkboard would sound like if that sound was awesome. On “Hair of the Dog” the band is clearly ready to fully embrace being as heavy and gritty as they can and the decision works perfectly with their skill set.

With an undercurrent of blues, it is critical that the band be on point in terms of timing, and these guys nail it. You can’t fake perfect timing in blues music, and Nazareth has it, with just the right amount of dirty around the edges to keep it organic.

The title track has every tool rock and roll excess offered at the time: someone bangs a cowbell relentlessly, a guitar squawks through a synthesizer, and McCafferty sings “now you’re messin’ with a son of a bitch!” at the top of his lungs. This is the song for every small skinny guy who decided to go full crazy on his tormentors. It is full of a grimy desperate, dangerous energy. And if you’re a teenager, it is devilish good fun to sing along to because – swears!

When the album isn’t pounding you into sonic submission, it is exploring the band’s bluesy roots. “Guilty” is a slow moving ballad that captures the feeling of being down on your luck. “Please Don’t Judas Me” is a ten-minute monster that builds with the power and patience of a glacier; inexorable, ice-cold and undeniable.

The subject matter of the record is fitting for its gritty approach. These are songs about the angry, the down-and-out and the troubled. “Guilty” is about a man showing up on a woman’s doorstep drunk and stoned, knowing that’s exactly how she doesn’t want to see him. His only excuse is:

“That's how it is with me darlin'
You know I just can't stand myself
But it takes a whole lot of medicine darlin'
For me to pretend that I'm somebody else.”

Nazareth are equal opportunity purveyors of sin, however. “Miss Misery” and “Whiskey Drinkin’ Woman” are both songs where it’s the woman showing up drunk on the doorstep and “Beggar’s Day” takes heartbreak to such a dark place you’re sure it’ll cause some kind of riot or fire before it’s worked itself out.

Before “Beggar’s Day” ends it morphs into a beautiful guitar solo called “Rose in the Heather” as if the band wanted to remind me that they can still smooth it out and sound pretty if they want to. I’m not sure if “Rose in the Heather” is inspired by the fiddle jig of the same name, but it has the same timeless quality and easy grace.

This album is 40 minutes long and despite some long tracks never feels stretched out or bloated. This is a tight little album that is grimy and dirty and rough in all the right ways. If you like hard rock music, it is a must have for your collection.

Best tracks:  Hair of the Dog, Miss Misery, Guilty, Beggar’s Day/Rose in the Heather, Please Don’t Judas Me

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