Nazareth - Hair
Of The Dog
(Live In London)
Performance
Production
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Nazareth - Hair
Of The Dog
Performance
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Nazareth are a Scottish hard rock band who formed in 1968, and they continue to tour and put out new albums to this day. The band released their self-titled debut album in 1971, and after their second album, Exercises, they were tagged to support Deep Purple on their legendary Machine Head tour of '72. Purple's Roger Glover was impressed enough to want to produce the band's third album, Razamanaz, which spawned two top-ten UK hits, and laid the foundation for a very successful '70s run. It was 1975's Hair Of The Dog album that would give the band their first platinum selling album, and would secure them permanent status on most hard rock radio stations throughout the world. The cowbell-driven title track features one of the coolest guitar riffs this side of "Smoke On The Water," and their anthemic cover of The Everly Brothers' "Love Hurts" is easily one of the best rock power ballads of the '70s. On May 13th, 1985, the original Nazareth line-up of Dan McCafferty (vocals), Manny Charlton (guitar), Pete Agnew (bass), and Darrell Sweet (drums) performed a career-spanning, 13-song, set at London's Camden Palace Theatre, and it is now available on this new concert DVD from Cherry Red Records. The band had recently dropped the additional guitarist and keyboardist they had taken on for the past few albums and tours and were back to the lean and mean foursome they started as. Upon clicking the "Play Live In London" option on the DVD menu, you are immediately greeted by the band, already onstage, and already into the first few chords of the opening track, "Telegram." I hate it when a video starts this way. A few seconds of the band taking the stage and saying "Hello London," or something, would have made for a much smoother start, don't you think? Who knows, maybe they were missing the audio or video prior to that point. If you are not already familiar with the music of Nazareth, and you are using this DVD as an introduction, you may find yourself mumbling "what the fuck is that shit coming out of the singer's mouth," as he belts out the first number. Even I was startled at first - and I've been listening to these guys since 1975. Dan McCafferty can make fellow Scotsman Brian Johnson sound like Michael Jackson (may he rest in peace) at times. He possesses a set of the most strained and gravely sounding pipes in the business, but they are what give Nazareth their signature sound. Don't get me wrong, McCafferty can definitely sing his ass off, I am just amazed that his voice has held out this long. The most recent song that the band played was "This Month's Messiah", from 1984's "The Catch", and it was one of the best ones in the set. Most of the essential Nazareth tracks are also here, including "Razamanaz," "Hair Of The Dog," and "Love Hurts," but one of the most interesting performances of the night was the funky take on JJ Cale's "Cocaine." Pete Agnew hammers out some deft runs on acoustic bass, while Darrell Sweet accompanies him on congas and tambourine, and Manny Charlton seals the deal with some jazzy guitar riffs. The set list also includes a cover of the Yardbird's "Ain't Got You", but you only get all of 30 seconds before it gets cut off and the credits start to roll. Too bad, I hadn't heard that song since I used to rock out to it on Aerosmith's Live Bootleg album as a teenager. The overall production quality is not bad considering the age and quality of the source material. The picture is a little grainy and some of the colors are washed out, but it looks pretty fair overall. Dolby Digital Stereo is your only audio option, but it sounded decent through my AV amplifier when using Dolby Prologic II for simulated surround, or just plain old stereo. Other than a preview of some other Cherry Red DVD releases, there were no special features included. This same video had been previously released in 2002 under the title Razamanaz. Not sure if that version is now out of print, but this new Hair Of The Dog - Live In London version gives fans another chance to catch up on some '80s Nazareth. Hard core fans should enjoy this one, but it is not likely to win over any new converts for the band. Reviewed by Paul M. Roy - June 2009 |
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Running Time: 54 Minutes |
DVD Release Date - March 2009 |