Bands come and go every year. Some stay around for a considerable amount of time, some burn brightly and then die out just as quick as they came along, much like gnats in a bug-zapper. Some songs hit #1 overnight while other songs only a handful of people have ever heard. Yet none of it seems to have anything to do with TALENT. A new visitor to our planet might be inclined to believe that talent, record sales, and chart positions all go hand in hand, but if anything this wacky world is just the opposite. We live in a twisted universe where you can walk into any store and find albums by such artists (and I use the term with a soft chuckle in my throat) as the Spice Girls and a dozen other pre-fab "comedy acts" built solely around a look or an image, while the hard working people overflowing with talent are pushed to the rear of the store, and in the case of NAZARETH, out the back door itself.
NAZARETH has been around for nearly 30 years now, a significant accomplishment in itself when you consider the shelf life of most bands today. In that time, like every other band, they have had their musical highs and lows, their personnel changes, and even a few hit singles. But they have always stuck to their guns and done what they know best, Rock and Roll. Now 1999 has come along, and they have released yet another collection of scintillating wonders in an album simply titled "Boogaloo". "Boogaloo", 1999 CMC International records, marks the twentieth studio album of this fantastic band.
At the core of 1999's Nazareth are three musicians that have been with Naz since the beginning. Darrell Sweet on drums, Pete Agnew on bass, and a man with a voice that I personally consider legendary doing the vocal duties, the phenomenal Dan McCafferty. Dan's voice is unmatched in the world of rock and roll, adding a searing and scorching quality to hard rocking songs, and an eerie, almost unearthly quality to the numerous ballads the band has recorded. Also on the new album are keyboardist Ronnie Leahy and Guitarist Jimmy Murrison, two talented musicians I had the pleasure of hearing play on the "Move me" tour.
But after thirty years and twenty studio albums you might think that there would be nothing new to amaze the senses, that it had all been done before. Yet Nazareth sounds as fresh and sharp as they ever have. Then again, Nazareth has never been a band you could conveniently shove into a single category and forget about. Oh sure, at the very heart of it all they are just a hard working rock and roll band hammering out some of the meanest and snarliest music ever rammed through a woofer, but they have always peppered their music with unexpected twists, weaving in perfectly the flavor of blues, funk, and numerous other musical tastes from time to time. "Boogaloo" is no exception, and a perfect example of why Nazareth SHOULD be a household name.
The album kicks off with "Light Comes Down", a plodding and heavy number with a catchy guitar riff that finds Dan screeching out vocals like someone who gargles twice an hour with moonshine. Other songs are more varied, with a rapid and rocking piano added to the fast-paced "Cheerleader", that shows Nazareth finding a way to add keyboards that are subtle, yet integral to the sound of the song. In the early 80s the band experimented with keyboards in their sound with John Locke, who was with the band for a short time. Locke was a worthy musician, but his playing never fit the Nazareth sound as well as Leahy's does. Nazareth fills the power ballad slot on the album with the melodic and moving "May Heaven Keep You", and "Loverman" finds a hot and ballsy horn section added to the Naz sound like never before. "Talk Talk" is the upbeat "singalong" of the album, sounding like an upbeat folk song with a crunchy guitar setting the pace.
But the crown jewel of the collection has to be "God Save the South", a long bluesey number that seems to combine all of the newer sounding elements of Nazareth's music like keyboards and horns, as well as some of the most larynx-contorting singing ever to come out of Dan McCafferty. Sounding as hot and sweaty as a beer soaked bar rag on a humid Lousisana night, the song is easily the best on the album, and quite possibly one of the best Nazareth songs ever recorded. The blues has always been something that Nazareth has played with from time to time and this song is a genuine treat to anyone who has heard their other forays into the blues world.
Nazareth has always been a band that I am very proud of. I am always trying to turn new people on to their music, and it never takes more than a few songs to convince them that they are one of the most, if not THE most under-rated bands in the world. It's saddens me somewhat to know that here in the short-attention span culture of the 90s that their albums are so damn hard to locate sometimes. But if you can make it past the racks and bins of bands that will never be able to boast a five year career, let alone a thirty year one, and do a bit more digging to see what lies beneath the surface of today's music, you may uncover Nazareth. This is a band that never has to prove that they are good enough to anyone, because the right people already know all about them.
Robert "Torgo" Sedler
