Nazareth Album: “Nazology”

With a sound that was as appropriate for barroom brawls as it was for commercial radio, Nazareth was one of the more interesting and underrated rock bands to emerge in the `70s. As much as I enjoy Nazareth's sound, it didn't seem necessary to own all the band's many studio albums. That's where Snapper/Recall's 2002 collection Nazology comes in handy.

Nazology isn't perfect, but in the absence of a "Gold" or "Essentials" set from a major label, it's about as good a Nazareth anthology as you're likely to find. The 2-disc set covers a fairly wide period of the band's history, includes the band's bigger hits (though the version of "Hair of the Dog" included here is a live cut), and has some decent live tracks for good measure. The sound quality is decent, but a good remastering would have helped a lot.

If you're a classic rock fan, you need to have some Nazareth in your collection, and there's more to this band than just

. Nazology is a good way to get an overview of this underrated band's career.

I have always loved the pop music of the Seventies. I was born at the beginning of that inauspicious decade, and of course was exposed to much of it as a child, so I can hardly be blamed. But while everyone else lost interest and forged ahead into the 80s and beyond, I find I still enjoy it, probably more than any other decades' music--because it produced top shelf bands like Nazareth! And bands like Nazareth understood that rock 'n' roll was designed primarily to ENTERTAIN, to inject a little joy into people's lives and maybe get them to tap their feet a little. Rock music has been turned into an ongoing Pity Party of truly Global proportions, with aimlessly angry lyrics and no understanding of Hooks, much less the ability to write 'em. I fear the heyday can never be recaptured, so we are forced to turn to the past to get our fix. And if it's a fix YOU'RE looking for, Sailor, why I've got just the ticket!

I'm not sure how I missed these guys for so long. I knew 'Love Hurts', and while I never disliked the song it never stood out as particularly good, either. It was only recently that I realized they had a lot of great rock 'n' roll of the Righteous! variety to offer. I am not a musician myself, at least not in any proficient way, so I am unable to do more than guess which instrument or technique it is that gives 'em their 'sound', All I know is that it works!

If you consider yourself a rock fan you need this Collection. If you tune in to classic rock on your car radio you OWE it to yourself to check these guys out. I guarantee you will not be disappointed,

I'm a Naz fan.

I own all the LPs and CDs.

I don't own this compilation, but if I could only own one Naz album---this would be it!