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84. 'Hair Of The Dog' - Nazareth (1975)
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Nazareth's iconic 1975 album ‘Hair Of The Dog’ cemented their legacy in the Rock annals. The album became a commercial breakthrough, propelled by the timeless hits singles ‘Hair of the Dog’ and ‘Love Hurts’. The album's impact on hard rock and heavy metal, influenced bands like Guns N' Roses and Twisted Sister as well as popularising the power ballad. The album’s no-nonsense production and gritty, raw energy secured its place as one of the 70s best Rock albums.
Episode Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2xbB7syo5t9xw1bPXi5hmW?si=6e9c466e29234538
#Nazareth #HairOfTheDog #Rock
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Transcript
Introduction to 'Hair of the Dog' and its Influence on Rock
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello and welcome back to the Long Live Rock and Roll Podcast. Nazareth's iconic 1975 album Hair of the Dog cemented their legacy in the rock annals. The album became a commercial breakthrough, propelled by the timeless hit singles Hair of the Dog and Love Hurts. The album's impact on hard rock and heavy metal influenced bands like Guns N' Roses and Twisted Sister, as well as popularising The Power Ballad.
00:00:26
Speaker
The album's no-nonsense production and gritty raw energy secured its place as one of the 70s best rock albums.
Felipe's Enthusiasm for the Album
00:00:33
Speaker
Joining me to discuss this album is my co-host, Mr Felipe Amorim. How are you doing, man? I'm doing great, man, and you? Good, yeah, very well. Thank you very
Initial Thoughts and Growing Appreciation
00:00:40
Speaker
well. um I just want to crack on straight away with this album because you chose it and I've really enjoyed it. I really enjoyed it. I'll tell you my quick initial thoughts first. I listened to it once.
00:00:54
Speaker
And I was kind of like, okay, this is good. It's is sort of your middle of the road 70s rock, kind of not not quite as good as Deep Purple, not quite as good as Led Zeppelin. And then after I listened to it again, I was like, oh, that that song's got the cool little bit in there. Oh, that song's got a really cool set. And as I went on and on, I must have listened to it six times over the last few days. And every time I listened to it,
00:01:13
Speaker
something else stood out and you're like, oh, hold on, like I get it now. So yeah, man, really, really enjoyed it. um so So I mean, just crack on. Let's actually do not I'll do the album
Album Background and Genre Influence
00:01:23
Speaker
info first. yeah The name obviously is Hair of the Dog by the band Nazareth, who are from Scotland, um released third of April 1975, recorded at the Escape Studios in Kent and finished off at the AIR Studios in London. The genre, we'll talk about this, could be considered hard rock, heavy metal or blues rock.
00:01:43
Speaker
It's 40 minutes long, released on the Mooncrest label, and was produced by Nazareth's guitarist Manny Charlton. So, let's get going. Felipe, I wanna know why you chose this album, man.
Felipe's Personal Connection to Nazareth
00:01:54
Speaker
Well, um so Nazareth is a big part of my childhood, really. Oh, really? OK. Yeah. So my my dad is a big fan, a huge fan. So it's probably his favorite band. So ah so when I got into music, he started introducing me to the bands he loved. so He gave me a Creedence CD and gave me a Pink Floyd CD. And I think one of the first ones was Nazareth. um i think it was the greatest hits kind of stuff and then I got into Raza Manaz which is one of my favorite albums, probably their best album in my my opinion.
Nazareth's Role in 70s British Rock
00:02:29
Speaker
okay um So I really like that one but I grew up listening to their songs and it sometimes would be kind of a random thing to pick one song from an album and it went the whole
00:02:40
Speaker
internet thing started, you would go online and download a song or whatever that kind of thing. The internet thing. The internet thing, you know. Sorry about that, please carry on. I'm so no technological, you know, naps there and all that stuff, you know, the beauty of that, for sure. So you would download the songs you liked and stuff like that. So I think I never associate the songs to specific albums. So I just said, we need to talk about Nazareth at some point today. So like essential to the 70s you know British rock in the 70s we need to talk about them and why not doing the best selling album yeah and I think in the end of this so so the random choice for me was like I kind of like everything they've done so let's go for the best selling album and when I listen to it say wait a minute this is not only an album that is good for the masses it's an album there is is it's if you're a true Nazareth fan or if you're proper rock fan and just enjoy rock music. like This album is great and it's and it's got, you know, all the elements of 70s rock in it, I believe. As well as pushing the boundaries for what was to come in terms of heavy metal, hard rock, you know, stuff like that.
Innovative Production Elements
00:03:51
Speaker
Exactly. I've actually had two encounters with this album before, not not the album, but songs on this album. Encounter One was we did a covers versus original episode and we did Love Hurts. But the first time, the first encounter with this album was my dad,
00:04:05
Speaker
hads It's funny, Nazareth are very much a dad rock band, aren't they? My dad had the best of Nazareth and the one he always used to play me, and ironically it's not on the album as we're doing it, is My White Bicycle, which is just an amazing song. And I remember hearing, you know, my dad would play me things like um I don't know, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, and it kind of sound normal. And then when White Bicycle starts, he's like, racing out in the street. you know And then you have like, a hold on, what's this? I didn't know you could. I know he probably wasn't doing it to be funny, but it sounded funny to a kid like me. and I think that song was intentional. Was it intentional to me? It was I was a kid. I can't put an age on maybe seven or eight years old. and I was thinking, hold on.
00:04:51
Speaker
I didn't know you could make music funny. I didn't know that it was okay to try and make it funny, because obviously all I heard was on the radio. yeah And obviously, you know, in terms of humor and music, my God. from there just went on Frank Zappa, Weird Al Yankovic, you know, so you know, yeah, have plenty of room to for humor in music. um But yeah, I mean, you know, this your is your album choice bro, so lead the discussion and take us on.
Raw Rock and Polished Production
00:05:14
Speaker
Yeah, let's start talking about how um the production actually makes this album um particularly different from from the previous ones. ah Because basically, um'm
00:05:24
Speaker
they had a couple of albums at the beginning which in my opinion includes a little bit of prog rock and even maybe some folk some some some different kind of ah genres in it yeah i read that the first two albums were sort of more folky a bit soft rocky yeah yeah there's a lot of acoustic stuff there's a lot of uh folk and and i would even dare to say a little bit of prog although all the songs are not really long and that kind of stuff and then they had three consecutive albums produced by roger glover from the purple yes yeah so which actually helped to to create the Nazareth sound that we know nowadays. But then I guess after those albums, they said, wait a minute, now we found our sound, let's let's um you know take over and be in charge of this. And their guitar player was the one in charge of producing this one. So I think the ah the the different stuff in his album is the um
00:06:17
Speaker
Well, the extra backing vocals and there's even tabla on the song, Please Don't Judas Me, which is at the end of the album. yeah And I think it's played, i but as far as I could research, it it was played by Simon Phillips, one of the best rock drummers of all time. That's what says that's what it says on on the internet. so internet again. yeah i've been wrong you know ah but So yeah, so there's a bit of tabla, which is Indian percussion.
Soulful Influences and Unique Covers
00:06:45
Speaker
There is a um a lot of slide guitar, there's a talk box, so they're kind of playing around with effects and and using all the resources at the time. and And they have at least one long, really long song, which is that the same but one I just mentioned, please don't do it as me.
00:07:02
Speaker
And ah a Whiskey Drinking Woman is a song with a lot of blues elements. So that relates to the first, to the early Nazareth stuff. So there's a good mix of what they used to be and what they were about to become. And again, we always like picking albums that kind of um take the band to another level, isn't it? This has become a ah ah commercial success for for for those reasons, I guess. Yeah, I mean,
00:07:31
Speaker
the production stood out because it just sounded so raw and energetic. Like I said in the opening, in the little thing I say at the start, and it just felt like a rock band performing a rock album. But when you mix those raw production methods with stuff that sounds like it's overproduced, i.e. the talk box guitar, do you know what I mean by that? I mean, the talk box guitar is obviously not a guitar in a room just being strummed with nothing done to it. It's an effect, it's a pedal. So when you have that contradiction of raw and unpolished music sounds like the rock and roll band with polished stuff like the ah the occasional keyboard the vocals are produced really well and then that talkbox guitar it creates this little oxymoronic thing where you're like hold on this sounds quite polished in elements but overall it still sounds really rock and roll and i think it has a very um i don't know do you know what i might choose the word progressive
00:08:27
Speaker
It has a bit of a progressive feel because of that, because you're listening and they're thinking, this is a rock and roll album, but then hold on, why is this, if this effect sounds very futuristic and you're just kind of like, it it doesn't sound, it doesn't sound normal, but it sounds right. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So it's, it's just, it's unusual, but not too much. So they kind of like, ah they, they push on the boundaries to, I think, to a level that doesn't make them sound too weird in a certain way. So if you're working on that rock, like straightforward rock vibe, it's somehow there for the whole album. Although you have those extra elements, you know, like like some female BVs in a couple of tracks that sound amazing. They were incredible. Well, they won the end of Guilty, I think. Yes, end of Guilty. And please don't do this to me as well.
Playlist Discussion and Artist Influences
00:09:20
Speaker
Guilty is an... Okay, so talking about that like that song,
00:09:24
Speaker
It stands out, listen ah and in terms of um the style, because the other day was listening to I was learning a song for a gig, it's called Fool's Paradise ah by Sam Cooke. You can put that on the on the playlist, right? I'll wait a little pause to tell everyone about the playlist. yeah for For new listeners and new viewers, if you go down to the description in the show notes, you're going to see an episode playlist link. And what this does is it will take you to a Spotify playlist where we've put all the songs from the album we're talking about,
00:09:53
Speaker
a hair of the dog and then any other that we mention or that we think are relevant to the episode so if we mention a song and oh this part you know the guitar solo you can pause us go and play the song have a listen and then you know what we're talking about please carry on man yeah so so i was listening to that song which is so valid it was recorded by a lot of different people but some groups version come to to to my mind have a listen if yeah i know i know you listen to stuff whereas we're speaking isn't it last so if you can find that one sound cook yeah and kind so Yeah, Full Paradise. So that's the song. um And that's sort of a so ballad, right? It's something that you wouldn't expect to find in a rock album like that. there's this There's a certain kind of rock ballad that people do, and that's not what they went for, isn't it?
00:10:42
Speaker
Can you relate those two songs? Can you think about that song?
Creative Interpretations of Cover Songs
00:10:45
Speaker
The Fool's Paradise. yeah Yes, I hear completely what you mean. it has a so It's like soul music. I think Gutee has that soul music vibe whoa and it's in a rock album. I'm sure you're aware but it's a cover of a Randy Newman song and a rand Randy Newman, okay most most notably known for his um ah for his work on the Toy Story movie. And I don't think that's, maybe that's not fair to say most well-known, but I think a lot of people would know him from that. um He's kind of like a singer-songwriter, country artist. So we again, we put the original version guilty in the playlist, so check that out. But I don't want the original to be fair. so I listened to them all today. because This is what I wanted to say next. I've got a note here that I copy and pasted three times. Such an unusual choice of song to cover, but they've made it work.
00:11:34
Speaker
Guilty beggars day and love hurts. yeah I would not expect to rock that. Think about Led Zeppelin who have when they do their covers and there's a couple of covers on each album they're taken straight from their blues influences and Led Zeppelin the hard rocket appear add some guitar make a stick a solo section in there whatever you hear the progression I'm just surprised that the that the songs they've chosen to cover, they're not wrong, they don't sound out of place. It's just unusual when you hear them. Yeah, so because because they would pick something that's like so early pop stuff, like Love Hurts, if you listen to like ah Roy Orbison's version of it, if you listen to, I think Emmylou Harris recorded it.
00:12:14
Speaker
and those artists, they have that kind of ah pop appeal. If you're listening to their versions of it, it's like, yeah, that's proper radio music. And you would imagine a hard rock band doing probably the heaviest album to date. At that moment in time, they were doing the heaviest ah you know piece of work and they choose Love Hurts to finish the album that is because like you you have some bonus tracks and other versions of it but essentially it's eight songs and that's the last one you would finish would you finish a rock album with the ballad that is you know uh it's just like not the usual choice again they have a style they have a way of playing things that makes everything make sense together i think that's that's that's the beauty of it well this is what i'm saying so just one thing about beauty so
00:13:08
Speaker
Although it's just kind of so ballad, as I said, it's about addictions, about, he would mention, it's like, that's I think one of the first lines there is like, I got some whiskey from a bottle, got some cocaine from a friend.
Favorite Songs and Progressive Structures
00:13:20
Speaker
And I had to keep on moving the Arlen Tewel's back in your arms again. So it's not your typical love song. Yeah. But I mean, you know, although it's a cover, they've chosen it carefully. You're not just going to pick a random song to cover on an album, it has to mean something. and It has to fit the whole feel of the album.
00:13:37
Speaker
And this is what they've done with all of them. I mean, we've really spoke about guilty and love hurts. I mean, beggars day, I listened to the crazy horse cover ah the original um by Crazy Horse and it's it's much slower and it's straighter as in it's a straight on the beat. They've shuffled it or they swung it and they've given it so much energy. it's i'm just I'm just confused in a really good way.
00:14:01
Speaker
but why they've decided to do what they've done with the originals. Do you know what I mean? I can't offer a higher compliment. I feel like what I said about the album at the start shows how much I enjoyed it. But on Saturday here, I feel like this is good because sometimes our episodes are quite organized. I like that this one already feels a bit chaotic. We're going from song to song, but I feel it fits this episode and this album because there's only eight songs. It's chaotic in a way. Yeah. So with that in mind, I want to continue my thought onto another song.
00:14:29
Speaker
when I said I'm confused, please don't Judas me. Probably my favorite song on the album. Yeah. My favorite too. But it doesn't the but doesn't really change, does it bro? It's almost 10 minutes of the same kind of chord progression, the same feel. They do fantastic things like, um, I've got my notes. Uh, so six minutes in the drums go double time on, on a chorus or something. And I'm just sat there on my sick listen through of this album thinking,
00:14:57
Speaker
I've listened to Please Don't Judas Me six times. so ah So in the last two days, I've listened to one hour's worth of Please Don't Judas Me, and I want more. And I want more, and I'm not bored. And i every time I listen, I hear something different, which is what I said about the whole album. well They just have, sorry, I'll just say quick, just finish off, they have this fantastic way of adding textures and bringing little tiny little details in that change a section from one minute to another. And then it drops out and you're like, oh my God, like I've missed that guitar part now. Where did that come from? It's just brilliant. um Especially please don't do this to me. So yeah, please go on with that. You know, that one, there's something there's something about it for me is, which I just realized thinking of it now is normally you have like a bass and drums sort of beat that, you know,
00:15:48
Speaker
that keeps going for the whole song and then you can add stuff on top of it. And the vocal line is what changes with please don't do this me is almost the opposite. It's like you have like this mantra being repeated by the singer and that's the ah the the the the one thing that doesn't change and everything around it changes for nine minutes and it's insane.
00:16:12
Speaker
ah but but then but But the vocals do change as well because they get the gospel singers in and it's like, my God. Like the melody line. Yeah, yeah like I get you. so i get them I'm just saying that even the even the the bass of the song, B-A-S-E, it stays the same overall, but they still just find a way to tweak it by adding some harmonies in that you're like, oh my God, it's just brilliant. It feels like a bit of an epic. It feels like a Bohemian Rhapsody.
00:16:42
Speaker
And although the song doesn't change or isn't quirky or unique enough, if you get what I mean to be in the same category as Bohemia Rhapsody... well can i can Can I quote a spinal tap again? It's yeah not it's not an anthem, but it's anthemic. OK, yeah, all right, that's fine. Yeah, I'll take that. Yeah, I like that one. um But yeah, I mean, that is just fantastic, that
Distinctive Guitar Sounds
00:17:04
Speaker
song. The guitar sound on Please Don't Do Just Me, really cool, kind of progressive. and I mean, let's talk about that guitar sound as we mentioned as well. That's a really important feature. I mean, um the first track, Hair of the Dog. ah Now, which one is the one it's mainly in? I think that's right, isn't it? Well, he uses it pretty much throughout most of the album, doesn't he? Most songs have a little element of this talk box guitar going on there.
00:17:28
Speaker
And it's just great. And it's light guitar as well. and Yeah, I mean, it's light guitar used in an aggressive way for the heavens and also in a lighter way. so So the one that stood out for me was Rose in the Heather, which is the second. I mean, that's just stunning, man. What a stunning piece of music, Rose in the Heather. i'm I'm almost I'm almost a little upset at them that they made. I mean, as you can see on my thing,
00:17:51
Speaker
they've called it 5B. On Spotify it's called Beggar's Day slash Rose and the Heather. Give it its own song man, make it track number six because it's beautiful enough to be its own song, don't you think? it was It was kind of intended to be a coder to Beggar's Day. right yeah I think but that's the way I think that's the way it flows nicely. it yeah But it's such a different piece of music. as It's acoustic, it's slow, and Beggar's Day is a shuffle beat and that one is more straight and it' yeah it's um there's a ah melodic guitar on top of it and it's well yeah it's super cool. It's just the synth sounding guitar on it. I thought it was a synth when the first one when the guitar comes in at the first time. I thought it was a synth.
00:18:32
Speaker
yeah and you find out it's a guitar because you hear you can hear him slide up to a note and bend the note and then after that the keys come in and you're like wait I i thought they were there at the start but it was a guitar and now you're telling me there's keys to listen to just brilliant man it's an album clearly produced by a guitar player yeah that's a great point yeah well in a good way yeah absolutely absolutely Oh, wow. It's almost like the guitar, that the focus of the guitar arrangement is more textures than solos, this right? are great. We kind of said this about you too as well, didn't we?
00:19:08
Speaker
And that was a quality that The Edge has, is that he go he uses the guitar more as a rhythmic bass, B-A-S-E, as opposed to a lead
Dan McCafferty's Vocal Style
00:19:18
Speaker
instrument. and I love how you always have to spell the word. otherwise just I'm a bass player, so I feel like people might think that I'm actually talking about a bass. I just try not to say bass too much in an episode. um What was I saying? um yeah so although Although there's lots of lead guitar in this, I don't feel the guitar ever oversteps the mark.
00:19:38
Speaker
and becomes wanky, as we like to say, in place of it being suitable. Yeah, it's quite ah balanced, isn't it? You know, for solos, but not too many, and and and and you have all the effects that make the songs sound ah unique. and know So each song has got their own sound because but because of the guitar effects, mostly. And the one thing that is um Well, not only drums and bass are solid throughout the album, but the vocals, I think, i think are we're talking about one of my favorite singers. Yeah, because he his voice is unmatched by any other singer. Because you've you've got like some, it's it's kind of a shame that you have um Dan McCarthy competing with ah
00:20:32
Speaker
all they they did ah the ah you know iconic singers of the 70s and because you have Dio, you have Ozzy, you have um ah Fred Mercury, you have like all those guys. And it's like, how could he stand up? But in my opinion, he's as good as all of those guys. Well, I mean, it's hard to disagree. I heard, well, on my first listen, I heard through it and two names
Sonic Dynamics and Musical Contrast
00:20:56
Speaker
stood out. So I'm not trying to say, oh, Dan McCaffrey sounds like these two, because maybe he came before, but because I don't know Dan McCaffrey compared to these two, that's my frame of reference. So Dan McCaffrey sounded to me, Rob Halford from Judas Priest mixed with John Fogarty from Creedence. Yeah, yeah. That's the kind of tone I got. But then in his own way, when he sings those ultra high notes, he has his own distinctive sound there.
00:21:23
Speaker
it Yeah, it does. and Yeah. Yeah. It's a voice that you recognize straight away. So you hear his voice. saw this yeah yeah and And what it does really what I found the voice the vocals do really well is it adds a contrast to the music because you've got I'm going off of my um interpretation of it sounds quite a lot like Rob Halford. So when I think about Rob Halford's voice on Judas Priest, his screams are so shrill and they're so high pitched and they're so intense that when you hear that metal behind it that Judas Priest is famous for, you're like, right, okay, intense music with intense vocals. But with this, Dan McCaffrey's vocals are
00:22:01
Speaker
as intense as Rob Halfords, but the music is much softer rock, it's much bluesier. And so again, you've got another little oxme oxymoronic contrast there, yeah where you're hearing this intense vocals and I feel like the music should be heavier underneath it. It's not a problem that it's not, but in terms of what I'm used to or what I'm expecting. And when you don't get that, it's not a problem at all, but it's another pleasant surprise on the album, something you don't really expect to hear.
00:22:27
Speaker
Yeah exactly like and and yeah exactly and it's just like whatever they do if they're playing ah something soft or loud or aggressive or funny or his voice always brings character to the song.
00:22:42
Speaker
it It makes it and not it makes it and makes a Nazareth song. yeah yeah Maybe that's why they could ah do all the experiments and all because they would still sound like themselves. You can pick some random covers to put in the album and it still sounds like Nazareth because because of that one amazing recognisable vocals. It's a great shout and a very important point. You know, we know throughout history how many bands are recognised because of the vocals and you know Dan McCaffrey stands out here.
00:23:12
Speaker
um yeah When do you want to go next? well there does' one i So I want to talk about the the the um the contrast between the singles,
Aggressive Tone vs. Power Ballad
00:23:20
Speaker
right? We we talked about a kind of Herds, ye which is which is again an unusual way to end an album, which is certainly as ah is ah as a ballad. Now, the song Hair of the Dog was covered by Guns N' Roses in an album Spaghetti Incident. So so that's one of ah it's one of the bands they influenced.
00:23:37
Speaker
ah but the the interesting thing about that song is like they came up with a song they named i think they wanted to name the album son of a bitch yeah on the labels like no fucking way you're gonna release an album with that title in 1975 okay let's let's let's find a compromise here we gotta do we gotta call it hair of the dog and they say okay that's good enough and um and and the lyrics are about this woman who's manipulative and dishonest and uh and
00:24:08
Speaker
she finds her match. There's a man who says, you know what, now you're messing with the son of a bitch. So I can be as bad as you. Yeah. And it's a cool it's a cool story. It's not a love story. You know, it's not it's not one of those. Yeah. And it's you know, it's it's not too dark as well. That's what it does have an aggressive overtone to it. Yeah. For the 70s. You know, I think if you think about, you know, Led Zeppelin, we're obviously singing about into let's call it intense lovemaking in terms of some songs where they go a bit aggressive lyrically.
00:24:38
Speaker
romantically does that make sense or sexually whereas this is just like I'm i'm a son of a bitch like who do you think you're talking to so I actually had a bit of ah a bit of a ah punch towards it and you know for the time it was quite unusual and but the song has gone on to be so famous isn't it? It is a this is is is a hell of a song that's really famous but the problem with that song I think ah probably at the time, well, I read that loads of radios refused to play it because because of the chorus. yeah So they didn't want to play. So obviously they they they found some backlash back in the day. ah we we We joke about this, we think that cancel culture is a thing that only happens now. So some of the radios canceled them because they didn't want to have the word bitch at the played in the radio. um So
00:25:25
Speaker
I think it could have been even a bigger, well it couldn't actually, it couldn't be bigger if it didn't have any any swearing in it because that's the swearing, yeah the swearing is what a song is. and Exactly, um yeah so the other just to talk about the popularity of the song it featured several movies and TV shows so for example Days of Confused, The Fighter, The Expendables were the movies it was in it was also in supernatural and that 70s show which are the tv series so it is one of those iconic rock anthems you know that that anyone who knows their classic rock will know about yeah and uh and it has a drum intro super cool with a cowbell
00:26:06
Speaker
it reminded of It reminded me of Grand Funk Railroad. Yeah, we are an American band. It's a very similar intro with a very similar tempo. I don't know withre similar production as well yeah which one was recorded first. I don't i don't remember which one was released first. Let me just have a look.
00:26:22
Speaker
um So. 73 so American Grand Front Railroad were two years before yeah and then you have uh is it Twisted Sister that has a song with that uh we're not gonna take it is that the song with the same sort of intro i'm getting old my memory fails me sometimes let me just have a look Yeah, you're right. it's It's a lot faster, but it's it is the yeah it's the same. as it But it's like drums and cowbell. on The Twisted Sister have openly come out and said they were influenced by Nazareth. So there you go, literally. Yeah, exactly. Well, and that's what you do. You recycle those ideas and put different ideas to them. That's a version of sampling, isn't it?
00:27:04
Speaker
Yeah, good point.
Impact on Heavy Metal Evolution
00:27:06
Speaker
Yeah. So I think it's a good, it's a good idea to listen to those three songs in a row. Yeah. They're all in the band, hair of the dog and you're not going to take it. There you go. And they're all in the playlist for anyone listening. So, um, yeah, the hair of the dog. Did you want to move on to love hurts? Uh, yeah. Well, love hurts. I think we pretty much, pretty much said everything it has to be said. A few notes. I just wanted to say, um, what did I say? Well, I mean, right.
00:27:28
Speaker
the Love Hurts is very important because it helped popularize the the power ballad going into the 80s, especially among glam metal bands, arena rock bands, when you think of bands like Aerosmith, you know, um Scorpions, stuff like that, who are famous for having their power ballads. They are the best ones when it comes true to, I think actually Nazareth and Scorpions are the best ones when it comes to power ballads. Yeah, but but Love Hurts played a massive part in popularizing but we now look as the power ballad and again that's that's something innovative and pioneering that Nazareth are responsible for for this album. Yeah a lot of hurts when I first listened to it had had such a huge impact on me it was like wow this is this is like this is heavy in a good way it's just like it's like the the the the beginning of the album makes you want to jump and shout and the ending of the album once makes you want to cry they just play with your feelings for like 40 minutes yeah
00:28:27
Speaker
It's a's a great point. That's a great point. Cool. Yeah. Right. Um, you know what I've prepared for today, uh, by request, but a monologue. Oh, are we done?
00:28:39
Speaker
well i just went one night i yeah i thought i know we got know when i'm just saying i have a okay perfect you say what everyone to say and now finished lovely I just want to say a few little bits first. um The main thing I want to talk about viewers and listeners who know our show know that I am a metalhead.
00:28:59
Speaker
And so I was really interested when I first heard this and I saw these associations with her heavy metal being this this being a little proto heavy metal album, which actually doesn't make sense because heavy metal started in 1970. So you can't have a pre heavy metal album five years after it began. But what we do here here is the first examples of when heavy metal moved on from Black Sabbath because Sabbath ruled the heavy metal landscape between 70 and 75. Deep Purple were doing bits, Uriah Heap were all... that there they were still much very much hard rock bands that were pushing into metal whereas Sabbath were just out and out metal.
00:29:38
Speaker
I know you like to call them a hard rock band, but I mean, in hindsight, looking back at what they did... Oh, the lyrical themes in the dark. Yeah, whatever, whatever. No, that's what I'm saying, I'm actually on your side here, because of the lyrics, they are yeah on the heavy a metal side. So when, after Sabotage in 1975, Sabbath started putting keyboards in their metal, in their music, and which that that was like, oh, the heavy metal's changing a bit here.
00:30:00
Speaker
Then we got bands like Rainbow, Thin Lizzy, or Judas Priest to an extent, ah who were beginning to incorporate other things like ah like um extended songs, progressive aspects, keyboards, Thin Lizzy, especially the dual lead guitars. And you hear it here as well, man. um What song was that? Change in times. Halfway through, you get these dual lead guitars.
00:30:28
Speaker
and it's still in the talk box but you can hear there's two of them harmonizing each other that's a great example there
Setting the Stage for 80s Metal
00:30:34
Speaker
um most riffs i mean the outro riff to change in times as well just run du du du du du tu du proper heavy and they have the singer like changing some some of the songs go double tempo at the end yeah and it's brilliant vibe because its when you start into to get used to what the song is it becomes something else yeah exactly uh miss misery as well such a sludgy heavy riff Oh, that one, yeah, one reminds me a lot of ah Black Sabbath. Yeah, although absolutely. Before that, so they've done it before is what like a Heaven and Hell about by Black Sabbath. Yeah, exactly. And, um you know, it's is it's not close enough to call this a do metal riff for any metalheads listening. But this is this might be one of the early examples you get of a slow, sludgy, heavy riff that really feels like it packs a punch.
00:31:22
Speaker
yeah um and also uh well please don't use me it's not there's not any example of oh that's a cool metal riff i just mean the extensive length of the song where tiny aspects change really goes hand in hand with things like Stargazer by Rainbow, the long so longer songs by Thin Lizzy, where they were experimenting with different sections. So I just wanted to say that because, like I said to you, when i first on my first listen, I was like, this is just generic rock. After five, six, seven listens, I'm there like, right now I can see what part this played in moving heavy metal along to the 80s, where we started to see heavy metal blossom.
00:32:05
Speaker
yeah My god, I mean, so this album has it all. Yeah, it's like, and again, and again, I couldn't think of a more diverse choice of singles for an album. Hair of the Dog and Love Hurts, just the title, set say it all. I don't get... No, go on, please. but ah The same way that Hair of the Dog is a template for for for hard rock and heavy rock.
00:32:28
Speaker
love hurts is a template for uh power ballads so the same band and the same album has set the standards of what a ballad should be like and what a hard rock song should be like yeah that's perfect you've nailed that one thing i just want to say before we wrap it up is that this album really reminded me of machine head by deep purple just because nothing not in any way of all that riff sounds like this it was just how each song you could almost categorize it as a different genre Yeah. You know how in Machine Head you've got like the second song's really funky. that thereda ah that that there Like got songs here where some they're playing on some little funk aspects, others are really heavy rock, some are bluesy, but yet it all sounds cohesive and together.
Genre Diversity and Comparison to Deep Purple
00:33:14
Speaker
Yeah. One album, really enjoyed it. I don't know how much of this was intentional. It's just like and that is like a happiness. Yeah, I almost wish it wasn't intentional. I wish that they just had all these ideas. Yeah. Yeah, excellent. and
00:33:25
Speaker
um yeah I've just got a few sentences of my thoughts before because I want you to finish with the monologue. So um my thoughts on this album, a fantastically unusual rock album. They do the basics so well. And this is what I think touched me most. They do the riffs, the hard rock vocals, the solos, the bluesy feel. But then what they do is they throw in sprinkles of unorthodoxness, the gospel choir. What's that? Oh, God, R I T H, the song name.
00:33:54
Speaker
Oh dear, Rose in the Heather, Rose in the Heather instrumental, the cover of a country singer, the cover of a Doo Wop, Everly Brothers song. um This is what makes the album stand out for me. Almost every song has something completely unique hidden somewhere in it, which is a pleasant surprise for every new time you listen to it. This is so much more than your generic run of the mill 1970s rock album and it's easy to see why it is held in such high renown.
00:34:19
Speaker
So bro, a massive thanks for choosing this one because this is one that I have come out going, I really enjoyed this. I knew you would like this one. It's brilliant. I think because because it relates to so many bands that you like. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And we've made this comparison with loads of bands from the same era of rock and roll. So that's and I think it's inevitable to do that because it's like they are not as popular as some of those guys, but they deserved to be my opinion.
00:34:49
Speaker
It's a shame when I hear this album, I kind of think, oh, how did they not get up there in the upper echelons of Zeppelin, Deep Purple, you know? It did sell well. There's one, two million copies worldwide, which is pretty good. Like about one million in America. Well, it was a big success in the US. And that was actually helped, as you mentioned, by the singles, because I think, you know, imagine you've got two so different singles. Yeah. the audiences are going to maybe like one but not like the other and the and vice versa. But they're both going to go out and buy the album in case there's any more songs like these on there. And there is, Guilty's a bit like Love Hurts, and then yeah there are half of the album's a bit like Hair of the Dog. So there's something for everyone, man. It's awesome.
00:35:28
Speaker
There is something for everyone. Well said. And it's just the right length as well. I'm not a big fan of the extended versions where people where the label just adds a lot of light live at BBC, whatever. Super cool. But in the end of the day, I like to listen to an album with how they intended it was actually. Yeah, that's how the band intended. Just before we finish, what were your thoughts on the other three songs?
00:35:49
Speaker
So I know we've touched on My White Bicycle, but Holy Roller and Real Red Bull. Those songs were in, in they they are from other albums, aren't they? i think I don't know. that Yeah. they Okay. So they're not from this period. Yeah. So it's I don't know. I don't know why. That's fine. put that Yeah, but they're great songs as well. Cool. Excellent. All right. Do you want to finish us off with your monologue? Yes, I do have a few words to say about it. So ae here it comes.
Nazareth's Influence and Musical Balance
00:36:13
Speaker
that's ah it's It's a rare situation where I do the monologue at the end. Bear with me, I'm not used to this. Here we go. British Rock has conquered the world in the 60s and he has consolidated its reputation during the 70s. Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, de who The Who, Queen and many others
00:36:34
Speaker
ah gave us the most epic songs and iconic riffs ever created and turned rock music into a culture that remained strong throughout the years. Considering this context, it's easy to overlook and forget some of the greatest greatest bands that helped shaping heavy rock into what it is today.
00:36:54
Speaker
On top of that list, in my opinion, is Nazareth, all the way from Scotland with their raw rock sound and one of the most amazing singers of their generation. After after five solid albums, Nazareth took their hard rock to another level, sounding heavier, darker and more aggressive than ever, but also capable of delivering emotional ballads with with more power than any other band. Who else could open an album shouting son of a bitch and end with love hurts?
00:37:23
Speaker
without ever dropping the ball. Eight tracks with great musicianship, creativity and clever production. Backing vocals, keyboards, and percussion never get in the way of guitar drums and bass, so even with sophisticated arrangements, the album still delivers what true rock fans would expect from a 70s band. Hair of the Dog is the best-selling album by one of the most prolific and yet underrated bands of the 70s. It's got everything a classic album needs, or maybe they could have used more cowbell.
00:37:55
Speaker
Amazing, man. Absolutely amazing. And I agree with everything you've said.
Highlighting Underrated Albums
00:38:00
Speaker
this if you you If you've been watching this on YouTube, you'll see I'm smiling the whole episode because for me, this has been one of my favorite episodes because this is what this show is about. ah ah i'm I'm just as happy to talk about Physical Graffiti and, you know, um other, you know, Machine Head by Deep Purple, all these big famous albums. I love talking about them, but this is what the show is about, uncovering hidden gems that played their part, but just didn't quite make it to the top of the, for whatever reason, didn't quite make it to the top of the famous albums list. But my God, it deserves to be here. It was huge at the time, but people seem to forget about those bands, isn't it?
00:38:41
Speaker
Anyway, fantastic. Any more thoughts? all good Well, I just i'm I'm really glad we're doing this this episode today because I think that's that's how we started all of this and I like recommending albums. So that's my recommendation to you. And I'm glad you liked it. There you go. Well, I hope you guys if you're not familiar with the album, have a listen and enjoy. Perfect. Well, thank you guys for joining us for another episode of the Long Live Rock and Roll podcast. If you're listening to us on Apple and Spotify, we'd ask a favor. Scroll down, give us a rating, write a few words about us and it helps us, as long as it's a good rating, helps us move up the charts and be seen by more people. If you're watching us on YouTube, make sure to hit subscribe and like the video so you stay up to date with our latest content. Thanks for joining us. Yeah, give us the five stars and all that stuff on the internet, help us to, you know, find our way to the top, keep on rocking everyone and don't do anything I wouldn't do. And as usual, take care guys and long live rock and roll.