Band : Nazareth
Album Title : The Newz
Label : Edel Records>
Distributor : V2
Release Date : 21/09/2009
Review : CD

Scottish hard rockers Nazareth have released last year their 20th or 30th or 40th (who really counts) album, The Newz, but I still have some problems with their music. As on their countless previous records, you get the usual mixture of whiskey soaked hard rock, blues and funk which remind you of bands like AC/DC, The Sweet, Small Faces, Tom Petty and of course Nazareth.

At first that doesn’t sound so bad, and the opener “Goin’ loco” is one of the CD’s highlights. Also “Liar” about Bush Jr with occasional Joe Perry-like guitar riffs and the sleazier “Road trip”, with parallels to Guns N’ Roses, are among my favourite tracks. The remaining songs aren’t bad, but never really stand out either, except for the hidden weird track “Dying breed” which can be found towards the end of the album.The cheesy ballad “Easy love” should absolutely not have been, as it is even worse than Nazareth’s “Love hurts”, although it might invite rock fans during a live show to get their lighters collectively out. Apart from this blackout, everything’s ok, although the songwriting is a little to simple for my taste.

All in all, a strong showing from a band that's been around for four (yes, four) decades.

Cosmicmasseur.