Label: Frontiers Records
Release date: 12.10.2018
Production: Yann Rouiller
Album length: 51:51
Rating: 9.0 / 10
You’d think Nazareth were done for after their original and first voice, the unforgettable vocalist and one-of-a-kind rock siren Dan McCafferty, had to leave a while back due to health problems. Well, Pete Agnew, the eternal bassist and the only original member of this apparently “immortal” band, together with the rest of the crew, Lee Agnew (drums) and Jimmy Murrison (guitar), doesn’t agree one bit. After the dull, lifeless “Rock’N’Roll Telephone”, McCafferty’s swan song from 2014, Nazareth have, four years on, put together an album that’s being billed as their comeback record. That was the band’s basic goal: to justify, artistically, carrying on without McCafferty, which looked like mission impossible. But “Tattooed On My Brain” hands every one of the “doubting Thomases” all the apologies they could want, and puts Nazareth (supremely confidently) back on their proper rock’n’roll tracks.
Let me start dissecting the album. The title track Tattooed On My Brain has a rhythmic texture that’s pretty much the signature of Nazareth rock’n’roll. Those who know the band will instantly recognize that flirty, charming boogie swagger baked into the rhythm of this tune. That’s exactly one of those rhythms that gave Nazareth their basic pose of cheeky mockers and strutting rascals. Speaking of rascals, it’s clear Nazareth will never grow up. Just like Deep Purple, or more precisely Ian Gillan, never grew up in their lyrics. Trouble with the ladies everywhere again, with Nazareth (Pete is nearing seventy) not hesitating to chat up chicks and girls directly, luring them into sinful temptations even after 50 years on the road (What on earth do they eat?). They’re funny but never pathetic, still teasing with lyrics decked out with superb riffs and first-class rock’n’roll rhythm. The tunes grab you. Especially in the first half of the record, which opens with the gloomy Never Dance With the Devil and flows, via the title track, into the playful State oF Emergency. Rubik’s Romance has even more boogie. This one too could easily have been written back in the McCafferty days. Then there’s the fresh boogie syrup of Pole to Pole, and a bluesy excursion by the old stallions with the song Push.
What I’m getting at is that “Tattooed On My Brain” has justified its mission. Expectations were low, in fact there weren’t any at all. Especially after the not exactly convincing predecessor, where you could feel the magic was gone and the band was fading out.
So Nazareth found their solution in Carl Sentance. Carl Sentance is an outstanding vocalist. Rock’n’roll is tailor-made for him and runs in his blood. We can even say, without being modest about it, that he’s the voice of rock (though that title is reserved for Hughes).. If he wants to, he can get seriously close to, say, Ian Gillan, as we’ve heard on the Don Airey albums where Carl does the singing. With Nazareth, Carl doesn’t come across as an unconditional siren like McCafferty, but he’s incredibly high in his lines, like McCafferty in his prime, and when he channels his vocal power through the registers, he’s very likable in his explosiveness and dominance. The tone of his voice feels good and manages to recreate those feelings Nazareth stirred up when they were still cutting the cult albums of their career. Sentance has thus proven to be the best possible solution, otherwise Nazareth could have packed their bags and retired. Then again, given their tenure and all the commercial peaks that are long behind them, they could have done that ages ago. A band like this has nothing to prove. But there’s something else. Rock’n’roll is a drug and Pete Agnew won’t stop. So someday he’ll walk off the stage straight into the grave.
“Tattooed On My Brain” would have earned an even higher rating if Nazareth hadn’t gone so big with it and crammed on too many tracks again. Especially in the second half there are a few spots they could have skipped, leaving the album with truly the best of the best.
We old farts who listen to Nazareth and wrote the band off after McCafferty left have had to eat our words. “Tattooed On My Brain” puts the band back in an upright rock’n’roll stance, fired up with truly erect fervor. They come across with fresh ideas and newfound chemistry. The album is put together the way only Nazareth can put one together. And that (I’ll say it with a clear conscience) is without Dan McCafferty in the lineup. Pete, Jimmy and Lee have been together for a good while and know and understand each other more than well. And Sentance finally brings to the team what was missing after McCafferty left, and then some. He’s a different kind of vocalist, yet ideal for Nazareth, who in this mature era of their career clearly have no intention of giving up. “Tattooed On My Brain” is a genuinely nice surprise, one that can proudly join the other 23 older studio brothers of the Scottish rock legends. It’s one of the better rock’n’roll albums of a staunchly old-school character to come out this year.
author: Aleš Podbrežnik
track list:
01. Never Dance With The Devil
02. Tattooed On My Brain
03. State Of Emergency
04. Rubik’s Romance
05. Pole To Pole
06. Push
07. The Secret Is Out
08. Don’t Throw Your Love Away
08. Crazy Molly
09. Silent Symphony
10. What Goes Around
11. Change
12. You Call Me
line-up:
Carl Sentance – vocals
Jimmy Murrison – guitar
Pete Agnew – bass guitar, backing vocals
Lee Agnew – drums
