No Mean City (album)

Occupation

No Mean City is the title of the tenth studio album by the Scottish hard rock band Nazareth.

Album

Recorded at Maison Rouge Studio on the Ballastowell farm on the Isle of Man. There, the purely instrumental recordings were made, the vocals and remixes later. In the label's own Mountain Studios in Switzerland It originated 8 exclusively self-composed songs because on cover versions, which had previously developed over the years to the band's trademark, this time was omitted. As with "Expect No Mercy" in the previous year a talented graphic artist was hired for the sleeve design, this time Rodney Matthews. His creation, the monstrous warrior with the two open blades, especially the belt buckle depicting a winged skull, became the mascot for Nazareth. It was used on several merchandise products.

Formation

Having considered its potential as a quartet with the previous album "Expect no Mercy " for themselves as exploited, Nazareth went in search of a second lead guitarist. Zal Cleminson had a job after the split his Sensational Alex Harvey Band house band, first as a taxi driver overtook him before the offer of Nazareth, and he agreed promptly.

Style / theme song

Together with Hair of the Dog and Expect No Mercy No one City to mean especially notable for heavy metal trailer Nazareth LPs, laid the foundation stone for the same burgeoning New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Manny Charlton and Zal Cleminson worked very well together as a guitar duo. While Charlton always the tech-savvy, but somewhat introverted man in the background, gave the usually held back in interviews and press conferences, Cleminson distinguished himself as a wild and fiery guitarist who ran around on the stage and making faces. The title song No mean City deals content with a book of the same title, which tells a story about a "Razor King" from Glasgow in the 1930s. The book was written by McArthur and Long. However, Zal Cleminson then took on only one album with Nazareth. After the release of Malice In Wonderland, an LP that should mainly capture the American AOR market and therefore more likely drifted into shallower and more commercial realm, he left the band. Therefore, No Mean City may be recognized in the next few years as the last relevant Nazareth Album for proper hard rock and heavy metal fans. It was not until the mid-80s, the band remembered back to the qualities of their best albums.

Singles

Although the actual album "No Mean City" consisted primarily of hard rock and metal, were also radiotauglichere pieces on board that were chosen for singles. They opted for " Whatever you want babe ", " Star" and " May the sun shine ." For platinum, however, did not submit any of these numbers more. Only " May the sun shine " was again a small surprise hit and handed in the spring of 1979 for number 22 in the UK charts. In order for the song, however, was also the last single success for Britain. Incidentally explanation: The AOR ballad " Dream On " was in the 80's only the rest of Europe once again a hit.

Tracks

  • Nazareth ( band )
  • Album ( Heavy Metal )
  • Album 1978
Record label Genre Singing Bass guitar Nazareth (Band)
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