Label: Vertigo Records (Germany), 838 707-2
Style: Hard Rock, Classic Rock
Country: Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland
Time: 37:13
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 220 Mb
Charts: CAN #17, US #150, AUT #1, GER #8, NOR #9, UK #10. SWE: Gold; CAN: Platinum.
Review
Summary: Catchy, energetic classic hard rock which, while occasionally
flawed, is a lot of fun, with easily one of the most identifiable rock
tracks.
Nazareth are possibly best described as a Scottish mix of
Judas Priest and AC/DC, mixing a lot of bluesy riffs and solos with
occasionally metallic moments. While the band experienced some success
after this album with the strong Hair Of The Dog, Loud 'n' Proud
possesses some of their most consistently strong material and one of
their most successful songs, ultimately making it a strong, catchy
listen.
The album gets underway pretty quickly with the energetic and
catchy Go Down Fighting, which demonstrates the band's strong
guitarwork (including some fun slide guitar in the background at times)
and vocalist Dan McCaffrey's excellent higher register shouts, akin to
Brian Johnson but with a range similar to Rob Halford's; while
simplistic in terms of instrumental technicality the album is
nevertheless strong, with simple bass and drum work giving a solid
backing to the lead instruments. The following Not Faking It offers more
of the same, while demonstrating some of the more Priest-like
tendencies of the band at times. While Turn On Your Receiver and Teenage
Nervous Breakdown also demonstrate the same bluesy, catchy styling -
which is often a bit overplayed and repetitive, Free Wheeler feels a bit
more open, and the excellent This Flight Tonight (a Joni Mitchell
cover) shakes up the structure of the album a bit, demonstrating the
heights of McCaffrey's vocal performance. Child In The Son slows down
the pace further, and the raw sounding Ballad Of Hollis Brown provides
an abrasive ending, but these changes feel as though they came too late,
as the lack of variation prior makes the early half of the album drag
compared to the ending.
Despite the repetitive nature of the first
half of this album, all the tracks are still pretty strong. Perhaps the
majority doesn't compare to the amazing This Flight Tonight, one of the
catchiest rock tracks ever, but the generally strong instrumental
performance and consistently entertaining feel to the tracks keeps it
entertaining, if mostly unadventurous, throughout. Perhaps if the band
had more moments akin to that track, it would be a truly outstanding
album, but it's still a fun hard rock album worth a listen.
(sputnikmusic.com/review/56071/Nazareth-Loud-n-Proud/)
01. Go Down Fighting (03:07)
02. Not Faking It (04:01)
03. Turn On Your Receiver (03:20)
04. Teenage Nervous Breakdown (03:44)
05. Free Wheeler (05:32)
06. This Flight Tonight (03:25)
07. Child In The Sun (04:52)
08. The Ballad Of Hollis Brown (09:10)
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