Loud 'N' Proud - NAZARETH***

Go Down Fighting/Not Faking It/Turn On Your Receiver/Teenage Nervous Breakdown/Freewheeler/This Flight Tonight/Child In The Sun/The Ballad Of Hollis Brown

Loud ‘N’ Proud was a quick follow up album to take advantage of the hard rock group Nazareth‘s brief spell of commercial success in the mid 1970s. Their almost unrecognisable cover of Joni Mitchell’s This Fight Tonight was a UK No.11 hit single. (US:150 UK:10)

“Nazareth's Loud 'N' Proud is most likely their best album ever. McCafferty was at his vocal peak, and the band really was really tight. The first side does have generally the same rhythm and tempo, and is fairly predictable, but the songs are great. They're catchy, have a contagious attitude, and are performed very well. The second side is unquestionably different and stops this album from being a little too generic.”

“The album only contains two numbers still worth listening close to, This Flight Tonight, written by Joni Mitchell, and The Ballad Of Hollis Brown, written by Bob Dylan. Especially the latter is even now really stunning, dark and fateful; perhaps the best cover of this tragic masterpiece ever.”

“Side one starts well with Go Down Fighting and I'm Not Faking It both being pretty solid rockers. After this I slowly lose interest as the side progresses; the tracks are weak and sound too much like the lower league glam rock that was floating around the UK charts at the time. Side two is a different matter with no filler and even manages to live up to the heights set by This Flight. Child In The Sun is a cool mellow track with some sweet slide. Hollis Brown is another cracking cover, with a very different take on the Dylan original - dark, dirty and grungey - keeping me gripped for its entire nine minutes.”

“Nazareth were not the best songwriters, but their early material packed a whole lot of power. This album is a very good example. Not Fakin' It is definitely as raw and heavy as early heavy metal gets. It's quite evident that This Flight Tonight was meant to be a soft pop ballad with deep lyrics, but Nazareth supercharges it with so much octane and wallop, it rightfully becomes their own song.”

“Nazareth were probably the least known hard rock band from the 70s which is a shame. They were a really talented band that focussed not on guitar solos, but on catchy vocal melodies, loud choruses and solid guitar riffs. They had a gifted lead singer who screams like a demon, but who was still capable of emotion. A talented band that deserve more recognition than what they've been given thus far.”