Se qualcuno oggigiorno vi chiedesse chi sono i veri dinosauri dell'hard rock, chi, tra tutti i gruppi degli anni 70, ha davvero ispirato il sound sbarazzino e immediato di gruppi come gli Ac/Dc, penso che pochi tra voi non avrebbero dubbi nel rispondere i Nazareth!
Infatti, i Nazareth, scozzesi d'origine, hanno avuto il merito di strizzare l'occhio alle sonorità hard rock blueseggianti d'oltreoceano, anticipando di un lustro le sonorità di Angus&soci, relegando nei loro riffettoni la potenza esplosiva dell'hard rock più sincero e compatto, miscelato al rock'n'roll più sanguigno e roccioso ed una buona dose di blues, peraltro supportato da un songwriting intelligente e a volte molto intimista.
È interessante notare come addirittura la voce di McCafferty, dotato di un timbro sporco e acuto, ricordi in maniera indiscutibile alcuni mostri sacri dell'hard rock di là a venire. E con ciò mi riferisco allo stesso Brian Johnson e mi sento di affermare anche ad Axl Rose in certi passaggi - a tal riguardo assume un significato interessante la cover di "Hair Of The Dog" fatta dai Guns'N'Roses - .
E sicuramente "Razamanaz", terza fatica in studio dei Nazareth, è il lavoro più completo, più genuino, senza dubbio una pietra miliare nel genere, capace di rapirvi al primo ascolto, emozionandovi e scuotendovi fin nel profondo della vostre viscere.
Manny Carlton, autore della maggior parte delle canzoni, poi, a dire il vero, è in grado di regalare potenza e dolcezza, spensieratezza e profondità nel suo lavoro sulla sei corde e sul banjo, costruendo momenti musicali impareggiabili già a partire dalla title-track - che è anche il pezzo di apertura - "Razamanaz", vero manifesto sonoro del gruppo, un condensato di elettricità ed energia davvero invidiabile. Insomma un pezzo da antologia del rock.
Seguono due cover : "Alcatrazz" di Leon Russell, sessionman instancabile della scena rock blues degli anni 70, con i suoi ammiccamenti blues e la ritmica incalzante e bastarda, e "Vigilante Man", rifacimento di una vecchia canzone di Woody Guthrie, sicuramente uno dei momenti più delicati dell'intero pacchetto, introdotto da un suadente slide sognante e supportata da un incedere straziante e da una prestazione canora di McCafferty da brividi, che vibrano possentemente nelle vostre membra. Dopo il mid-tempo trascinante di "Woke Up This Morning", che sprizza freschezza e carica senza mai stancare, eccoci, secondo me, all'altro momento più dolce del platter in questione. Il ritmo tribale - interessante il lavoro di basso/batteria della premiata ditta Sweet & Agnew - e il wha-wha di Charlton infatti fanno di "Night Woman" una poesia vera e propria, e creano un feeling squisito e delicato.
Impressionante la tracklist che continua a sfoderare momenti brillanti come "Bad Bad Boy", un bel rock'n'roll orecchiabile inacidito dalla solita chitarra di Charlton, "Too Bad Too Sad", con un bel riff blueseggiante ignorante e "Broken Down Angel", altro pezzo dotato di un groove incredibilmente frizzante e l'ennesima perla di dolcezza "Sold My Soul": una sorta di confessione disperata, impreziosita da una guitar-line melodica semplice ma molto efficace, che colpisce dritta ed inesorabile, sorretta da un testo stupendo (I looked to the Lord in heaven/ but he must have looked away/ my crying eyes repented/ please send her love to light my day / so I cried in desperation/bowed to evil sourcery/ I sold my soul to the devil ).
Insomma, mi sembra che sia superfluo aggiungere altro. Anzi no!
WE GONNA RAZAMANAZ ALL NIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!!!!!!!!!!
See Ya!
Elenco tracce testi e video
01 Razamanaz (03:52)
We've got to get it together
You bring the wine, we'll bring the weather
We haven't come to be clever
Let's make it now cause this could be never
Were gonna Razamataz ya tonight
Were gonna Razamataz ya all night
Razamataz Razamataz up on your feet
Let's see ya dance, dance, dance
Now that we've come to a showdown
We won't allow you a second to slow down
The moment has come to deliver
You as the taker, and we as the giver
Were gonna Razamataz ya tonight
Were gonna Razamataz ya all night
Razamataz Razamataz up on your feet
Let's see ya dance, dance, dance
All of the world loves a raver
We're playin for ravers who savor the flavor
You all appear calm and collected
Razamanazin� you never expected
Were gonna Razamataz ya tonight
Were gonna Razamataz ya all night
Razamataz Razamataz up on your feet
Let's see ya dance, dance, dance
Were gonna Razamataz ya tonight
Were gonna Razamataz ya all night
Razamataz Razamataz up on your feet
Let's see ya dance, dance, dance
02 Alcatraz (04:23)
Now lay me down on market street
I’m lookin’ for some spare change
A coast guard ship has been lookin’ for me
And I might have to change my name
Here comes Uncle Sam again with the same old bag of beans
The local chief’s on the radio
He’s got some hungry mouths to feed
Goin back to Alcatraz
Lay me back down here on the highway
One hundred and one ways to go
Solitary is so confinin’
To the legend of Geronimo
Oh I know I could bring the rain
Used to dance for ABC
And all the braves down on death row
Are pretending to be free
Back home in Alcatraz
In the land of the great white father
My American blood runs cold
I left my home in Oklahoma
To the Everglades I go
It’s just the wings on the silver cars
And I’m allowed to plow a field
It’s not the life for a nineteen seventy
(What's an)Indian boy to do
Goin’ back to Alcatraz
Lay me down on market street
I’m lookin for some spare change
A coast guard ship has been lookin’ for me
Might have to change my name
Here comes Uncle Sam again with the same old bag of beans
Local chief’s on the radio
He’s got some hungry mouths to feed
Goin’ back to Alcatraz
Here comes Uncle Sam again with the same old bag of beans
Local chief’s on the radio
He’s got some hungry mouths to feed
Goin back to Alcatraz
Goin back to Alcatraz
Goin back to Alcatraz
Goin back to Alcatraz
Goin back to Alcatraz
Goin back to Alcatraz
Goin back to Alcatraz
Goin back to Alcatraz
03 Vigilante Man (05:21)
Have you seen that vigilante man
Have you seen that vigilante man
Have you seen that vigilante man
I’ve been hearin’ his name all over this land
Lonely nights down in the engine house
Sleepin’ just as still as a mouse
Man comes home, chase the crowds in the rain
That’s a vigilante man
Vigilante man
Vigilante man
Well I ramble around from town to town
Ramble ‘round from town to town
And they hunted us a while like a wild herd of cattle
That’s a vigilante man
Tell me why does that vigilante man
Tell me why does that vigilante man
Carry that sawed off shotgun in his hand
Would he shoot his brother and sister down
Have you seen that vigilante man
Have you seen that vigilante man
Have you seen that vigilante man
I’ve been hearin’ his name all over this land
Vigilante man
Vigilante man
Vigilante man
Vigilante man
Vigilante man
Vigilante man
09 Broken Down Angel (03:45)
She used to be someone you could depend on
To brighten up your coldest winter day
But the one she leaned upon
Let her down, now has moved on
And morning brings another empty day
Now she's only a broken down angel
She's only a bird that's broke her wing
She's only someone, somone who's gone wrong
She's only a child that's lost her way
She used to be a girl of simple pleasures
A breath of spring to chase your blues away
But now she bears a cross, for a love that she has lost
No sunshine in her life just clouds of gray
Now she's only a broken down angel
She's only a bird that's broke her wing
She's only someone, somone who's gone wrong
She's only a child that's lost her way
She's only a broken down angel
She's only a bird that's broke her wing
She's only someone, somone who's gone wrong
She's only a child that's lost her way
Now she's only a broken down angel
She's only a bird that's broke her wing
She's only someone, somone who's gone wrong
She's only a child that's lost her way
10 Hard Living (03:03)
Hard living, every day of my life
Hard living, every night on the wine
Never givin', any one any time
Always losin', all I had all the time
Yes I'm a selfish kinda man
All I need is a helping hand
Bad loser, never had anyone
Bad chooser, never owed never won
Fast mover, everyday on the run
Never knowing, if I feel or I'm done
Hard living, every day of my life
Hard drinking, every night on the wine
(Agnew, Charlton, McCafferty, Sweet)
Mountain Music/Carlin Music
1972 Nazareth (Dunfermline) Ltd.
11 Spinning Top (03:06)
(Agnew, Charlton, McCafferty, Sweet)
Mountain Music/Carlin Music
1972 Nazareth (Dunfermline ) Ltd.
My head's moving like a spinning top
How in the world do I make it stop?
'Round and 'round and faster still
I'm gonna live till I had my fill.
Goin' wrong and turn around
You're gonna find me in the lost and found.
Bright lights, that's my style
Don't be goin' awhile
Got no time for sittin' 'round
Tops are livin' proof to be found.
Ain't gonna wait another day
Pack my bags and get on my way.
My head's moving like a spinning top
How in the world do I make it stop?
'Round and 'round and faster still
I'm gonna live till I had my fill.
Goin' wrong and turn around
You're gonna find me in the lost and found.
Carico i commenti... con calma
