Album Review: NAZARETH - Tattooed On My Brain

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
09. Crazy Molly
10. Silent Symphony
11. What Goes Around

Nazareth is a legendary band, there's no doubt about that whatsoever. However, of the four songs which I'd consider to be their most well-known, Hair of the Dog, Love Hurts, This Flight Tonight, and Woke Up This Morning, two of them are covers, and all four pre-date 1976. Yet, they keep churning out records, and Tattooed On My Brain is their 24th studio album.

This new record is their first without their original lead singer Dan McCafferty Many bands have replaced lead singers, but to replace Dan at such a late stage in Nazareth's career, especially as his voice is so unique and makes the music so easily identifiable as 'Nazareth', seems a strange move. However, with bassist Pete Agnew being the only original member left, they've decided to continue.

Their new lead singer, Carl Sentance, is excellent. Be that as it may, despite his voice lending itself well to Nazareth, he'll always fall a little short simply because he's not the original guy. They could now be any old Classic Rock band, with only the logo on the front cover to link this record to Nazareth.

Having said all that, don't be fooled by the cheap and nasty album cover, Tattooed On My Brain is actually pretty good. The title track has an unexpected Punk style, and this fresh approach is a welcome change. Other than that, it's pretty the much the Blues-based Hard Rock which Nazareth are known for that's on offer here.

Mid-paced rocker Crazy Molly has a swagger worthy of Bon Scott era AC/DC. The same can be said for the cool-as-ice What Goes Around and The Secret Is Out. The latter features some tasty slide guitar.

Tattooed On My Brain is a surprisingly solid, straight-forward Rock album. I wasn't expecting much from it but I'm impressed by how much I like it. Nazareth are still rocking hard and can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with any currently active Classic Rock band you'd care to mention.