Again Salvo Records releases a double doze of
Nazareth. Just like "Cinema/The Catch" the pairing of "Snakes and Ladders/No Jive" is one strong
Nazareth album with a mediocre
Nazareth album. These reissues comes with an extensive booklet - They are budget priced so consider the extra album a bonus treat since you can still buy this whole package for less than a normal CD.
In 1989 hair metal topped the charts and
Nazareth was respected and hailed by the most popular band at the time: Guns N' Roses. "Snakes 'N' Ladders" never became a chart buster and it was guitarist Manny Charlton's last recording with the band ever. The album is polished just like "The Fools Cry", but it is short of standout tracks. McCafferty later admitted that it was the record company's album and that Naz did it for the money. The record company
Vertigo certainly had no idea what
Nazareth fans wanted and instead they tried to make a mainstream hit album, which failed.
"Snakes and Ladders" was overproduced and maybe that led to guitarist Manny Charlton leaving the band. Manny Charlton earlier produced some of
Nazareth's earlier efforts like the successful "Hair of the Dog".
The band learned their lesson and moved to a small label giving them freedom to produce the next record themselves. This was to be titled "No Jive". Billy Rankin returned to
Nazareth replacing Manny Charlton. Rankin also helped out on the songwriting for "No Jive", which saw the light of day in November 1991. Thank god the album is packed with classic
Nazareth rock combining their Hard Rock and also adding ballads - the right
Nazareth combo. Rankin'shard rocking guitar drives the song along with McCafferty's distinctive voice.
"No Jive" is a solid
Nazareth album that still sounds great today.
Ratings:Snakes and Ladders - 4/10
No Jive - 6/10
Written by
Michael Sunday, August 14, 2011
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