No mean city
| No mean city | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nazareth studio album | ||||
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Publication |
1978 |
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| Label (s) | Mountain Records | |||
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Format (s) |
CD, LP |
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Title (number) |
8 (plus 3 bonus songs on CD) |
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running time |
49 minutes (including CD bonus) |
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| occupation | ||||
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Studio (s) |
Maison Rouge, Ballastowell Farm, Isle of Man |
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No Mean City is the tenth studio album by the Scottish hard rock band Nazareth .
album
The album was recorded in the Maison Rouge studio on Ballastowell Farm on the Isle of Man . There the purely instrumental recordings were made, the vocals and remixes later in the label's own Mountain Studios in Switzerland. Eight songs were composed exclusively by myself, because cover versions, which had become trademarks of the band in the previous years, were not included this time. As with "Expect no Mercy" the year before, a talented graphic artist was hired for the sleeve design, this time Rodney Matthews . His creation, the monstrous warrior with the two open blades, especially the belt buckle, which depicts a winged skull, became the mascot for Nazareth. It was used on numerous merchandise items.
Emergence
After they considered their possibilities as a quartet with the previous album Expect No Mercy to be exhausted, Nazareth started looking for a second lead guitarist. After the split of his house band Sensational Alex Harvey Band , Zal Cleminson initially worked as a taxi driver before the offer from Nazareth overtook him and he promptly accepted.
Style / theme song
Together with Hair of the Dog and Expect No Mercy counts No mean city to for heavy metal particularly notable -Anhänger Nazareth LPs, which laid the foundation for the same burgeoning New Wave of British Heavy Metal loaded. Manny Charlton and Zal Cleminson worked very well together as a guitar duo. While Charlton always played the tech-savvy but somewhat introverted man in the background, who usually held back at interviews and press conferences, Cleminson excelled as a wild and fiery guitarist who ran around on stage and made faces. The title song No mean City deals with the content of a book of the same title, which tells a story about a "Razor King" from the Gorbals , a district in Glasgow in the 1930s. The book was written by McArthur and Long. Zal Cleminson then only recorded one album with Nazareth. After the release of Malice In Wonderland , an LP that was primarily intended to conquer the American AOR market and therefore rather drifted into shallower and more commercial realms, he left the band again. Therefore, No Mean City can also be recognized as the last relevant Nazareth album for real hard rock and heavy metal fans for the next few years. It wasn't until the mid-80s that the band began to think again about the qualities of their strongest records.
Singles
Although the actual album "No Mean City" consisted primarily of hard rock and metal, there were also more radio-friendly pieces on board, which were chosen for singles. They chose "Whatever you want Babe", "Star" and "May the Sun shine". However, none of these numbers was enough for platinum. Only "May the Sun shine" was another small surprise success and in the spring of 1979 was enough for number 22 in the UK charts. This made the song the last single hit for Great Britain . By the way: The AOR ballad "Dream on" was only another hit in the rest of Europe in the 80s.
Tracks
- Just to Get into It - 4:24
- May the Sunshine - 4:55
- Simple Solution, Part 1 & 2 - 4:59
- Star - 4:55
- Claim to Fame - 4:30
- Whatever You Want Babe - 3:42
- What's in It for Me - 4:20
- No Mean City, Part 1 & 2 - 6:32
- May the Sunshine (Single Edit) * - 3:31
- Whatever You Want Babe (Single Edit) * - 2:59
- Star (US Version) * - 4:55