Cherry Red [Release date : 26.06.26]

The seventies were Classic Rock’s golden years.
And this boxset is rock ‘n’ roll gold. Five remastered Nazareth albums from 1976-1979. With an abundance of bonus tracks.

CD1 : Close Enough For Rock ‘n’ Roll + 9 bonus (1976)
CD2 : Play ‘n’ The Game + 5 bonus (1976)
CD3 : Expect No Mercy + 7 bonus (version 1, 1977)
CD4 : Expect No Mercy (version 2)
CD5 : No Mean City + 5 bonus (1979)

There’s a lot going on. A lot to like, a lot of bonus tracks, and a lot of stories to be told, if only there was the space to tell them all.

The two versions of Expect No Mercy are a story in themselves. More later.

Vocalist, Dan McCafferty and bass player, Pete Agnew became schoolfriends back in the sixties, and in 1970 went on to form Nazareth via the Shadettes, with drummer Darrell Sweet and guitarist Manny Charlton.

A relentless, almost obsessive amount of touring – covering thousands of miles, tarmac and blacktop, Europe and USA – came to define Nazareth as the industry standard for hard rock bands.

Close Enough For Rock ’n’ Roll (great title) was the band’s magnificent seventh album.

The band had dined out for years on ‘This Flight Tonight’ and ‘Love Hurts’, two covers which became huge hit singles in the early seventies on both sides of the globe, plus their own stuff, ‘Bad Bad Boy’ and ‘Broken Down Angel’.

In the mid seventies, hit singles were harder to come by, but this was unquestionably an album band now. And they were willing to take chances.

Opening track ‘Telegram’ challenged our preconceived ideas.
An 8 minute, hard rock opera in four parts, with nods to the Byrds’ ‘Rock ’n’ Roll Star’ and Pink Floyd’s ambient axework.

Standouts, ‘Born Under The Wrong Sign’ and ‘You’re The Violin’ are more conventional, more accessible hard rock songs.

Later that year, the band recorded Play ’n’ The Game, a more radio friendly, hit seeking album than the last. The softly sentimental ballads, ‘I Want To Do Everything For You’, A Joe Tex song, and ‘I Don’t Want To Go Without You’, written by Bert Berns for The Drifters in 1964, raised their game. They helped the album climb into the Top Twenty album charts all over North America.

Great bands are driven by an instinct to evolve, not recycle. And for Nazareth, Expect No Mercy was the considered result.

The label rejected the finished product. Labels know best, right?
And so a more commercialised version was released instead. Some tracks were dropped, replaced for the “new version”.
This boxset has both.

What we get then are two albums with the same title, both with many standouts. There’s a rocked up version of the Harlan Howard / Hank Cochrane country standard ‘Busted’. And there is the awesome country cajun fusion of ‘Gone Dead Train’, a song, written by Jack Nitsche and Russ Titelman, that finds new ways of creating sexual innuendo, then realises the olds ways are the best.

‘Gimme What’s Mine’ and ‘New York Broken Toy’ throw a few emotional body-blows, showing us that the band’s songwriting chops cut it just as effectively as anyone in their peer group.

In among the 7 bonus tracks, the edits of ‘Kentucky Fried Blues’ and ‘Place In Your Heart’ are cut down to the bone, exposing two fabulously soulful rock songs. Getting our money’s worth here.

Guitarist Zal Clemenson, ex of SAHB, joined the band for 1979’s No Mean City, twinning up with Manny Charlton in delivering yet another gritty album of scalding hot hard rock.

Once again the music media was at one in recognising the calibre of Nazareth material.

Allmusic: “No Mean City remains a bracing and electric set of hard rock tunes that is well worth a listen for both Nazareth fans and anyone addicted to 1970s hard rock”.
Lost Classics : “The two-part title track—inspired by the 1935 Alexander McArthur book about Glasgow’s 1920s ganglands—brilliantly captures a heavy, desperate atmosphere”.

Say no more.

Few bands will release four-in-a-row surefire killer albums.

Cherry’s boxset has made it five. *****

Review by Brian McGowan

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions,

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio

David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast 24 May 2026.

UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). First broadcast on 19 May 2026

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen live or listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com

Power Plays w/c 8 June 2026

LAKE Hey Sam (indie)
VOODOO WISEGUYS Someday You’ll Know (indie)
RUN REMEDY Big Nothing (indie)
BLACK ROSE REBELLION Hail The Rebel Queen (Pavement Entertainment)
DOMINUM Dark Melodies (Napalm Records)
COLD JULY I’ll Write That Down (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 8 June 2026

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2025 (Singer Songwriter)

Our occasional Newsletter signposts latest additions to the website(s). We also include a selection of recent top albums, based on GRTR! reviewer ratings. The newsletter is sent out a few times a year.

If you’d like to register to receive this occasional mailing please complete the form:

If using a smartphone/tablet please tap here or re-orientate your device

(Note that this registration is separate from site registration which allows you to leave comments and receive daily emails about new content. If you wish to register for this – in addition or separately – please click or tap here – for more information – the form is at the foot of each page. Please read our privacy policy when opting-in to receive emails.