"Hello!" by STATUS QUO – September 1973 UK Sixth Studio Album on Vertigo Records (A&M Records in the USA) – featuring Francis Rossi, Rick Parfitt, Alan Lancaster and John Coghlan (February 2005 UK Universal/Mercury 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue with a Tim Turan Remaster – Part Of The 'From The Makers Of' Reissue Series) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Roll Over Lay Down And Let Me In..."

Arguably the worst album cover artwork and LP title in their entire cannon - or possibly in the entire world ("Hello!" for Gawd's sake and in jet black so you can't see them) - none of this stopped the mighty Quo from smashing it in 1973. 

Released in late September of that year on Vertigo Records in the UK (A&M Records in the USA) with its lyrics inner sleeve and eye-catching poster – more importantly Status Quo's sixth studio platter had the heads-down monster hits of "Roll Over Lay Down" and "Caroline" alongside others like "Forty Five Hundred Times" that would soon become fan craves. You also can't help thinking that had they released the boogie-pleaser "Blue Eyed Lady" with say "Softer Ride" on the flipside as a third 45-single, Quo would have easily achieved a Top 5 placing if not another Number 1. 

Their sound and success had been years coming - starting on 1970's "Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon" and getting stuck in proper on 1971's "Dog Of Two Head" while they were on Pye Records. But it was the move to Vertigo that saw the charge truly begin. Building on the eventual No. 5 LP placing of the preceding "Piledriver" album issued December 1972 - "Hello!" railroaded its Classic Rock riffage to the top of the British album charts - No. 1. This started an astonishing chart run in Blighty - 1974's "Quo" at No. 2, 1975 and 1976's "On The Level" and "Blue For You" also at No. 1 with the live-double in 1977 managing No. 3. 

The Quo defined good old-fashioned Seventies Blues Rock with a double-fronted guitar wallop (they meant naught in the USA). And this dinky little 2005 CD Remaster of "Hello!" complete with its period-relevant Bonus Track (the Non-LP B-side of "Caroline") does that fond memory proud. Time to Shake and Vac and don the faded Levis...

UK released February 2005 - "Hello!" by STATUS QUO on Universal/Mercury 982 594-2 (Barcode 602498259429) is an Expanded Edition CD Reissue and Remaster (One Bonus Track) in the 'From The Makers Of' Reissue Series that plays out as follows (43:08 minutes):

1. Roll Over Lay Down [Side 1]

2. Claudie 

3. A Reason Of Living 

4. Blue Eyed Lady 

5. Caroline [Side 2]

6. Softer Ride 

7. And It's Better Now 

8. Forty Five Hundred Times 

Tracks 1 to 8 are their sixth studio album "Hello!" - released 28 September 1973 in the UK on Vertigo 6360 098 and in the USA on A&M Records SP-3615. Produced by STATUS QUO - it peaked at No. 1 in the UK (didn't chart USA). 

BONUS TRACK:

9. Joanne 

31 August 1973 UK 7" 45-single on Vertigo 6059 085, Non-LP B-side to "Caroline"

The 16-page booklet all the lyrics, the poster shots, rare seven-inch picture sleeves and new liner notes from Quo aficionado GARRY FIELDING with the Remaster done by TIM TURAN who did such great work on the Nazareth back catalogue for Salvo Records. The boogie is strong with this one - each track with a cohesive power as it pounds out your speaker stack with bovver boots and denim waistcoats badly in need of a wash. "Hello!" always rocked and this CD does that legacy a solid. To the tunes...

Almost a full month before the LP hit the shops - Quo had unleashed the "Caroline" seven-inch single on the British Public on the last day of August 1973. Vertigo 6059 085 with the Non-LP "Joanne" on the flipside was a winner - DJ Radio loving its no-nonsense Rock simplicity and those catchy "...if you want to – turn me on to..." lyrics. Eventually peaking at No. 5 in the week leading up the LP's release, it primed the Rock Mad Brits for the album and they responded with frenzied purchasing. 

The whole of Side 1 feels like a party - heads-down boogie punctuated by those Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt Vocals and Guitars. Very cool Bluesy Slide Guitar on "A Reason To Believe" where their playing reminds me of Micky Moody from Snafu and later with Whitesnake. "Blue Eyed Lady" is surely one of their best LP gems and as I suggested above, would have made for a storming third single. You kind of get blind-sided by the musicality of "And It's Better Now" (everyone must have a song) - but it's the near ten-minutes of "Forty Five Hundred Times" ending Side 2 that makes real fans weak at the knees. As he pleads "...be my friend..." during its melodic beginning - it then launches into a great riff-fest that pile-drives along to its almost-Doors Rock ending. The throwback vocals to older days on "Joanne" will appeal to fans that long for pictures of matchstick men. 

Never a phenomenon in the States like they were back home (they charted "Blue For You" and that was it), Status Quo have had legions of fans for decades on end in Blighty like say Lizzy or Nazareth or other great Rock Bands of the period. And dribbling over the aural evidence on this cheap-as-chips CD Remaster, you can 'so' hear why...

"Slayed?" by SLADE – September 1972 UK Fourth LP on Polydor Records and February 1973 in the USA on Polydor Records – featuring Noddy Holder, Dave Hill, Jim Lea and Don Powell (21 August 2006 UK Salvo Expanded Edition CD Reissue with Five Bonus Tracks and Card Slipcase - Tim Turan Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...Rock And Rave!"

Half way through Side 1's "The Whole World's Goin' Crazee" there's a give-it-all-you-got echoed lead vocal passage by Noddy Holder where he let's rip with line-after-line of screamed lyrics ("Rant And Rave!"). Such throat-shredding acrobatics would have made Brian Johnson (once of Geordie and then AC/DC of course) reach for lozenges even then. But it's SLADE and would we old-timer reprobates of the Seventies want it any other way.

In fact at the last count, I think Slade were the only Rock Band in the world that could count the same original line-up for 40 years straight from 1969's debut "Ambrose Slade" to the Naughties (or is it 50 years). There's always been something fun about these Wolverhampton anthem queens and rabble-rousers. Makes me want to don my glitter boots and mirror hat and misspell every song title. Let's get slaughtered and crazee...

UK released 21 August 2006 - "Slayed?" by SLADE on Salvo SALVOCD002 (Barcode 698458810229) is an Expanded Edition CD Reissue and New Remaster with Five Bonus Tracks that plays out as follows (53:41 minutes):

1. How D'you Ride [Side 1]

2. The Whole World's Goin' Crazee

3.  Look At Last Nite

4. I Won't Let It 'Appen Agen

5. Move Over

6. Gudbuy T'Jane [Side 2]

7. Gudbuy Gudbuy

8. Mama Weer All Crazee Now

9. I Don' Mind

10. Let The Good Times Roll/Feel So Fine

Tracks 1 to 10 are their fourth album (third studio set) "Slayed?" - released September 1972 in the UK on Polydor 2383 163 and February 1973 in the USA on Polydor PD 5524. Produced by CHAS CHANDLER – it peaked at No. 2 on the UK LP charts and No. 69 in the USA.

BONUS TRACKS:

11. My Life Is Natural - non-album B-side to "Coz I Luv You", 8 October 1971 UK 7" single on Polydor 2058 155

12. Candidate - non-album B-side to "Look Wot You Dun", 27 January 1972 UK 7" single on Polydor 2058 195

13. Wonderin' Y - non-album B-side to "Take Me Bak 'Ome", 19 May 1972 UK 7" single on Polydor 2058 231

14. Man Who Speeks Evil - non-album B-side to "Mama Weer All Crazee Now", 25 August 1972 UK 7" single on Polydor 2058 274

15. Slade Talk to MELANIE Readers - 8 September 1973 UK 1-Sided 7" Flexi Disc on Lyntone LYN 2645, Melanie Magazine freebie

SLADE was:

NODDY HOLDER - Lead Vocals and Guitar

DAVE HILL - Guitar

JIM LEA - Bass and Violin

DON POWELL - Drums and Percussion

The 12-page booklet sports new liner notes from DAVID LING that is clearly part of an on-going history of the band and they're entertaining and informative – discussing Jim Lea's discomfort with rapid Nationwide fame - ending on Don Powell's near fatal car accident in July 1973 that did take the life of his then 20-year old girlfriend, Angela Morris. There are black and white period photos of the boys looking sometimes bewildered at the sudden fame and Number 1 singles status, shots of 'slayed' fans, memorabilia and a really nice two-page display of rare colour picture sleeves from around the world. TIM TURAN who did the Nazareth and Procol Harum remasters for Salvo has done the master-tape business and made a non-audiophile screamer of a Rock album seem more beefy and alive. For sure the vocals are still that bit distant (a trade mark sound for Slade) but the guitars and rhythm section are (in band parlay) in yer face. And how cool is it to hear those B-sides, especially the Acoustic Rock Swing of the non-album B-side to "Coz I Luv You" – the rather brill "My Life Is Natural". To the music…

Like Chas Chandler had done with Jimi Hendrix and Andrew Loog Oldham with The Rolling Stones – Noddy Holder and Jim Lea in particular were forced by their Manager/Producer Chas Chandler to write their own material – and preferably boys – some hits if you don’t mind. And that they did - "Slayed?" went all the way to the top – No. 1 – capitalizing on the mighty "Slade Alive!" LP that went before it in March of 1972 which had in itself smashed all the way up to the No. 2 position. Their next two vinyl platters, the compilation LP "Sladest" and the studio album "Old New Borrowed And Blue" would do the same in September 1973 and February 1974 – No. 1s. Slade singles became like T.Rex or Beatles releases – an event that saw huge chart highs and triumphant appearances on Thursday’s "Top Of The Boys". All of it culminating in the November 1974 film and soundtrack LP "Slade In Flame" which had to settle for a lowly No. 6 position on the Blighty album charts as the winning streak began to tail off and tastes moved on. But for two to three years there - the girls liked them and the boys lived to boogie by Slade.

The huge so young hits "Gudbuy T'Jane" and "Mama Weer All Crazee Now" both hit their rambunctious No. 1 spots on the British single charts - while other romper-stompers include the sexy almost T.Rex slink of "I Don't Mind" and the shake your tambourine throw me out "I Won't Let It Happen". Amidst the eight originals are only two covers – a superb Noddy Holder like-for-like performance as he does justice to "Move Over" from Janis Joplin's brilliant "Pearl" album of the year prior (1971). The other cover is a double - the Shirley and Lee 1956 and 1955 Aladdin Records classics "Let The Good Times Roll" and "Feel So Good" bringing proceedings to a close nicely. I'd forgotten about "Candidate" – a no-one seems to like him B-side that is equal to anything on the album. Fans will be pleased with the here I am in the same old clothes looking back on my life of "Wonderin' Y" – a sort of lollygagging Faces-type love song.

For sure the Audio is of the hurried kind and not everyone in 2020 will think it the Glam Rock genius we thought Slayed was back in the day – but every time I see that Gerard Mankowitz artwork – I smile. And I likes dat I duz…

"Piledriver" by STATUS QUO – Fifth Album from December 1972 on Vertigo Records (UK) and January 1973 on A&M Records (USA) – Featuring Francis Rossi, Rick Parfitt, Alan Lancaster and John Coghlan with Guests Rob Young and Jimmy Horowitz (31 January 2005 Universal/Mercury Expanded Edition 'From The Makers Of' CD Reissue - Tim Turan Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"...A Year..."

In March 1972, any self-respecting Rock-la-dyte like me had his gatefold copy of Rory Gallagher's "Live! In Europe" snuggled under his arm on the way into school (an LP known to have medicinal qualities like curing cider hangovers and late night kebab blindness). And come April and May of 1972 - "Machine Head", "Exile On Main St." and "Stephen Stills and Manassas" had replaced the Taste guitarist as the go-to pride of underarm-pit credentials.

Hell, with our gorgeous long hair and nit-spreading headbanger capabilities, in order to impress the lasses even more, some of us with a more sensitive and perhaps even girly disposition had their copy of Colin Blunstone's "Ennismore" to hand at all times. This could be craftily swapped with Sandy Denny's second solo LP "Sandy" or Nick Drake's "Pink Moon" or Lesley Duncan's "Earth Mother" or Cat Stevens' "Catch Bull At Four" or even (going all thoughtful like) with Randy Newman's "Sail Away". But by the time we hit the last three months of 1972 – the call of the lounge room tennis racket, Elfin paperback and one-consciousness cheesecloth shirt could no longer be denied - and we were back Rockin' and Progin' and doing the chanting Sri Chinmoy like a goodun to the likes of "Focus 3", "Close To The Edge", "Foxtrot", "Squawk" and "Caravanserai". Yeah baby...

Which brings us to December 1972. On the 8th of that Christmas month, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band released their debut album "Framed" on Vertigo 6360 081 with its Buff's Bar Blues and Midnight Moses - while Leonard and Marshall reminded us from whence all the Rock and Roll came - Chuck Berry and his "Golden Decade Volume 2" double-album set on Chess 6641 058. Amongst them was the no-nonsense "Piledriver" on Vertigo 6360 082 (the band had just signed to Vertigo) - delayed from the 8th until the 15th of December - Status Quo's genuine breakthrough Hard Rock moment...

The hairy foursome's album had also been preceded by an equally storming single in "Paper Plane" b/w "Softer Ride" in November 1972 on Vertigo 6059 071 (although non-album at the time of 45-release, "Softer Ride" would eventually emerge on the November 1973 "Hello" LP). With the combination of strong reaction from fans to its straight-up Blues Boogie feel, Vertigo Records promotion that allied the Quo with another popular British Heavy Metal band Black Sabbath and DJ-canny radio-play for what they knew was a catchy tune - both the 45 and LP rightly saw big chart action in January 1973 (No. 7 for the single and No. 5 for the LP on a 37-week run). 

So it was after years of touring, studio graft and ditching the Psychedelic 60ts sound for the Hard Rock of the new decade (begun on 1970's "Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon" on Pye Records) - at last Status Quo were on their way. They thereafter clocked up an astonishing 34 consecutive chart entries and a tribe of collectors known for their fanatical loyalty. And that's where this 2005 'From The Makers Of' CD Reissue and Remaster comes boogieing in...

UK released 31 January 2005 – "Piledriver" by STATUS QUO on Universal/Mercury 982 597-7 (Barcode 602498259771) is an Expanded Edition ‘From The Makers Of’ CD Reissue and Remaster with One Bonus Live Track that plays out as follows (44:26 minutes):

1. Don't Waste My Time [Side 1]

2. Oh Baby

3. A Year

4. Unspoken Words

5. Big Fat Mama [Side 2]

6. Paper Plane

7. All The Reasons

8. Roadhouse Blues

Tracks 1 to 8 are their fifth studio album "Piledriver" - released 15 December 1972 in the UK on Vertigo 6362 080 and January 1973 in the USA on A&M Records SP-4381.

BONUS TRACK:

9. Don't Waste My Time (Live) - Exclusive Track on the February 1974 UK-released compilation LP "Reading Festival '73" on GM Records GML 1008

STATUS QUO was:

FRANCIS ROSSI - Lead Guitar, 12-String and Acoustic Guitars and Lead Vocals

RICHARD PARFITT - 2nd Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Piano, Organ and Vocals

ALAN LANCASTER - Bass Guitar, 12-String Acoustic Guitar and Vocals

JOHN COUGHLAN - Drums and Percussion

Guests:

ROB YOUNG - Harmonica

JIMMY HOROWITZ - Additional Piano

The 14-page booklet is a surprisingly pretty affair, the original LP's gatefold artwork on the centre-pages, the lyrics to all eight of the album tracks, rare Japanese and two Euro picture sleeves for the "Paper Plane" single as well as customer-friendly liner notes from GARRY FIELDING. There are also live photos and the gorilla-holding-a-torpedo logo that adorned the rear cover. And the TIM TURAN Remaster is huge and punchy - he did the Nazareth catalogue and I loved the sound on those too. Might have been nice though to acknowledge Rob Young and his huge presence in the Quo universe by way of a photo. Young would of course become a future member of the heads down band and co-wrote “Don’t Waste My Time”, “Unspoken Words” and the hit “Paper Plane” with Francis Rossi.

As if to reflect the front cover's declaration of we're here to boogie - Side 1 opens with the crunching guitar-chug of "Don't Waste My Time" - itself compounded by one of my fave Quo gems - "Oh Baby" - a fabulous piece of riffage. There then follows two surprisingly sophisticated and pretty Quo tunes - the lovely "A Year" and the wistful strum of "Unspoken Words" - loving those almost Fleetwood Mac guitar fills and Bluesy solo as he sings "...hold your hand high..." 

Side 2 opens with a biggie for SQ nuts - "Big Fat Mama" – a first rate Rocker that encapsulates their sound – say you need me – say you need me - yes I do - Parfitt's piano fills as they riff onwards to the six-minute end. The single "Paper Plane" was actually never a fave of mine (we all make mistakes, please forgive me) - but it changed everything for Status Quo - a slice of simple guitar Rock - the band's playing tight as they give it a bit of three grand Deutsche car. Sappy as the Lancaster/Parfitt song "All The Reasons" is - I've always loved it - full of that great Quo combo of melody and guitar - hell even that solo is kinda cute. But its trashed by a fantastic 1-2-3-4 cover of The Doors winner "Roadhouse Blues" - a hunker-down Canned Heat type of boogie juggernaut from their 1970 "Morrison Hotel" LP. Its eight minutes of in and out rocking is immeasurably aided by great Harmonica wailing from Rob Young. And I love the way Morrison and Quo make the lyrics "I woke up this morning and I got myself a beer..." sound like the most coolly defiant thing in the world. "...This is a track on that "Piledriver" album..." Rossi announces to a clearly turned on Reading Festival audience on the bonus track – the band sounding exactly like the LP opener – unbelievably tight - the addition an actual bonus in both name and deed.

For sure there are those who in December 2019 (forty-seven years after their hair and sanity has long since disappeared) will say that this is good Classic Seventies Rock for sure - but it's also dated and a tad samey. And of course, in some ways, they'd be right. But man when the Quo was good, they were the piledriving best (and tis only a fiver). 

RIP Rick Parfitt and thanks for the glorious memories...

"Rebel" by JOHN MILES (March 2008 Lemon Recordings 'Expanded Edition' CD - Tim Turan Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...The Man Behind The Guitar..."

Jarrow's JOHN MILES popped out his debut album "Rebel" in March 1976 on Decca Records and promptly took his native Blighty by storm (and everywhere else for that matter as evidenced by the number of picture sleeves to the "Music" single on Page 2 of the gorgeous booklet).

Produced by studio whizz Alan Parsons who’d steered Pink Floyd’s "The Dark Side Of The Moon" to global domination in 1973 and containing the reasonable hit "Highfly" from the preceding year (No. 17 in October 1975) - "Rebel" the album had one further absolute ace up its tootin' sleeve - the single "Music".

Clocking up a whopping 10 failed singles on Orange and Decca Records since 1970 - Miles had been around for years - writing and slugging away. But the six-minute "Music" released in the same month as the album (March 1976) caught the public's imagination and heart completely. I remember it was absolutely huge - people basking in its sentiment, brilliant slow-to-funky structure and those epic Andrew Powell string arrangements. Tapping into that Elton John "Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy", Wings "Venus And Mars" and 10cc "How Dare You" marketplace for sophisticated rock - "Music" pushed up to No. 3 on the UK pop charts and would come to define John Mile's song legacy for decades after. 

But there's other goodies on this album worth seeking out and that's where this rather superb Lemon Recordings CD reissue comes shooting in. Here are the details...

UK released March 2008 (May 2008 in the USA) - "Rebel" by JOHN MILES on Lemon Recordings CD LEM 105 (Barcode 5013929770522) is an 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue and Remaster with Two Bonus Tracks that plays out as follows (49:53 minutes):

1. Music [Side 1]

2. Everybody Wants Some More

3. Highfly

4. You Have It All

5. Rebel [Side 2]

6. When You Lose Someone So Young

7. Lady Of My Life

8. Pull The Damn Thing Down

9. Music (Reprise)

Tracks 1 to 9 are his debut album "Rebel" - released March 1976 in the UK on Decca SKL 5231 and April 1976 in the USA on London PS 669. Produced by ALAN PARSONS - it peaked at No. 9 in the UK and No. 171 in the USA. John Miles and Bob Wallace wrote all songs except "Music" and "Lady Of My Life" by John Miles.

BONUS TRACKS:

10. There's A Man Behind The Guitar - non-album B-side to the UK 7" single for "Highfly" released September 1975 on Decca F 13595

11. Putting My New Song Together - non-album B-side to the UK 7" single for "Music" released March 1976 on Decca F 13627

JOHN MILES - Lead Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards

BOB MARSHALL - Bass

BARRY BLACK - Drums And Percussion

Guests:

The Maggini Quartet - Strings on "Music"

Phil Kenzie - Saxophone solo on "Lady Of My Life"

Andrew Powell - String Arrangements

The 16-page booklet is a feast of foreign pictures sleeves for the albums two big hitters "Highfly" and "Music" - rare issues from around the word - sheet music and more. You also get the lyrics and new decently in-depth liner notes from STEPHEN CARSON. The foldout poster that came with original copies of the British vinyl LP was the front sleeve photographed by Terry O'Neill but because of the cover art to the booklet is exactly that - it's kind of superfluous to requirements so Lemon have left it out. TIM TURAN - who handled the Nazareth catalogue to such great effect - has taken a beautifully produced album and given it the CD upgrade it deserves. This disc sounds great and fans are also going to appreciate those two rare non-album B-sides in such rocking audio.

The album opens and closes on the epic "Music" - his piano gently leading in the song before funk and strings take it to another level. Overplayed a tad on radio these days - it still holds up and you can so hear why it was so huge 40 years ago. That's followed by another one of the album's genuinely great tracks - the very 10cc-meets-ELO "Everybody Wants Some More" where his great vocals soar up and down to complimentary strings and clever arrangements. The incredibly Pilot-meets-The Hollies sounding "Highfly" was an obvious single and came out as far back as September 1975 and was rewarded with his taste of chart action - No. 17. The side ends on the seven-minute "You Have It All" and feels so Captain Fantastic Elton John it's not true - all guitars and keyboards that funk and boogie like they're making a Prog record.

I've always felt that "Rebel" was the hammy overdone moment on the record - better is the touching "When You Lose Someone So Young" which is almost done for by strings but gets through. Hall & Oates fans might like the keyboard slink of "Lady Of My Life" which has a very "Abandoned Luncheonette" feel to it. It ends on the seven-minute "Pull The Damn Thing Down" - a ecology song about over-building that rocks to the finish with a segue into a "Music" Reprise. Of the two B-sides I prefer the rocking "Putting My New Song Together" where words and music are going around his head while riffage threatens to do your speakers in.

I've always wondered why "Rebel" receives so many five-star reviews - it just isn't that great an album (a good one yes, a great one, no). In fact I think his follow-up "Stranger In The City" from February 1977 also reissued with Bonus Tracks by Lemon was a better record overall. But if you've any love for the "Music" of 1976 - then this is most definitely the version of "Rebel" to let into your living room. Well done to all involved...

"Loud 'N' Proud” by NAZARETH (Their 4th Album From 1973 Reissued By Salvo Records of the UK on a 2010 Remastered & Expanded CD) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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"…You've Got The Lovin' I Like…"

Like most people I was introduced to Scotland's finest rock band by way of their kick-ass 7" single "Bad Bad Boy" when it first hit the UK airwaves in July 1973 (it capitalised on their 3rd album released in March of that year - the blisteringly good "Razamanaz"). 

"Loud 'N' Proud" was their follow up LP and like its predecessor, it had plenty of Seventies rock swagger to recommend it. Here are the big hairy details…

UK released February 2010 - "Loud 'N' Proud" by NAZARETH on Salvo Records SALVOCD 033 (Barcode 698458813329) is a 'Remastered & Expanded' CD with Four Bonus Tracks that plays out as follows (51:09 minutes):

1. Go Down Fighting

2. Not Faking It

3. Turn On Your Receiver

4. Teenage Nervous Breakdown

5. Freewheeler [Side 2]

6. This Flight Tonight

7. Child In The Sun

8. The Ballad Of Hollis Brown

Tracks 1 to 8 are the album "Loud 'N' Proud" released November 1973 in the UK on Mooncrest Records CREST 4 and March 1974 on A&M Records SP-3609 in the USA. As with "Razamanaz", it featured the same band line-up (Dan McCafferty on Lead Vocals, Manny Charlton on Guitars & Vocals, Pete Agnew on Bass & Vocals and Darrell Sweet on Drums & Vocals) with ROGER GLOVER of DEEP PURPLE fame producing the album to great effect.

BONUS TRACKS:

9. Turn On Your Receiver

10. Too Bad Too Sad

11. Razamanaz

12. Bad Bad Boy

Tracks 9 to 12 are BBC SESSIONS recorded live-in-the-studio for The BOB HARRIS Show on the UK's Radio 1 - first broadcast 13 August 1973.

Each of these Salvo issues comes in a Tri-Gatefold card sleeve with the 'Loud, Proud & Remastered' logo on the front cover. When folded out, you get a repro of the original UK LP artwork and live shots from the period (the disc is in the right flap, the booklet in the left). The 16-page colour booklet is superb, liner notes by band expert JOEL McIVER, pictures of rare European picture sleeves, a USA A&M white-label promo of "This Flight Tonight", centred by a black and white snap of the band looking suitably liquored up on the steps of a snazzy jet - all of it very nicely done.

But the really big news for the fans (as it is on the other Salvo CDs) is the fantastic new SOUND. TIM TURAN at Turan Audio has remastered the original tapes and a truly fabulous job has been done - loud, clear, and ballsy - without ever being overbearing.

As a follow-up album, "Loud 'N' Proud" had a lot to live up to - and the general consensus is that it only 'kind-of' delivered. It was a rushed effort. Three of its songs were cover versions - "Teenage Nervous Breakdown" by Little Feat, "This Flight Tonight" by Joni Mitchell (lyrics above and a hit single) and "The Ballad Of Hollis Brown" by Bob Dylan. That left only 5 originals dashed off in only 1 week in the studio. Yet "Turn On Your Receiver" and the funky guitar workout of "Freewheeler" were cracking great rock tracks and still are. The speedy "Not Faking It" is typically catchy rocking Nazareth fare, while the slow "Child In The Sun" stretched the band out across is its bluesy length. Overall - it was good album rather than a great one.

The BBC stuff is fantastic though - rough and rocking, but still so tight - the band were clearly on fire and had truly found their boogie stride. They make for genuinely superb extra tracks. A great reissue then of a really good Seventies rock album. And it's cheap too…