It’s been a while, but here’s another installment of rock songs / classics that share a well known title. If there’s any other tracks titled “Dream On”, please drop them in the comments.
AEROSMITH – 1973
Aerosmith’s first single, from their first album, penned by Steven Tyler. Perhaps the band’s best loved classic.
SWEET – 1978
A ballad from the Level Headed album. Written and sang by Andy Scott. A strange choice as the lead off track on this album in some countries.
BLACKFOOT – 1980
A cool rock track from Blackfoot’s 4th album. Wasn’t the single, and not sure if this was ever played live, but solid tune on one of BF’s best albums..
NAZARETH – 1982
An excellent ballad, from 1982s 2xS album. I bought this album back then, my only Naz album for years (liked this track and “Love Leads To Madness”) Canadian band Helix did a fine cover of this in 1987.
RUSS BALLARD – 1985
A single, from The Fire Still Burns album. A good pop-rock cut, slightly reminiscent of Loverboy’s “Turn Me Loose”. Covered by American band King Kobra in ’86.
URIAH HEEP – 1995
The single and the last track from Uriah Heep’s 1995 comeback album Sea of Light. Penned by Trevor Bolder, another ballad, built around acoustic guitars and harmonies.
SAXON recently released a sequel to their 2021 covers’ album Inspirations. So, More Inspirations is 10 classic rock songs that have been been given the Saxon treatment. I do Not normally like or buy covers’ albums, but the 2 Saxon have made I am happy with. The band tends to choose plenty less-then obvious gems to include. They also keep the production simple, without adding things that are not part of the song or not part of the Saxon sound, hence there’ s no keyboards on the likes of “Gypsy” (Uriah Heep), or “Man On The Silver Mountain” (Rainbow), which is fine, both still sound great!.
Favorites here include the band’s takes on “Tales Of Brave Ulysses” (Cream), “Substitute” (The Who), “From The Inside” (Alice Cooper), and Nazareth’s “Razamanaz”, which suits Saxon & Biff’s voice perfectly! Love the band’s performances here, and Biff has one of the most recognizable voices in British rock. Well worth checking out!
British Heavy Metal legends SAXON unleash the high-octane second single, “Razamanaz”, from More Inspirations – out this Friday, March 24th via Silver Lining Music.
Following the release of Inspirations in 2021, More Inspirations is the second ‘deep dish’ serving of the influences which have fed the mighty Saxon’s immensely successful 40+ year career. The second single is a striking take on Nazareth’s “Razamanaz”.
FrontmanBiff Byford comments “In the seventies we’d go and see Nazareth they were one of the premier touring hard rock bands. We were lucky to tour with them in 1980, they used to open the show with this song, it’s about the audience performed to an audience… brilliant stuff!”
Watch/Listen to the recently released “The Faith Healer”, the “making of” video directed by Jay Shredder, at this location
Whether unveiling a sensational take on The Sensational Alex Harvey Band’s “The Faith Healer” (in the process showing the direct lineage from teenage turntables to international glory), getting feral with The Animal’s “We’ve Gotta Get Out Of This Place”, letting loose a high-octane take on Alice Cooper’s “From The Inside”, or laying down a ferocious tribute to KISS’ “Detroit Rock City”, More Inspirations is a joyous trip into the sounds which galvanized the Barnsley boys and continue to get spun on home stereos and tour buses.
Produced by vocalist/co-founder Biff Byford, with Seb Byford helping record the music alongside mixing engineer Jacky Lehmann, More Inspirations also includes enthusiastic takes on Alice Cooper, Rainbow, ZZ Top and Cream, as well as a thunderous “Razamanaz” by Nazareth, a tasty take on The Who’s “Substitute”, and a thick groove take on Uriah Heep’s “Gypsy”.
Whether this is your first dance with such classic songs, or you’ve come to see where Saxon were born, More Inspirations delivers the goods and then some.
I’m not a big fan of covers albums, but I eventually picked up Saxon’s Inspirations from 2021, and thought it was a fine addition to the band’s catalogue, and they’re following it up with a ‘part 2’, simply titled More Inspirations (hmm, will part 3 be called ‘Even More…’ ?) Anyway, the first single sounds great, a cover of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band’s “The Faith Healer”, and I’m looking forward to hearing many of the titles included on it, such as Heep’s “Gypsy”, Alice Cooper’s “From The Inside”, ZZ Top’s “Chevrolet”, and Rainbow’s “Man On The Silver Mountain.” *Check out a full track listing below, the first video, and all the links and order info below! As well, read the press info for more details.
British Heavy Metal legends Saxon unveil the first single “The Faith Healer”, from the upcoming More Inspirations – set for release on March 24th via Silver Lining Music. Following the release of Inspirations in 2021, More Inspirations is the second ‘deep dish’ serving of the influences which have fed the mighty Saxon’s immensely successful 40+ year career. The first single is an astonishing take on The Sensational Alex Harvey Band’s “The Faith Healer”.
Frontman Biff Byford comments “We used to see The Sensational Alex Harvey band play this back in the day, they started the set with it, such a fantastic song and fantastic band… big influence!” Listen To/Watch “The Faith Healer”, the “making of” video directed by Jay Shredder.
Whether getting feral with The Animal’s “We’ve Gotta Get Out Of This Place”, letting loose a high-octane take on Alice Cooper’s “From The Inside”, or laying down a ferocious tribute to KISS’ “Detroit Rock City”, More Inspirations is a joyous trip into the sounds which galvanized the Barnsley boys and continue to get spun on home stereos and tour buses.
Produced by vocalist/co-founder Biff Byford, with Seb Byford helping record the music alongside mixing engineer Jacky Lehmann. More Inspirations also includes enthusiastic takes on Alice Cooper, Rainbow, ZZ Top and Cream, as well as a thunderous “Razamanaz” by Nazareth, a tasty take on The Who’s “Substitute”, and a thick groove take on Uriah Heep’s “Gypsy”. Whether this is your first dance with such classic songs, or you’ve come to see where Saxon were born, More Inspirations delivers the goods and then some. Following the success of the Seize the World Tour 2022, Saxon will be back on the road in March 2023 for a string of European dates, with special guest’s German metal titans RAGE. For a full list of confirmed dates, tickets, and additional information visit this this location.
More Inspirations will be available on 12” Black Vinyl, CD Digipak, digital formats and special D2C bundles; to pre-order go tothis location.
Loud ‘n’ Proud is the title of Martin Popoff’s brand new book. It’s a visual history of the band, much like some of his previous ones in this series – Uriah Heep, Thin Lizzy, BOC…. below is the press info / details from Martin.
Nazareth: A Visual Biography is my weighty 1.65 kg, 8 ½” x 12” hardback coffee table book on Scottish hard rockers Nazareth. Easy PayPal buttons right here: http://www.martinpopoff.com/html/nazareth-a-visual-biography.html The chief mission is to celebrate the entire 50 years of the band’s hard-working career, utilizing my time-honored detailed timeline and quotes format. But that’s just the start. Besides the fully 52,000 words of academic timeline framing and commentary from the band in their own words, the book features fully 615 pictures, placed reverently upon sumptuous 100 lb. gloss paper. “Now you’re messin’…” Dunfermline, Scotland’s finest may not sound like much of a boast, but Nazareth made sure the world heard them howl, staking their claim first down in London but then conquering in sequence Canada, Germany, Russia and Brazil, all territories that remain huge Naz-lovers to this day.
Happy bassist Pete Agnew has been a constant throughout—running the ship in fact—but perhaps most notorious through the lineups that have flown this proud banner through the years has been vocalist Dan McCafferty, forced to the sidelines recently due to respiratory issues, much to the sorrow of millions of fans around the globe. But as Pete has said, “You don’t retire from this business—you do it until you die,” and so the band carries on, now with Carl Sentance singing up a storm, in front of a lineup of consummate songwriters and musicians that has been stable for an astonishing run of beloved recent albums. But it is of course the material from the glory years that keeps packing the venues.
Scotland wouldn’t be on the rock ‘n’ roll map without the likes of Razamanaz, Loud ‘n’ Proud, Hair of the Dog, Expect No Mercy and No Mean City going gold and platinum across more territories than most bands can find on a map, let alone having been there. And inside of those records… well, classic rock radio would be a sadder place without “Broken Down Angel,” “Bad Bad Boy,” “Woke Up This Morning,” “This Flight Tonight,” “Hair of the Dog,” “Miss Misery,” Love Hurts,” “Telegram,” “Hearts Grown Cold” and “Dream On” at the level of constant rotation they still enjoy today. So come join the celebration, as Martin Popoff takes us through 50 years of Naz, utilizing his trusty timeline technique, with illuminating quotes along the way. But that’s just the academic side: Loud ‘n’ Proud – 50 Years of Nazareth is all about the pictorial, from live shots to posters, 45 sleeves, magazine ads, backstage passes, ticket stubs and promo items. That’s all here, decade by decade, creating a sumptuous historical document that is a feast for the eyes, hopefully consumed with a jar or two at the ready .
Again, the link to order is: http://www.martinpopoff.com/html/nazareth-a-visual-biography.html Books will be signed by me to you unless you wave your arms wildly and tell me otherwise within like half an hour of ordering. Price including shipping (yes, it’s higher than usual, but this is now ordered in very low quantities): US orders, $75.00 US funds; Int’l orders (air mail), $99.00 US funds; Canadian orders, $88.00, Cdn. Funds. If you would like a PayPal invoice, please indicate what country you are in and give me the email address you use at PayPal. Or just do yer usual and direct funds to martinp@inforamp.net . *Or mail payment (personal check in US funds, cash, or INTERNATIONAL money order), to: Martin Popoff, P.O. Box 65208, 358 Danforth Ave., Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4K 2Z2. Email martinp@inforamp.net with any questions. Sweet postage savings to be had for multiple orders (or two of pretty much anything—long story, ask me!) for US orders.
Outsider Rock 