''Exercises'' is the second studio

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by the Scottish hard rock band

Nazareth Nazareth ( ; ar, النَّاصِرَة, ''an-Nāṣira''; he, נָצְרַת, ''Nāṣəraṯ''; arc, ܢܨܪܬ, ''Naṣrath'') is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel". In ...

, released in 1972. Although their music is most accurately described as "blues-tinged hard rock" (CD liner notes), this record is quite far from the band's more standard fare, featuring, quite surprisingly, a number of acoustic arrangements, several songs with orchestral strings, and traditional Scottish airs. Indeed, the album's "1692 (Glen Coe Massacre)" is about a real incident in Scottish history, namely, the

massacre of Glencoe The Massacre of Glencoe ( gd, Murt Ghlinne Comhann) took place in Glen Coe in the Highlands of Scotland The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Cultur ...

. The album is also significant for its Roy Thomas Baker production—only his third project, and well before his breakthrough works with Queen in the mid-seventies—and its oddly 'new wave' cover-art (designed by CCS Associates). An early version of the Razamanaz song, "Woke Up This Morning", also makes an appearance on Side 1. There were no cover versions on the album: it wouldn't be until their 10th studio album, ''

No Mean City ''No Mean City'' is a 1935 novel by H. Kingsley Long, a journalist, and Alexander McArthur, an unemployed worker. It is an account of life in the Gorbals, a run-down slum district of Glasgow (now mostly demolished, but re-built in a contempora ...

'', that there was another album totally written by the band members.

Track listing

30th anniversary bonus tracks

Personnel

;Nazareth *

Dan McCafferty William Daniel McCafferty (14 October 1946 – 8 November 2022) was a vocalist and songwriter best known as the lead singer for the Scottish hard rock band Nazareth from its founding in 1968 to his retirement from touring with the band in 2013. ...

- vocals * Darrell Sweet - drums, backing vocals * Pete Agnew - bass guitar, acoustic guitar, backing vocals *

Manny Charlton Manuel Charlton (25 July 1941 – 5 July 2022) was a Scottish musician, who was known as a founding member of the influential Scottish hard rock band Nazareth and was their lead guitarist from 1968 to 1990. He also produced a string of succe ...

- guitar, 12-string guitar, backing vocals ;Additional musicians *

David Hentschel David Hentschel (born 18 December 1952) is an English recording engineer, film score composer and music producer who engineered on George Harrison's ''All Things Must Pass'' and Elton John's ''Goodbye Yellow Brick Road'', as well as for such a ...

- synthesizer (A4, B2, B5) *Jedd Lander -

bagpipes Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, No ...

(B5),

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

(A2, B1) *Colin Frechter - string arrangements (A1, B4, B5) ;Technical *Robert M. Corich - liner notes, remastering *Laura Vallis - design *Mike Brown - remastering *

Roy Thomas Baker Roy Thomas Baker (born 10 November 1946) is an English record producer, songwriter and arranger, who has produced rock and pop and songs since the 1970s. Career Baker began his career at Decca Records at the age of 14 and later worked as an a ...

- producer *Dave Field - Logo Design

References

External links

Lyrics to songs from ''Exercises''
{{Authority control Nazareth (band) albums 1972 albums Albums produced by Roy Thomas Baker Mooncrest Records albums Warner Records albums A&M Records albums Philips Records albums Vertigo Records albums albums recorded at Trident Studios