The Fool Circle

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The Fool Circle
Studio album by
ReleasedFebruary 1981[1]
StudioAIR (Montserrat)
GenreHard rock
Length36:23
LabelNEMS
ProducerJeff Baxter
Nazareth chronology
Malice in Wonderland
(1980)
The Fool Circle
(1981)
'Snaz
(1981)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]

The Fool Circle is the twelfth studio album by Scottish hard rock band Nazareth, released in February 1981. "Cocaine" was a live cover of the song written by J. J. Cale and recorded in 1977 by Eric Clapton. There are remastered editions of the album with different sets of bonus tracks.

Because in 1997 Castle Communications was unwilling to produce a 2-CD set of the double live album 'Snaz, four tracks were removed so that a remastered version could be released on a single CD. Rob Corich, who was doing the remastering, included these songs here as bonus tracks to rectify this.

The Fool Circle is notable for a reggae sound on many of the songs. In an interview bassist Pete Agnew commented: "'Fool Circle' was the nearest we came to making a concept album, trying to inject a bit of humour into a pretty heavy subject. I think the fact that we recorded it on the island of Montserrat might account for a teeny bit of reggae poking its way through."[3]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Dressed to Kill"
J.J. Cale
cover; live)
J.J. Cale4:34
10."Victoria"Sweet3:19

1998 Castle Communications Remaster Bonus Tracks

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."Every Young Man's Dream" (live)
Darrell Sweet
3:47
12."Big Boy" (live)Zal Cleminson5:12
13."Juicy Lucy"Agnew, Charlton, McCafferty, Sweet4:17
14."Morning Dew" (Bonnie Dobson cover; 1981 version)Bonnie Dobson, Tim Rose3:55

2002 30th Anniversary Bonus Tracks

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."Morning Dew" (1981 version)Dobson, Rose3:56
12."Dressed to Kill" (single edit)McCafferty, Agnew3:47
13."Pop the Silo" (single edit; B-side of Dressed To Kill)McCafferty, Agnew3:18
14."Let Me Be Your Leader" (live)Manny Charlton4:16
15."Dressed to Kill" (live)McCafferty, Agnew3:32
16."Pop the Silo" (live)McCafferty, Agnew1:15
17."Morgentau" (German language version of Morning Dew)Dobson, Rose4:03

2010 Salvo Remaster Bonus Tracks

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."Morgentau" (German version of Morning Dew)Dobson, Rose4:01
12."Crazy (A Suitable Case for Treatment)" (from the Heavy Metal soundtrack)McCafferty, Charlton, Agnew, Sweet3:25
13."Razamanaz" (live 7-inch EP version)McCafferty, Charlton, Agnew, Sweet4:23
14."Heart's Grown Cold" (live 7-inch EP version)Cleminson5:43
15."Talkin' to One of the Boys" (live 7-inch EP version)Cleminson, McCafferty, Agnew4:43
16."Hair of the Dog" (live 7-inch EP version)McCafferty, Charlton, Agnew, Sweet4:54
  • Morgentau and Crazy (A Suitable Case for Treatment) are also available on Salvo reissue of 'Snaz album.
  • The last four tracks are from unedited version of the EP Nazareth Live released in 1980.

Personnel

Band members

Additional musicians

Other credits

  • Recorded and mixed at
    Air Studios
  • Geoff Emerick – sound engineer
  • Alan Schmidt and Pat Carroll – sleeve design
  • Illustration by Chris Moore

Charts

Chart (1981) Peak
position
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[4] 31
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[5] 29
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[6] 33
UK Albums (OCC)[7] 60
US Billboard 200[8] 70

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[9] Gold 50,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. .
  2. ^ AllMusic
  3. ^ Epstein, Dmitry M., (February 2004). "Interview with Pete Agnew (Nazareth)". DMR Let it Rock. Archived from the original on 14 May 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 0302". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
  5. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Nazareth – The Fool Circle". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
  6. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Nazareth – The Fool Circle". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
  7. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
  8. ^ "Nazareth Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
  9. . Retrieved 29 April 2021.