It's hard to believe that I'm the first to write a review of this seminal album. There isn't even a condescending "editorial" review, only some general remarks about such things as the artwork, which by the way is quite unusual. Child mannequins are sitting around a picnic table watching a large fire burn out of control. On the back, the mannequins are looking at the stars through a telescope. Bizarre - but then the album itself is a different one for Nazareth. Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, of Steely Dan and Doobie Brothers fame, stepped in as producer and played on some tracks. The band was in search of a new sound, and they did a wonderful job of finding it. This record is very accessible throughout and radio friendly in places, but maintains the hard edge that the band is known for. Songs like Hearts Grown Cold showcase their considerable skill with ballads, Holiday is great pop song, Talking to One of the Boys is a great number, Fast Cars has a vibraphone accompaniment that adds a sort of experimental feel. There really isn't a weak track on the album - it just goes from strength to strength. The last song, Turning a New Leaf, plays in my head constantly. Malice in Wonderland is perhaps Nazareth's most accessible album and I wouldn't be surprised if some fans of their earlier music saw it as a sellout when it was first released. Nevertheless, anyone who appreciates good rock music is insane if they don't give this album a chance. Don't take my word for it, the band themselves say that this one is a favorite and they include more songs from it in their live set than any other. So pick up a copy - it's a classic.

You wouldn't be looking at this review if you didn't already know Nazareth so I am not going to start a debate on wether this album is better than No Mean City etc...so let's just talk about the quality of the sound on this product.

The sound quality is simply top notch - this is one of the best remastered copies of music that I have heard in a long time. It literally sounds as if it were originally recorded in a CD - Wave file music format. No sound artifacts, crisp and clean through it all.

The real treat on this disk outside of the masterfully completed remastering to digital format is the Live BBC Session music. I never had the opportunity to see this band play live and the quality of this live session is just great. I love hearing the raw live sound and it was worth the price of this disk alone in my opinion just to own track 11, 12 and 15 in Live Music. Track 15 is a particular treat in that they are two of my favorite Naz songs and they transition from one directly into the other wonderfully without breaking the songs up.

Great quality sound - reasonable price, if you are a Nazareth fan already, this is well worth the money for the clarity and Live Sound recordings. If you are new to Nazareth - I personally recommend you start with No Mean City in your collection.

I bought this vinyl back in the day. The record I had couldn't be beat by this digital version but the old good classic rock tunes are there and still sound awesome! Nazareth added the guitarist Zal Cleminson to their lineup this time around and this little change was to me a remarkable improvement on an already great sound. It remains to this day one of my favorite LPs. 'Holiday' and 'Heart's Grown Cold' are the outstanding hits, of course, but the rest of the album shines!! Good stuff!!

Originally released in 1980, as I remember the very day this record hit the stores. A decent later-day Nazareth effort. Tunes I liked best were the radio friendly "Holiday", "Talking To One Of The Boys","Talking About Love" and the four added bonus tracks, "Razamanaz", "Hair Of The Dog" plus two more, apparently taked from a live EP. Basically, just fairly good '70's album hard rock to be fully experienced here. Enjoy.

Amazon is the only place I could find this Nazareth CD...I will do my shopping here from now on.