Monday, October 2, 2006
THE SLADE BOX
THE SLADE BOX
For many years now, it has been blatantly obvious that SLADE were one of those bands who were more deserving than most to have a complete career overview package released in the form of a box set. SLADE had more hit singles and albums than just about anyone else from their era.
This situation has now been resolved with the release of THE SLADE BOX by Salvo and Union Square Music.
One of the great problems with a band like SLADE is that, for many who weren't fortunate enough to have been around at the time, they are known only as 'that band who did that Christmas record'... or worse still, as a set of glam rock brickies, along with The Sweet and T.Rex.
That's a pair of great understatements and falsehoods concerning a long and distinguished career, which took in around twenty albums and a fantastic run of singles which turned all of the band members into household names in the seventies. Most everyone who had ears knew a SLADE record when it came on the radio and many could name all four of the band.... something previously reserved for the likes of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Can anyone who's reading this name all of Oasis? I thought not. Sorry, Noel.
This 4CD box set aims to set the record straight and let people who care to listen hear that Slade were one helluva rock band. The most important thing here is the music - even though the 72 page booklet will thrill most fans, with its exclusive and unseen photos, Keith Altham essay and band comments.
I won't spoil the surprise any further, but you have to see it!
Slade started off as just another Midlands band, with four great musicians and a distinctly bizarre setlist, slogging it out on the national club circuit, but it took the input of Chas Chandler (whose unique importance to SLADE's career could never be over-stressed) to get them to focus on writing songs and to produce the massive hit sound that stayed with them from day one right up until the day they parted company with him.
Immediately upon taking over their management, Chandler got the band into the studio and had them record a new song he had found for them called 'Wild winds are blowing'. Straight away, it was noticeable that they had found a tough, aggressive sound on record that wasn't there before.
Their impressive musicianship shines through on the early recordings at the start of disc one. Their breakthrough single was 'Get down and get with it' .
That early hit record set the tone for their majority of their career. Nod's vocals that could vary from a subtle whisper through to a bellowing rawwwk scream, appear on every song, over unison guitar riffs, cracking drums and pulsating throbbing bass - delivering great, catchy, loud good time music.
The band had their subtle and melodic moments too - often these are ridiculously forgotten when compared to the likes of 'Cum on feel the noize', 'Gudbuy T'Jane' and 'We'll bring the house down' - all big hits for the band.
Songs like 'Everyday', 'How does it feel', 'Far far away', 'All join hands' and 'My oh my' are joined here by classic b-sides like 'Kill 'em at the Hot Club tonite' (the least likely song SLADE ever released - a versatile jazzy cross between Stephan Grapelli and Django Reinhardt), 'Wonderin' Y' and 'She did it to me' - huge fan favourites and sounding as good as they ever did!
Slade's formidable chart statistics are available on this site and they show what a BIG group SLADE were. Disc one captures their earliest chart successes - and some of their biggest ones, too. A stray track from Slade Alive! (see the live anthology to hear more of this utterly breathtaking show) shows the sheer power of the band when they played live.
Disc two continues through the remainder of what the band called 'the Champagne years' (including a rare feature vocal by Jimmy Lea on 'When the lights are out') and takes us into the period when Slade moved over to Barn Records. Their 'Whatever happened to Slade' album didn't sell that well at the time and it's pleasing to hear some of the better tracks on here now. The astonishing 'Be' sounds as unbelievable today as back in 1977.
Disc three starts with Slade's one and only noble attempt to dent the UK charts with a football anthem ('Give us a goal'). If the song had been about anything else, it would have charted convincingly. It's a quite credible rock tune!
Fickle music fashion at the time dictated that their follow-up singles didn't get radio play and some of Slade's best ever songs sunk without trace. However, they are resurrected here: 'It's Alright Buy Me', 'Ginny Ginny' and 'Not Tonight Josephine' are some of their strongest ever performances and it's great to hear them again, newly remastered and sounding all the better for it.
SLADE had their well-documented chart resurgence after the Reading Rock Festival in 1980 (where Jim Lea had his famous little strop about having written more hits than the rest of the bill put together - which he had) and followed it up with another smash appearance at Donington in 1981. There are tracks here from their then-current albums and they show how SLADE adapted to the times, yet kept their own individuality and sense of fun.
Still, no-one else sounded like SLADE.
Around this time, after an abortive 1984 US tour where Jim Lea was dogged by severe ill-health, Noddy Holder called an abrupt and total halt to the band's live shows and SLADE's profile inevitably lowered. It was a bizarre thing to happen, because their music was still such really strong stuff. They were still making great records, as you will hear from the evidence here.
The final disc of this set - disc four - shows the band at the point where they began to finally get an amount of chart success in America after years of trying. It features songs from their 1983 'Amazing kamikaze syndrome' album (re-titled 'Keep your hands off my power supply' in the USA, where it was released with an amended track listing on the CBS label). The best known of these will probably be 'My oh my' and 'Run runaway' - both quite sizeable hits in the UK.
The follow up albums 'Rogues Gallery' and 'You boyz make big noize' are also represented here by songs that SLADE never played live. The decision to stop doing live shows allowed them to expand their sound in the studio, without the problem arising of how to actually reproduce that sound on a stage. The sound became much more lush and Jim Lea took more of a hand than ever in production duties for the band.
The band's final two single releases are here : 'Radio Wall Of Sound' and 'Universe' are both excellent songs and great performances.
While 'Radio Wall Of Sound' earned SLADE a few Top Of The Pops appearances, Universe failed to chart - mainly because the radio stubbornly avoided SLADE that year at Christmas and also because most of the population appeared to want to buy the album it was featured on (a fate that sadly also befell their most highly regarded single 'How does it feel' when the world went out and bought the 'Flame' film soundtrack album rather than the single, thus lowering its eventual chart placing).
This box set is the release that SLADE have deserved for a good long time now. It pulls together their best known songs and adds some of their strongest material. It's all remastered to get the very best from the recordings. There is NO padding on here at all. Just about every song is top quality stuff!
For many years now, it has been blatantly obvious that SLADE were one of those bands who were more deserving than most to have a complete career overview package released in the form of a box set. SLADE had more hit singles and albums than just about anyone else from their era.
This situation has now been resolved with the release of THE SLADE BOX by Salvo and Union Square Music.
One of the great problems with a band like SLADE is that, for many who weren't fortunate enough to have been around at the time, they are known only as 'that band who did that Christmas record'... or worse still, as a set of glam rock brickies, along with The Sweet and T.Rex.
That's a pair of great understatements and falsehoods concerning a long and distinguished career, which took in around twenty albums and a fantastic run of singles which turned all of the band members into household names in the seventies. Most everyone who had ears knew a SLADE record when it came on the radio and many could name all four of the band.... something previously reserved for the likes of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Can anyone who's reading this name all of Oasis? I thought not. Sorry, Noel.
This 4CD box set aims to set the record straight and let people who care to listen hear that Slade were one helluva rock band. The most important thing here is the music - even though the 72 page booklet will thrill most fans, with its exclusive and unseen photos, Keith Altham essay and band comments.
I won't spoil the surprise any further, but you have to see it!
Slade started off as just another Midlands band, with four great musicians and a distinctly bizarre setlist, slogging it out on the national club circuit, but it took the input of Chas Chandler (whose unique importance to SLADE's career could never be over-stressed) to get them to focus on writing songs and to produce the massive hit sound that stayed with them from day one right up until the day they parted company with him.
Immediately upon taking over their management, Chandler got the band into the studio and had them record a new song he had found for them called 'Wild winds are blowing'. Straight away, it was noticeable that they had found a tough, aggressive sound on record that wasn't there before.
Their impressive musicianship shines through on the early recordings at the start of disc one. Their breakthrough single was 'Get down and get with it' .
That early hit record set the tone for their majority of their career. Nod's vocals that could vary from a subtle whisper through to a bellowing rawwwk scream, appear on every song, over unison guitar riffs, cracking drums and pulsating throbbing bass - delivering great, catchy, loud good time music.
The band had their subtle and melodic moments too - often these are ridiculously forgotten when compared to the likes of 'Cum on feel the noize', 'Gudbuy T'Jane' and 'We'll bring the house down' - all big hits for the band.
Songs like 'Everyday', 'How does it feel', 'Far far away', 'All join hands' and 'My oh my' are joined here by classic b-sides like 'Kill 'em at the Hot Club tonite' (the least likely song SLADE ever released - a versatile jazzy cross between Stephan Grapelli and Django Reinhardt), 'Wonderin' Y' and 'She did it to me' - huge fan favourites and sounding as good as they ever did!
Slade's formidable chart statistics are available on this site and they show what a BIG group SLADE were. Disc one captures their earliest chart successes - and some of their biggest ones, too. A stray track from Slade Alive! (see the live anthology to hear more of this utterly breathtaking show) shows the sheer power of the band when they played live.
Disc two continues through the remainder of what the band called 'the Champagne years' (including a rare feature vocal by Jimmy Lea on 'When the lights are out') and takes us into the period when Slade moved over to Barn Records. Their 'Whatever happened to Slade' album didn't sell that well at the time and it's pleasing to hear some of the better tracks on here now. The astonishing 'Be' sounds as unbelievable today as back in 1977.
Disc three starts with Slade's one and only noble attempt to dent the UK charts with a football anthem ('Give us a goal'). If the song had been about anything else, it would have charted convincingly. It's a quite credible rock tune!
Fickle music fashion at the time dictated that their follow-up singles didn't get radio play and some of Slade's best ever songs sunk without trace. However, they are resurrected here: 'It's Alright Buy Me', 'Ginny Ginny' and 'Not Tonight Josephine' are some of their strongest ever performances and it's great to hear them again, newly remastered and sounding all the better for it.
SLADE had their well-documented chart resurgence after the Reading Rock Festival in 1980 (where Jim Lea had his famous little strop about having written more hits than the rest of the bill put together - which he had) and followed it up with another smash appearance at Donington in 1981. There are tracks here from their then-current albums and they show how SLADE adapted to the times, yet kept their own individuality and sense of fun.
Still, no-one else sounded like SLADE.
Around this time, after an abortive 1984 US tour where Jim Lea was dogged by severe ill-health, Noddy Holder called an abrupt and total halt to the band's live shows and SLADE's profile inevitably lowered. It was a bizarre thing to happen, because their music was still such really strong stuff. They were still making great records, as you will hear from the evidence here.
The final disc of this set - disc four - shows the band at the point where they began to finally get an amount of chart success in America after years of trying. It features songs from their 1983 'Amazing kamikaze syndrome' album (re-titled 'Keep your hands off my power supply' in the USA, where it was released with an amended track listing on the CBS label). The best known of these will probably be 'My oh my' and 'Run runaway' - both quite sizeable hits in the UK.
The follow up albums 'Rogues Gallery' and 'You boyz make big noize' are also represented here by songs that SLADE never played live. The decision to stop doing live shows allowed them to expand their sound in the studio, without the problem arising of how to actually reproduce that sound on a stage. The sound became much more lush and Jim Lea took more of a hand than ever in production duties for the band.
The band's final two single releases are here : 'Radio Wall Of Sound' and 'Universe' are both excellent songs and great performances.
While 'Radio Wall Of Sound' earned SLADE a few Top Of The Pops appearances, Universe failed to chart - mainly because the radio stubbornly avoided SLADE that year at Christmas and also because most of the population appeared to want to buy the album it was featured on (a fate that sadly also befell their most highly regarded single 'How does it feel' when the world went out and bought the 'Flame' film soundtrack album rather than the single, thus lowering its eventual chart placing).
This box set is the release that SLADE have deserved for a good long time now. It pulls together their best known songs and adds some of their strongest material. It's all remastered to get the very best from the recordings. There is NO padding on here at all. Just about every song is top quality stuff!
THE SLADE ARCHIVE REVIEWS THE SALVO RECORDS SLADE REMASTERS / REISSUES SERIES
THE SLADE ARCHIVE REVIEWS THE SALVO RECORDS SLADE REMASTERS / REISSUES SERIES
It's always been a red hot topic among Slade fans for some years that the first CD issues of the Slade albums were a golden opportunity wasted. The CD album track listings exactly replicated those of the vinyl albums and many great Slade songs that were b-sides from the periods in which the original vinyl albums were released remained unavailable on CD. There was never a legitimate b-sides collection to round these up, though one was often called for by fans.
Slade fans (who must be the last people on the Earth to own, retain and regularly use actual record players) grumbled on forums and at conventions and continued to wear out their precious vinyl copies.
As is usual with groups of Slade's stature, fans put together and circulated their own compilations of tracks that were still unavailable on CD. Crackles and pops from 30 year old vinyl singles distracted just about everyone who ever listened to these CD's.
If only a record company had ever had the foresight to do it properly....
In mid 2006, the sudden announcement that Slade's entire back catalogue was to be remastered and reissued was greeted cautiously by
Slade fans. Much heated debate about what may come to pass ensued. Noddy Holder and Jim Lea had never ever deviated from preserving
their back catalogue just as it was originally intended. The news that Tim Turan, who did an astonishingly good piece of work on the recent
Status Quo remasters, was in charge of the remastering process was a shot in the arm to fans and some indication that good things may
actually happen.....
The Slade Archive is extremely pleased to be able to review the Slade CD reissues in the series.
SALVOCD001: BEGINNINGS / PLAY IT LOUD.
The album is attractively packaged in a glossy slipcase featuring both original album covers on the front. Inside is the CD with a 12 page booklet (like the others reviewed on this site) featuring many unseen Gered Mankowitz portaits of the group
from the period, along with a good number of contemporary singles sleeves. The informative sleeve notes covering the Slade story at this point are written by Dave Ling, who is no stranger to Slade.
Comments from the band members cheerfully recount what was going on at the time. The CD label features the portrait photo from the rear of the 'Beginnings' album.
'Beginnings':
Listening to this, the first in the series of the reissues, the difference in sound quality from the Polydor remaster (performed by Jim Lea) is quite noticeable. The sound on the opening song 'Genesis' is certainly very 'live' by comparison. An 'A/B comparison' between this disc and the Polydor version show a marked improvement to the overall sound.... something I wouldn't have believed possible, given the age of the master tapes and the possibility of not being able to actually remix the sound. It's louder and cleaner. The difference is immediately noticeable.
The best way to hear a recording is always at a decent volume through the huge studio speakers when the track has just been mixed. Tim Turan has done a miraculous job in upgrading the end result, so that you get closer to that unique experience.
'Knocking Nails Into My House' just sounds ferocious - a young band with brilliant players let loose in a studio, having a great time and letting rip. The treble is sharpened, giving Noddy Holder's impossibly powerful voice that extra edge and Jim's plummy-sounding Gibson EB3 bass throbs away wonderfully, clear as a bell. Dave's guitar and Don's drums have far more attack than we've heard before. Their version is very faithful to the quite rare and scarcely-heard original by Jeff Lynne's band, The Idle Race.
'Pity the mother' now sounds like the listener is in the room with the band. 'Mad dog Cole' just thumps its way out of the speakers, in a way it hasn't before. The album now sounds far more like a SLADE album, bursting with energy. Tim Turan must have had fun re-mastering this one. 'If this world were mine' - a really soulful moment for Ambrose Slade, is cleaned up significantly and the subtlety and quality of the band's playing comes through loud and clear.
A cleaner, clearer recording always makes for a more lively sound and the remaining tracks sound quite sprightly and less 'dated' than they normally would on an album recorded in 1969. A special mention has to be made of how Don's snare drum on 'Martha My Dear' cracks away like never before.
'Play it loud':
'Play it loud' was the first album recorded as Slade and the first recorded with Chas Chadler at the helm. The production values were much improved on those at the stage of the 'Beginnings album' and the remastering enhances the good work that had gone before. All the tracks sound louder, crisper and cleaner. Drums and percussion come through far more positively than before. You can pick out Don keeping time by clicking sticks together. I hadn't ever noticed that since I picked the original vinyl album up. Handclaps 'crack' rather than 'slap'. cool.
The intricacy of the band's playing is again far more audible. The loud bits are loud, the quiet bits are quieter. Everything seems to have 'more room to breathe'. It's just better than I've heard it before.
The two bonus tracks, 'Wild winds are blowing' and 'Get down and get with it' round off the first in the set of reissues and 'Get down and get with it' in particular leaps out of the speakers and grabs you by the ears and thumps them hard. Hype? No.
I was amazed by what Tim Turan has done to the first album, but nothing on the CD benefits more than this particular track. I have never been that keen on the studio (single) version as it was lacking in comparison to the live version. There is so much energy and presence to the remastered version that I am just astonished.
SALVOCD002 : SLAYED?
Let's be straight about this, 'Slayed?' is my personal favourite Slade album. This CD is going to have to be RIGHT.
For me, Chas Chandler was at his production peak on this album and on the two following two studio sets (Old New Borrowed and Blue and the Flame soundtrack). The sound had a depth and warmth that Slade would never recapture again - an 'in the room' sound that the 'Slade Alive!' album helped shape. Their albums had to sound like that one.
Whoever originally engineered these albums understood exactly how to put microphones on amplifiers and the drum kit. In addition, Chas knew exactly how to set up a great mix. The group were at an early height of their inventiveness and the studio performance on 'Slayed?' has always reflected this.
On listening to the remastered CD and comparing to the previous issue, the disc is again quite a lot louder and clearer. There's a good warmth to the sound, as hoped. The treble bites, whereas before it didn't.The bass depth isn't noticeably increased, as the album was quite bassy enough anyway, but combined with the increased treble, the overall sound is far more punchy and again, the separation is tremendous.
Tracks like 'The whole world's goin' crazee' benefit greatly from this enhacement, as slightly subdued intros are now more immediate. The guitar intro on 'Look at last nite' has an ocatve-up guitar part on the last progression and at last it's quite clear. It's not that much of an exaggeration to say that some sounds on the classic tracks are being heard properly for the first time.
My favourite Slade cover was always 'Move over' and Jim's bass features prominently throughout. The bass sound benefits from a more 'fruity' (that's what they used to call it back then) and rounded sound. Don's snare cracks away nicely and his cymbals wash quite effectively, without everything else being obscured. Again, it's like being in the room with the band.
Sandwiched between the two big hits from the album is the slow, grinding 'Gudbuy gudbuy'. on this edition, the bass throbs away quite purposefully and the good work of whoever is wielding the shaker fits in nicely. Nod's voice cuts through the instruments like a knife through butter, crystal clear.
'I don' mind' sounds like the band are in the room with the listener. Listen for Don's timekeeping with clicked drumsticks. Nod's voice really does the business on this song and hearing the way he sang here (subtly double-tracked in parts), it's a wonder his voice lasted for all the years that it did.
Let the good times roll's bass and drum passages sound sweet and clear. Nod's voice again just sits in the middle of all that's going on, clear as a bell.
As for the five bonus tracks added on the remaster...
'My life is natural'
I'm used to hearing this with the crackle from the vinyl and it's not there. It's great to hear this song sounding much more like it would have done in the studio, when it was just mixed. The acoustic guitar comes over nicely.
'Candidate'
Always a slightly murky production, this is now much cleaner and the guitars are emphasised by some very effective separation. Again, it sounds a little strange to hear a totally clean version without the crackle that generally stopped me getting out the vinyl copies!!! I guess I'll get used to it.
'Wonderin' Y'
Nice to hear this sounding so clean, clear and with such a lovely warm room sound. The backing vocal harmonies come across very well. No wonder this obscure little song is such a favourite among Slade fans.
'Man who speeks evil'
Out come the maracas again. This track sounds like it has really benefitted from Tim Turan's remastering. The guitar parts absolutely shine and the bass is inventive and it's far easier to make out the lyrics at last. The short guitar freak out at the end of the song shows how good Dave Hill was, even back then.
'Slade talk to Melanie Readers'
A nice addition to finish off the disc is this interview disc. It seems to be taken from the cleanest copy of the flexi disc that was available. This will be an especially nice touch for those people who had the disc back in 1972 and would be tempted to buy this album again, so many years later.
Old New Borrowed and Blue
Slade's sound was seemingly very clearly defined by the time their Old New Borrowed and Blue album hit the record shops. So it would come as no surprise to those watching the group most closely at the time that they would start to diversify on this album which, with hindsight, gives a very clear indication of the coming maturity of their later meisterwerk, 'Flame'.
Another tremendous cover, Just a little bit (originally by The Undertakers) starts the album in good style and once again, everything is louder and clearer. Don's hihat, which propels much of the song, hisses brilliantly and Nod delivers one of his best vocals over marvelous unison guitar and bass. This album has always sounded great, so Tim Turan has done a special job to tweeze the sound that bit further. The quieter parts of the first song are great to hear. Another great 'room sound'.
The chiming guitars of 'When the lights are out' ring loud and clear, compared to the muddier version previously on CD.
The album's real oddity is 'Find yourself a rainbow'. Thanks to Tommy Burton, we have a real Slade vaudeville pub singalong. The piano sounds beautiful on this edition and it's a shame Tommy Burton isn't around to hear this.
Miles out to sea' sounds crisp, clear and simply bounces along irresistibly - whatever it's about! Previously obscured piano makes its way into the mix under some of the verses.
The real power rockers on this album have always been 'We're really gonna raise the roof' and 'Do we still do it?' It's hard to say much about these two songs except that they now sound just that bit better. Giving Nod's voice a bit more edge on one of his most shredded vocals is perhaps a dangerous thing to do. Jim will hopefully be pleased with the bass sound on 'Do we still do it'.
'How can it be' sounds (on the quieter parts) like the band are sat around the listener - one of Chas Chandlers great skills. The backing vocals are enhanced on the verses and the guitars are much clearer.
I skipped 'Don't blame me' as I wasn't prepared for the utter onslaught of Nod's voice at this time!!!
The crisp hi-hat driving 'My friend Stan' counterpoints fabulously with Jim's offbeat bass, which sounds spot on. This is possibly one of Jim's best ever bass parts, even if the song is plain daft. Even when Slade got a little bit throwaway lyrically, musically, they always sounded like a top class band.
'Everyday' remains the lovely song it always has been and remains one of Slade's best ever sounding songs. the guitar (and bass especially) sound a little more aggressive. Not a bad thing. The fuzzed-out guitars of 'Good time gals' sit over newly clear drums.
The bonus tracks:
'I'm Mee I'm Now And That's Orl' - even when cleaned up, still sounds menacing and angry. The drums on this edition really do benefit from the Turan treatment.
'Kill 'em at the hot club tonite' remains delightful and it's a joy to hear a good pristine version of this whimsical little song at last.
'The bangin' man' has been added here and it fits in just right. The track seems to have an added presence.
'She did it to me' makes a welcome appearance. This should have been on the original album. Pristine. If I had to single out anything improved on here, again it's the drums and the general clarity of the track. One of Nod's better vocals, too.
To complete the disc, we have the scarce 'Slade talk to 19 readers' flexidisc, where Slade plug the album and Nod makes feeble jokes. Brilliant!
The Slade Live Anthology (2CD)
The immediate thing that strikes me when opening the packaging on this doublepack is that some care has gone into making it a very attractive package to tempt those buyers who may not have all (or any) of Slade's live material. The main artwork emphasis is naturally on the biggest-selling of Slade's live efforts, Slade Alive!
The original album artwork for Slade Alive Volume Two, The Reading EP and Slade On Stage is reproduced on the fragile wrap-around strip that helps keep the package closed and also in minature just inside the booklet. This is a great way to get just about all the live music Slade released in one place.
The booklet contains a series of anecdotes from the band about their live career - the most telling being those grumpily aloof (and totally correct) comments made by Jim Lea about their last minute appearance at 1980's Reading festival, where after being obliged to traipse through the mud from the public car park, carrying their guitars and stage clothes, refusing to move aside for the Rolls Royces of more recent and lesser stars who had written less hits then Noddy Holder and Jim Lea, even when you added them all together.
Enough of the mud, what about the music?
Disc One:
There is little doubt that many of Slade's longest-serving fans believe Slade Alive! to be Slade's finest hour. It is certainly a totally
superb illustration of the very cornerstone of their career - their live act. Slade Alive! has more atmosphere than most live albums that
have been recorded since its release.
'Hear me calling' remained Slade's live show opener for a great many years and that is being despite it being written by Alvin Lee for Ten Years After. Here it is in all its glory, revealing Slade's uniquely powerful live sound and Jim Lea's playful illogical basslines under the solos. It is followed the the best song Slade ever played live, but never committed to a studio version; 'In like a shot from my gun'.
That would have made a superb single, but Slade Alive only gave up one single - and that was a few hundred copies only of a promotional 7" release of 'Hear me calling' that most Slade fans have never even held a copy of.
'Darling be home soon' is another interesting choice for a live album - another cover - this time from the Lovin' Spoonful. The subtlety and melodicism of the band (except for when Nod burps) is astonishing as they power through this quiet little song. Restraint. You can feel the energy being kept in as the band do all but explode towards the end of the song.
'Know who you are' disappeared from Slade's live show soon after the Slade Alive! period, to be replaced by newer material that the group had just written. A pity, because here the song chugs along like a runaway train, the bass going subtlely and deliberately out of rhythm with the guitars under parts of the verses, giving that extra bit of drive and thickening up the sound in a away that made Slade
unique. Dave Hill's lead guitar parts remain a joy to hear.
'Keep on rockin' remained a staple in various rearranged formats throughout their live career and it always worked brilliantly. Lashings of Chuck Berry and Little Richard with no pretension whatsoever. Fantastic.
The live version of 'Get down and get with it' (until the latest remaster came along) always rendered the studio version redundant. It is a truly brilliant performance by a band at one of its many live peaks. The closer, 'Born to be wild' is that most rare of things, a live version of a rock classic, where the group covering the song make it their own.
'Slade Alive Volume Two' captured the band live at a couple of shows from the 1977 and 1978 'Whatever happened to Slade' period tours and first and foremost, the remastered version noticeably corrects a number of mastering errors from the previous CD issue. The guitars sound savage by comparison too. Nod's voice is loud and clear. His rhythm guitar is thick and muscular. Jim's bass throbs and grinds and Dave's guitar sounds just wicked. Don Powell's drums pummel away, and with your eyes shut and with your head firmly wedged between two speakers set to 'stun', it's a bit like being there on the night.
It's great to hear good clear live versions of songs like the sadly under-rated 'Be' and 'One eyed Jacks with moustaches' as well as what sounds like the most heartfelt rendition of 'Everyday' they ever released.
Disc two:
'Slade on stage' sounds crisp, sharp and tight. 'Rock and roll preacher' immediately sets the energy level for the whole set with Dave Hill's guitar coming across far more clearly than before. The guitars and bass are mixed far more to the fore on this CD, which when the band were playing unison riffs (like on 'Take me bak 'ome') goes to show how well-drilled a machine the band was.
Jim Lea gets an extraordinary bass solo and violin solo spot during the Rainbow-esque 'A night to remember'. How this man is not regarded as one of the bass playing greats, I will never figure out. I've never heard anyone but John Entwistle do anything that compared.
A number of old favourites that Slade played on the tour captured here lose none of their vitality, as the band were truly giving every song their all. 'Gudbuy T'Jane' always sounded like a new song when Slade played it.
The Reading EP's:
The 'Merry Xmas Everybody' that appears on disc two is the crowd singalong from the 1980 Reading Festival, not the 'Live and kicking' version. But that doesn't matter when it's surrounded by goodies like 'Somethin' else' and 'Get down and get with it'. The inclusion of Slade's version of the 'Okey cokey' was a bit of a strange thing for them to do at the time, but it fitted in with the overall party mood of the Reading EP's, so here it is again.
It's always been a red hot topic among Slade fans for some years that the first CD issues of the Slade albums were a golden opportunity wasted. The CD album track listings exactly replicated those of the vinyl albums and many great Slade songs that were b-sides from the periods in which the original vinyl albums were released remained unavailable on CD. There was never a legitimate b-sides collection to round these up, though one was often called for by fans.
Slade fans (who must be the last people on the Earth to own, retain and regularly use actual record players) grumbled on forums and at conventions and continued to wear out their precious vinyl copies.
As is usual with groups of Slade's stature, fans put together and circulated their own compilations of tracks that were still unavailable on CD. Crackles and pops from 30 year old vinyl singles distracted just about everyone who ever listened to these CD's.
If only a record company had ever had the foresight to do it properly....
In mid 2006, the sudden announcement that Slade's entire back catalogue was to be remastered and reissued was greeted cautiously by
Slade fans. Much heated debate about what may come to pass ensued. Noddy Holder and Jim Lea had never ever deviated from preserving
their back catalogue just as it was originally intended. The news that Tim Turan, who did an astonishingly good piece of work on the recent
Status Quo remasters, was in charge of the remastering process was a shot in the arm to fans and some indication that good things may
actually happen.....
The Slade Archive is extremely pleased to be able to review the Slade CD reissues in the series.
SALVOCD001: BEGINNINGS / PLAY IT LOUD.
The album is attractively packaged in a glossy slipcase featuring both original album covers on the front. Inside is the CD with a 12 page booklet (like the others reviewed on this site) featuring many unseen Gered Mankowitz portaits of the group
from the period, along with a good number of contemporary singles sleeves. The informative sleeve notes covering the Slade story at this point are written by Dave Ling, who is no stranger to Slade.
Comments from the band members cheerfully recount what was going on at the time. The CD label features the portrait photo from the rear of the 'Beginnings' album.
'Beginnings':
Listening to this, the first in the series of the reissues, the difference in sound quality from the Polydor remaster (performed by Jim Lea) is quite noticeable. The sound on the opening song 'Genesis' is certainly very 'live' by comparison. An 'A/B comparison' between this disc and the Polydor version show a marked improvement to the overall sound.... something I wouldn't have believed possible, given the age of the master tapes and the possibility of not being able to actually remix the sound. It's louder and cleaner. The difference is immediately noticeable.
The best way to hear a recording is always at a decent volume through the huge studio speakers when the track has just been mixed. Tim Turan has done a miraculous job in upgrading the end result, so that you get closer to that unique experience.
'Knocking Nails Into My House' just sounds ferocious - a young band with brilliant players let loose in a studio, having a great time and letting rip. The treble is sharpened, giving Noddy Holder's impossibly powerful voice that extra edge and Jim's plummy-sounding Gibson EB3 bass throbs away wonderfully, clear as a bell. Dave's guitar and Don's drums have far more attack than we've heard before. Their version is very faithful to the quite rare and scarcely-heard original by Jeff Lynne's band, The Idle Race.
'Pity the mother' now sounds like the listener is in the room with the band. 'Mad dog Cole' just thumps its way out of the speakers, in a way it hasn't before. The album now sounds far more like a SLADE album, bursting with energy. Tim Turan must have had fun re-mastering this one. 'If this world were mine' - a really soulful moment for Ambrose Slade, is cleaned up significantly and the subtlety and quality of the band's playing comes through loud and clear.
A cleaner, clearer recording always makes for a more lively sound and the remaining tracks sound quite sprightly and less 'dated' than they normally would on an album recorded in 1969. A special mention has to be made of how Don's snare drum on 'Martha My Dear' cracks away like never before.
'Play it loud':
'Play it loud' was the first album recorded as Slade and the first recorded with Chas Chadler at the helm. The production values were much improved on those at the stage of the 'Beginnings album' and the remastering enhances the good work that had gone before. All the tracks sound louder, crisper and cleaner. Drums and percussion come through far more positively than before. You can pick out Don keeping time by clicking sticks together. I hadn't ever noticed that since I picked the original vinyl album up. Handclaps 'crack' rather than 'slap'. cool.
The intricacy of the band's playing is again far more audible. The loud bits are loud, the quiet bits are quieter. Everything seems to have 'more room to breathe'. It's just better than I've heard it before.
The two bonus tracks, 'Wild winds are blowing' and 'Get down and get with it' round off the first in the set of reissues and 'Get down and get with it' in particular leaps out of the speakers and grabs you by the ears and thumps them hard. Hype? No.
I was amazed by what Tim Turan has done to the first album, but nothing on the CD benefits more than this particular track. I have never been that keen on the studio (single) version as it was lacking in comparison to the live version. There is so much energy and presence to the remastered version that I am just astonished.
SALVOCD002 : SLAYED?
Let's be straight about this, 'Slayed?' is my personal favourite Slade album. This CD is going to have to be RIGHT.
For me, Chas Chandler was at his production peak on this album and on the two following two studio sets (Old New Borrowed and Blue and the Flame soundtrack). The sound had a depth and warmth that Slade would never recapture again - an 'in the room' sound that the 'Slade Alive!' album helped shape. Their albums had to sound like that one.
Whoever originally engineered these albums understood exactly how to put microphones on amplifiers and the drum kit. In addition, Chas knew exactly how to set up a great mix. The group were at an early height of their inventiveness and the studio performance on 'Slayed?' has always reflected this.
On listening to the remastered CD and comparing to the previous issue, the disc is again quite a lot louder and clearer. There's a good warmth to the sound, as hoped. The treble bites, whereas before it didn't.The bass depth isn't noticeably increased, as the album was quite bassy enough anyway, but combined with the increased treble, the overall sound is far more punchy and again, the separation is tremendous.
Tracks like 'The whole world's goin' crazee' benefit greatly from this enhacement, as slightly subdued intros are now more immediate. The guitar intro on 'Look at last nite' has an ocatve-up guitar part on the last progression and at last it's quite clear. It's not that much of an exaggeration to say that some sounds on the classic tracks are being heard properly for the first time.
My favourite Slade cover was always 'Move over' and Jim's bass features prominently throughout. The bass sound benefits from a more 'fruity' (that's what they used to call it back then) and rounded sound. Don's snare cracks away nicely and his cymbals wash quite effectively, without everything else being obscured. Again, it's like being in the room with the band.
Sandwiched between the two big hits from the album is the slow, grinding 'Gudbuy gudbuy'. on this edition, the bass throbs away quite purposefully and the good work of whoever is wielding the shaker fits in nicely. Nod's voice cuts through the instruments like a knife through butter, crystal clear.
'I don' mind' sounds like the band are in the room with the listener. Listen for Don's timekeeping with clicked drumsticks. Nod's voice really does the business on this song and hearing the way he sang here (subtly double-tracked in parts), it's a wonder his voice lasted for all the years that it did.
Let the good times roll's bass and drum passages sound sweet and clear. Nod's voice again just sits in the middle of all that's going on, clear as a bell.
As for the five bonus tracks added on the remaster...
'My life is natural'
I'm used to hearing this with the crackle from the vinyl and it's not there. It's great to hear this song sounding much more like it would have done in the studio, when it was just mixed. The acoustic guitar comes over nicely.
'Candidate'
Always a slightly murky production, this is now much cleaner and the guitars are emphasised by some very effective separation. Again, it sounds a little strange to hear a totally clean version without the crackle that generally stopped me getting out the vinyl copies!!! I guess I'll get used to it.
'Wonderin' Y'
Nice to hear this sounding so clean, clear and with such a lovely warm room sound. The backing vocal harmonies come across very well. No wonder this obscure little song is such a favourite among Slade fans.
'Man who speeks evil'
Out come the maracas again. This track sounds like it has really benefitted from Tim Turan's remastering. The guitar parts absolutely shine and the bass is inventive and it's far easier to make out the lyrics at last. The short guitar freak out at the end of the song shows how good Dave Hill was, even back then.
'Slade talk to Melanie Readers'
A nice addition to finish off the disc is this interview disc. It seems to be taken from the cleanest copy of the flexi disc that was available. This will be an especially nice touch for those people who had the disc back in 1972 and would be tempted to buy this album again, so many years later.
Old New Borrowed and Blue
Slade's sound was seemingly very clearly defined by the time their Old New Borrowed and Blue album hit the record shops. So it would come as no surprise to those watching the group most closely at the time that they would start to diversify on this album which, with hindsight, gives a very clear indication of the coming maturity of their later meisterwerk, 'Flame'.
Another tremendous cover, Just a little bit (originally by The Undertakers) starts the album in good style and once again, everything is louder and clearer. Don's hihat, which propels much of the song, hisses brilliantly and Nod delivers one of his best vocals over marvelous unison guitar and bass. This album has always sounded great, so Tim Turan has done a special job to tweeze the sound that bit further. The quieter parts of the first song are great to hear. Another great 'room sound'.
The chiming guitars of 'When the lights are out' ring loud and clear, compared to the muddier version previously on CD.
The album's real oddity is 'Find yourself a rainbow'. Thanks to Tommy Burton, we have a real Slade vaudeville pub singalong. The piano sounds beautiful on this edition and it's a shame Tommy Burton isn't around to hear this.
Miles out to sea' sounds crisp, clear and simply bounces along irresistibly - whatever it's about! Previously obscured piano makes its way into the mix under some of the verses.
The real power rockers on this album have always been 'We're really gonna raise the roof' and 'Do we still do it?' It's hard to say much about these two songs except that they now sound just that bit better. Giving Nod's voice a bit more edge on one of his most shredded vocals is perhaps a dangerous thing to do. Jim will hopefully be pleased with the bass sound on 'Do we still do it'.
'How can it be' sounds (on the quieter parts) like the band are sat around the listener - one of Chas Chandlers great skills. The backing vocals are enhanced on the verses and the guitars are much clearer.
I skipped 'Don't blame me' as I wasn't prepared for the utter onslaught of Nod's voice at this time!!!
The crisp hi-hat driving 'My friend Stan' counterpoints fabulously with Jim's offbeat bass, which sounds spot on. This is possibly one of Jim's best ever bass parts, even if the song is plain daft. Even when Slade got a little bit throwaway lyrically, musically, they always sounded like a top class band.
'Everyday' remains the lovely song it always has been and remains one of Slade's best ever sounding songs. the guitar (and bass especially) sound a little more aggressive. Not a bad thing. The fuzzed-out guitars of 'Good time gals' sit over newly clear drums.
The bonus tracks:
'I'm Mee I'm Now And That's Orl' - even when cleaned up, still sounds menacing and angry. The drums on this edition really do benefit from the Turan treatment.
'Kill 'em at the hot club tonite' remains delightful and it's a joy to hear a good pristine version of this whimsical little song at last.
'The bangin' man' has been added here and it fits in just right. The track seems to have an added presence.
'She did it to me' makes a welcome appearance. This should have been on the original album. Pristine. If I had to single out anything improved on here, again it's the drums and the general clarity of the track. One of Nod's better vocals, too.
To complete the disc, we have the scarce 'Slade talk to 19 readers' flexidisc, where Slade plug the album and Nod makes feeble jokes. Brilliant!
The Slade Live Anthology (2CD)
The immediate thing that strikes me when opening the packaging on this doublepack is that some care has gone into making it a very attractive package to tempt those buyers who may not have all (or any) of Slade's live material. The main artwork emphasis is naturally on the biggest-selling of Slade's live efforts, Slade Alive!
The original album artwork for Slade Alive Volume Two, The Reading EP and Slade On Stage is reproduced on the fragile wrap-around strip that helps keep the package closed and also in minature just inside the booklet. This is a great way to get just about all the live music Slade released in one place.
The booklet contains a series of anecdotes from the band about their live career - the most telling being those grumpily aloof (and totally correct) comments made by Jim Lea about their last minute appearance at 1980's Reading festival, where after being obliged to traipse through the mud from the public car park, carrying their guitars and stage clothes, refusing to move aside for the Rolls Royces of more recent and lesser stars who had written less hits then Noddy Holder and Jim Lea, even when you added them all together.
Enough of the mud, what about the music?
Disc One:
There is little doubt that many of Slade's longest-serving fans believe Slade Alive! to be Slade's finest hour. It is certainly a totally
superb illustration of the very cornerstone of their career - their live act. Slade Alive! has more atmosphere than most live albums that
have been recorded since its release.
'Hear me calling' remained Slade's live show opener for a great many years and that is being despite it being written by Alvin Lee for Ten Years After. Here it is in all its glory, revealing Slade's uniquely powerful live sound and Jim Lea's playful illogical basslines under the solos. It is followed the the best song Slade ever played live, but never committed to a studio version; 'In like a shot from my gun'.
That would have made a superb single, but Slade Alive only gave up one single - and that was a few hundred copies only of a promotional 7" release of 'Hear me calling' that most Slade fans have never even held a copy of.
'Darling be home soon' is another interesting choice for a live album - another cover - this time from the Lovin' Spoonful. The subtlety and melodicism of the band (except for when Nod burps) is astonishing as they power through this quiet little song. Restraint. You can feel the energy being kept in as the band do all but explode towards the end of the song.
'Know who you are' disappeared from Slade's live show soon after the Slade Alive! period, to be replaced by newer material that the group had just written. A pity, because here the song chugs along like a runaway train, the bass going subtlely and deliberately out of rhythm with the guitars under parts of the verses, giving that extra bit of drive and thickening up the sound in a away that made Slade
unique. Dave Hill's lead guitar parts remain a joy to hear.
'Keep on rockin' remained a staple in various rearranged formats throughout their live career and it always worked brilliantly. Lashings of Chuck Berry and Little Richard with no pretension whatsoever. Fantastic.
The live version of 'Get down and get with it' (until the latest remaster came along) always rendered the studio version redundant. It is a truly brilliant performance by a band at one of its many live peaks. The closer, 'Born to be wild' is that most rare of things, a live version of a rock classic, where the group covering the song make it their own.
'Slade Alive Volume Two' captured the band live at a couple of shows from the 1977 and 1978 'Whatever happened to Slade' period tours and first and foremost, the remastered version noticeably corrects a number of mastering errors from the previous CD issue. The guitars sound savage by comparison too. Nod's voice is loud and clear. His rhythm guitar is thick and muscular. Jim's bass throbs and grinds and Dave's guitar sounds just wicked. Don Powell's drums pummel away, and with your eyes shut and with your head firmly wedged between two speakers set to 'stun', it's a bit like being there on the night.
It's great to hear good clear live versions of songs like the sadly under-rated 'Be' and 'One eyed Jacks with moustaches' as well as what sounds like the most heartfelt rendition of 'Everyday' they ever released.
Disc two:
'Slade on stage' sounds crisp, sharp and tight. 'Rock and roll preacher' immediately sets the energy level for the whole set with Dave Hill's guitar coming across far more clearly than before. The guitars and bass are mixed far more to the fore on this CD, which when the band were playing unison riffs (like on 'Take me bak 'ome') goes to show how well-drilled a machine the band was.
Jim Lea gets an extraordinary bass solo and violin solo spot during the Rainbow-esque 'A night to remember'. How this man is not regarded as one of the bass playing greats, I will never figure out. I've never heard anyone but John Entwistle do anything that compared.
A number of old favourites that Slade played on the tour captured here lose none of their vitality, as the band were truly giving every song their all. 'Gudbuy T'Jane' always sounded like a new song when Slade played it.
The Reading EP's:
The 'Merry Xmas Everybody' that appears on disc two is the crowd singalong from the 1980 Reading Festival, not the 'Live and kicking' version. But that doesn't matter when it's surrounded by goodies like 'Somethin' else' and 'Get down and get with it'. The inclusion of Slade's version of the 'Okey cokey' was a bit of a strange thing for them to do at the time, but it fitted in with the overall party mood of the Reading EP's, so here it is again.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)