SLADE All The World Is A Stage (5CD Box) BMG
Video Review above by Phil Aston
British glam / hard rock legends Slade ruled the world in the early to mid 70s, and quickly built up a fearsome live reputation. With Noddy Holder’s trademark vocals, the Holder/Jim Lea penned songs, Don Powell’s driving rhythms and guitarist Dave Hill charismatic guitar and even more charismatic stage presence, hits like Cum On Feel The Noize and Mama We’re All Crazee Now were radio and record collection favourites.
This nicely packaged 5CD clamshell collects some of their previously released and unreleased live material on first inspection and listen, especially with 1972’s Slade Alive, we’re off to a good start. The album highlighted the band’s energy, rawness, passion, power and ability. Even if at that stage they had a limited catalogue, there’s a good cover or too. Noddy’s got some good banter going on, and any live set that opens with Ten Years After’s Hear Me Calling and closes with Steppenwolf’s Born To Be Wild (Slade’s regular set closer at the time) has to be worth checking out.
Oddly bypassing Alive Vol 2 (1976), next up is 1982’s Slade On Stage. Following the band’s rejuvenation at Reading 1980, this album saw the band kicking serious arse and was described at the time (and retrospectively) as a monster. And it genuinely is. There are very very few who match Holder’s performance here fronting a band and working a crowd. And also, gimmicks aside, Dave Hill puts in some genuinely blistering guitar work. Check out We’ll Bring The House Down. Because they do.
Next up is Slade’s 1980 Reading performance. After a couple of years of punk induced obscurity, this performance as last minute replacements for Ozzy Osbourne saw the band back in spotlight. Clearly they went out to have fun and play some rock’n’roll, and it blew the crowd away. Tracks like When I’m Dancin’ I Ain’t Fighting saw the band have a blast and the crowed rolling with the rock every step of the way. A basic greatest hits set, with Merry Xmas Everybody one of a couple where the crowd / band interplay is played upon. By this stage much of the glam and gimmicks had gone and Slade were a solid blistering rock band and it is fantastic. Sadly, and with no explanation, we get 11 out of the original set’s 15 tracks. Very disappointing to say the least, as this performance is so legendary, fans and more will want the whole thing.
Disc 4 is the Live At Hucknal Miners’ Welfare Club show, recorded December 1980 and running to 18 tracks, it’s the full show. Dizzy Mamma is a wonderful rawcus fuzz toned rock’n’roll opener, as enjoyable and catchy as you expect Slade to be. And Hill’s guitar ability again comes though. Again Born To Be Wild closes, apt as Slade sound pretty wild. Merry Xmas one of many hits that goes down well.
The final disc is 12 tracks recorded live at the New Victoria. Just don’t ask me when. Opener Them Kinda Monkeys Can’t Swing is a great track, Gudbuy T’Jane is always a pleaser, and nice to hear tracks like Far Far Away. Like the 4 previous discs, a great recording and performance that makes for a great listen, and essential listening for Slade Fans, as there’s much here previously unreleased.
Sadly, there’s a but, and a few buts too many. Aside the officially released live sets they could have used (Alive 2 the most prominent but not the only example), and the inexplicably missing tracks from Reading, additional information is scant. Scant to the point of I don’t know where or when the last disc was recorded. Beyond the full track listing with writing and publishing credits, information is very approximately sod all. No sleevenotes, not even a paragraph for each release.
I have worked on 100s of CD archive releases, and reviewed even more, and very very few lack this much information.
Wonderful music, essential listing, and on first opening there’s a very impressive feel. Beyond that, it is sadly a catalogue of missed opportunities.
Joe Geesin | Now Spinning Magazine
