Here we have April 2007 releases from Unionsquaremusic/Salvo...  Again an excellent collection.

This batch includes a box set of Slade In Flame ( containing the CD and DVD of the film, with interviews

with the cast who took part in it ), 4 CD'S, 3 off which are re mastered, including bonus tracks (What

Ever Happened To Slade, We'll Bring The House Down and Till deaf Do Us Part) to complete the box set is a brand

new release called Slade Rockers ( A double CD, containing 37 blistering tracks ), all 5 are very well presented,

and great value for money.

Firstly we have.....

Here we have a double package featuring CD soundtracks and DVD of the film, with a new documentary

featuring some of the cast from the film, and a 16 page booklet containing commentary from Jim Lea,

 about the CD. As I said in Febs. review this is one of my favourite albums, featuring all the soundtracks

from their hugely successful film "Flame" which came about as a result of Slade's massive popularity and

chart success. Featuring 10 excellent tracks, ranging from the mellow "How Does It Feel" to the raunchy

"Standing On The Corner", in fact each track has Slade's trademark of uniqueness, my favourite song is

"Them Kinda Monkeys Can't Swing", raw and powerful, and was Slade's opening song at many concerts

home and abroad. Now this package has the added bonus of containing the DVD of the film "Flame", plus

an interview with all band members, director Richard Loncraine and Tom Conti about the making of the

film. The film is in cinemascope for the 1st time, which seems to be a more crisper clearer viewing.

About The Film

The film is about 4 lads ( Noddy aka Stoker, Jim aka Paul, Don aka Charlie and Dave aka Barry) that play

for 2 rivalling bands that have little success which decide to split, this leave's the door open for Stoker, Paul,

Charlie and Barry to form the band "Flame" after a bust up between Stoker and their manager Mr. Harding

(Johnny Shannon) they are sacked after only 1 gig, but in that audience was another talent scout, in steps

Mr. Seymour (Tom Conti) as their new manager who wants to make them a big success (and they become

mega stars) Tom is not interested in the band....just to make more money (which he does), at Barry's birthday

party the lads old manager Mr. Harding confronts Mr. Seymour saying they are under contract with him, they

meet to discuss the matter and come to a conclusion that if the contract is provided they will go 50/50 with

Flames success.....but the contract has been stolen by Jack Daniels (Alan Lake) a singer from 1 of the  earlier

bands , and results in a feud between Harding and Seymour and Jack Daniels death, also Stoker and Paul

start arguing over silly things and seem to be getting fed up with the limelight, Seymour  lets the band go to

Harding's delight, but when Harding tells Stoker Seymour's had enough....Stoker replies..... We all have!!! and

the band split.Also included on this DVD is a brand new documentary on the making off the film, with

interviews with all 4 band members, director Richard Loncraine and Tom Conti (very well put together and

very interesting).There is an excellent booklet (by Chris Ingham) with comments by Jim lea on photos

included.

A bargain CD and DVD for under £15

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Secondly we have

This is one of my favourite's containing my all time best Slade track "Gypsy Road hog" this as far as I was

concerned was their change from glam rock....A heavy style of Slade( which goes down well), every track

is brilliant and shows off Dons drumming especially " It Ain't Love But It Ain't Bad".... reminds me of Indians

dancing round their camp fires holding tomahawks and chanting.....in fact all Dons drumming is top class

on this CD( Not that it was ever far from perfect), there are 11 great tracks (from the original record) and 9

bonus tracks which compliment the CD well, the 1st track "Be" is fantastic and is sung fast by Nod and was

performed live at gigs to everyone's delight, "One Eyed Jacks" and "The Soul" are other ones to watch out

for to. All the 9 bonus tracks are great to, my favourite being "Forest Full Of Needles" being the B - side of

my all time favourite. This CD again is crystal clear and comes with a fantastic booklet and photographs.

To sum this up I'd say excellent drumming, bass guitar/lead guitar and powerful singing by Nod (M.B.E.)

a MUST for any serious Slade fan, all for under £7

at

Playing time 69.13 mins

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next we have

WE'LL BRING THE HOUSE DOWN (Cat No: SALVOCD007)

This is a combination of all the tracks from "We'll Bring The House Down", 5 tracks from their overlooked album

"Return To Base" and 3 bonus tracks. Slade had 4 years in the wilderness before they released "WBTHD"and this

sparked a revival producing 2 chart hits and once again attracting crowds to their concerts and TV appearances,

the album itself  reached chart position 25, it contains 10 raw foot stomping tracks, my favourites being "WBTHD,

Wheels Ain't Coming down (True tale of a near fatal plane crash for Slade), Dizzy Mama,and I'm A Rocker

(originally by Chuck Berry). Also included are 5 tracks from the album "Return To Base" which was more than

less the previously mentioned album plus some added tracks( a con really), "Sign Of The Times" is a fantastic

track though and " Ginny, Ginny" is quite catchy to, there are 3 bonus tracks also"9 to 5", "Okey Cokey" and the

best of the 3 "Not Tonight Josephine". Inside is a well put together booklet with some good photos and narrated

well by Chris Ingham. This CD is crystal clear and well packaged together and well worth getting hold of.

A bargain at just under £7 and a must for any Slade collection.

Available from

Playing time 56.39 mins

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next we have

TILL DEAF DO US PART (Cat No: SALVOCD008)

Another of my favourites with an aptly named title "Till Deaf Do Us Part" and the named track on the CD is

fantastic showing off Slade's power and music talent, "A Night To Remember" is another cracking song

showing off Jim Leas talent and "M'hat M'coat" showing off Dave Hills (and written by himself). There are

12 powerful tracks on this CD, each one is top class not forgetting "Rock And Roll Preacher" and "Lock

Up Your Daughters" which became part of their live concerts. This CD showed that Slade had not lost

any of their magic, its a shame it only reached position 68 in the charts (should have done better). Yet

again the CD is crystal clear and the enclosed booklet is well put together by Chris Ingham.

And all for under £7 available from

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Finally we have

SLADE ROCKERS (Cat No: SALVODCD204)

A brand new compilation double CD from Unionsquaremusic/Salvo containing 37 superb tracks spanning

the period 1969 to 1987, in total there are over 2 hours of great, hard music.

CD 1

The 1st CD contains 19 tracks of superb quality totalling just over 66 minutes, containing classics as "Born To Be

Wild", "Get Down & Get With It", "Move Over", "Look At Last Nite" just to name a few, my 4 favourites are "My

Town", "We're Really Gonna Raise The Roof", "Don't Blame Me" and "Good Time Gals" All raw, powerful,

loud and show  Nods voice at its best.

There is not 1 track on this CD that I disliked, its Slade at their best spanning from 1969 to 1977.

CD 2

The 2nd CD contains 18 tracks of Slade at their heaviest, lasting just over 62 minutes, containing hits such as

"Wheels Ain't coming Down", "Ruby Red" and "Myzsterious Mizter Jones", my favourite 5 tracks are "Rock 'N'

Roll Preacher", "Let The Rock Out Of Control", "Keep Your Hands Off My Power Supply", "Slam The Hammer

Down" and "You Boyz Make Big Noize" again hard, heavy and loud....just how Slade should always be. The

enclosed booklet is very well put together again by Chris Ingham, giving detail on each track and contains

some good live photos of Slade. This double CD package is very good indeed and would not just appeal to

slade fans but to anyone who likes good loud music. Go get it and......Crank up the volume!!!

All for under £9 available from

Top Of Page