Slade In Flame

At last, together for the first time: The album AND the film.I was living in the States when Slade made it big. When I left in 1970, they weren't on the radar and when I came back for my first visit to the UK in '74 they were huge, and this film had just come out. I bought the album and the novellisation and took them back to the States with me, loved them both and managed to get my hands on a couple of other albums (Old New Borrowed and Blue and Slayed?) before returning to the UK in '77 to find...they'd completely disappeared. I mean completely. The record shops I went to didn't even have their albums any more.Anyhow...this is a great album, full of great big, full-throated tunes. The lead track, "How Does It Feel?" benefits from a brass section and a lovely, delicate flute, as well as Noddy Holder showing the more melodic side to his voice. There are hard rockers and upbeat pop songs, and it really shows off the songwriting ability of Lea and Holder. The film is great, too, a really undervalued and underrated gem. Downbeat and blackly funny, it charts the rise of a group from working in pubs and men's clubs to being taken on by a corporation as a branding exercise, processed, marketed and sold to the kids. Success, as you'd guess, comes at a personal price, particularly when their old manager still claims rights and can fight dirtier than any corporate suit. Surprisingly gritty (love the shots of the shuttered terraced houses, and the dialogue between Lea and Holder held over a urinal) and the band acquit themselves admirably, although you might need the subtitles on. This is the wide-screen version, too: the last time it was shown on UK TV, it was shown in a boxy ratio that looked a bit odd. I'd be hard pressed to call myself a Slade fan, but I'd recommend the film to anyone - it's great to see it presented together with the soundtrack.

Wonderfully brutal look at the music business, that I'm sure is just as relevant now as it was when this was made.Slade play themselves, but in the manufactured band 'Flame', It follows their short career from formation to stardom and, well, I won't spoil the plot. Not that there's really much plot, but that doesn't detract from the film. In the extras (well worth watching) they say how they played characters with their own mannerisms (i.e. it saved them having to act) and really have a frank insight into the actors and how the film was made.Plenty of wit has been thrown in, but as off-hand or short moments that make them all the funnier. The end of the Rolls Royce scene made me chuckle more than it should have.On top of that, you have the wonderful Slade songs all thrown in, which are included on the CD.There's a little bit of nudity and some implied violence (which is all the more effective for it).

This was the soundtrack album to the (now) cult movie "Slade In Flame", a dour, bleak, realistic movie about the rock music business. It doesn't particularly matter that the songs are listened to out of context of the movie when one listens to the album. It is still a very good album. Possibly one of Slade's best. It is not a stomping glam rock album. By late 1974, the glam thing was becoming old hat. It is a rock album, and a really good one.TRACK LISTING1. How Does It Feel2. Them Kinda Monkeys Can't Swing3. So Far So Good4. Summer Song (Wishing You Were Here)5. OK Yesterday Was Yesterday6. Far Far Away7. This Girl8. Lay It Down9. Heaven Knows10. Standin' On The CornerThe album kicks off with the atmospheric ballad beloved of Noel Gallagher, "How Does It Feel". It begins plaintively with just Noddy Holder and the piano before it breaks out into a huge, heavy chorus. It is one of Slade's most accomplished compositions, featuring flute and brass sections as well and, of course, a great Noddy Holder vocal. "Them Kinda Monkeys Can't Swing" is a great rocker in true Slade style, full of riffs and another killer vocal. "So Far So Good" is an evocative, catchy rocker as also is the anthemic "Summer Song (Wishing You Were Here)". The latter is a most underrated Slade classic."Ok Yesterday Was Yesterday" is yet another superb rocker. The quality just keeps coming on the big hit single "Far Far Away". It is so nostalgic listening to it, for me. Great song. "This Girl" has Slade going funky, with a clavinet backing and an atmospheric vocal from Holder. This is a definite change in musical direction for Slade and it is a really impressive one. This is a surprisingly good track."Lay It Down" is a Stonesy solid rock song with some excellent riffage. "Heaven Knows" is also excellent. "Standin' On The Corner" is a Status Quo-esque guitar-driven heads-down boogie of a rocker. Great saxophone on it too, unusual in a Slade song. There is a very convincing argument that this collection of songs were the finest Noddy Holder and Jim Lea wrote. There really is not a duff track on this most underrated album.Despite the quality on show here, this was probably Slade's last stand, really, however. It never got any better for them than it had been over the previous three years. Yes they had several more hits and several acclaimed festival live performances but somehow this was the end of their halcyon days.

I always was a big Slade fan. Still am.The tracks on this cd are perhaps a little more refined than the old days of "Take Me Bak Ome", "Mama Weer All Crazee Now", etc. But the quality of the music is fantastic! Naturally, with Noddy Holder, there's the usual raucous vocals and Dave Hill's guitar works shine on this album. The accompanying movie did quite well for Slade and tells of a fictional band "Flame" who hit all the problems associated with trying to make it big in a rock band (something I went through myself, in a much smaller way). Everything from dodgy dealing managers to losing mates because they were "hangers on", to making the big time and it all feeling not really worth it in the end (I never got that far, of course!). Excellent performances from Noddy Holder and Don Powell with Dave Hill coming across as the Joker in the Pack and Jimmy Lea as the true (moody?) musician. Definitely worth a try, this!