Thank you for your just and measured criticism of my thoughts on Slade. I listened to Slade Alive! at a very specific time in my life when I was learning what 12-bars are and who Little Richard was. Slade taught me with a splitting maul. No one else could have transformed the folk confection "Darling Be Home Soon" into the hurricane it was on this album. When researching this I noted many other writers believing that this was one of the finest live rock albums. No matter what, a dialog about music beats a dialog about almost anything else.
T'was more of a comment than any form of criticism,CMB. For I'm familiar with your excellent writing having read AAJ for many a year. And for this reason I have a sneaking suspicion that The Allman Brothers and The Grateful Dead will surely pop up on this list. Who doesn't love a list?
Well, I think I've seen everything now. C Michael Bailey writing about Slade :-)
And as you suggest, before they descended into the silliness of their Top of The Pops period,which in fairness, was all part of the zeitgeist of that Chapman & Chinn period,one willingly followed by many a platform booted,glitter drenched performer,these boys could seriously play and were serious players. Despite their numerous hits and legendary live shows,they were and still are underrated by most critics.Big mistake.
Greetings Gunboat Smith:
Thank you for your just and measured criticism of my thoughts on Slade. I listened to Slade Alive! at a very specific time in my life when I was learning what 12-bars are and who Little Richard was. Slade taught me with a splitting maul. No one else could have transformed the folk confection "Darling Be Home Soon" into the hurricane it was on this album. When researching this I noted many other writers believing that this was one of the finest live rock albums. No matter what, a dialog about music beats a dialog about almost anything else.
T'was more of a comment than any form of criticism,CMB. For I'm familiar with your excellent writing having read AAJ for many a year. And for this reason I have a sneaking suspicion that The Allman Brothers and The Grateful Dead will surely pop up on this list. Who doesn't love a list?
Well, I think I've seen everything now. C Michael Bailey writing about Slade :-)
And as you suggest, before they descended into the silliness of their Top of The Pops period,which in fairness, was all part of the zeitgeist of that Chapman & Chinn period,one willingly followed by many a platform booted,glitter drenched performer,these boys could seriously play and were serious players. Despite their numerous hits and legendary live shows,they were and still are underrated by most critics.Big mistake.