Slade gets the shaft. Maybe because of jealousy (like Hugh Hefner) or who knows why, these British boyz are nuked by the mainstream, metalheads, critics, and America. Well, I'm proclaiming my allegiance and membership as a Slademanian because slabs by Slade constantly deliver the goods. In 1987, the quartet still gives great noize 20-odd years after forming as the 'N Betweens. Every track here stomps out a variation on the Slade theme of "Sing Shout (Knock Yourself Out)." Take raging opener "Love Is Like a Rock," which didn't fair any better commercially for the boyz than the tune did for awesome originators Donnie Iris and the Cruisers; this class cut remains an ace way to kick off the album because "Love" is, like, so Slade in the first place (they should have spelled the title wrong on the sleeve). Slade's headiest daze long gone, the band amazingly squeezes out sparks like "Still the Same" (not Bob Segar's pap, Slade wrote the rest of the record.): always tunefully tight, but loose enough to sing in the pub. "Fools Go Crazy" evokes some longing but still burns. And Slade's never afraid to ask you to rock along (just don't break Noddy's heart). "Ooh La La in L.A." is, naturally, another anthemic and trashy barnstormer. "Roaring Silence" swipes its opening from Simple Minds, but who cares. Face facts, AC/DC stole Slade's shtick all those years ago and now can't write its way out of a six pack, while these crazee boyz are still having fun slinging crisp chops and heavy hooks. Kudos. That's what Slade is for.
© Doug Stone /TiVo