We'll Bring the House Down marks the beginning of a four-album resurgence for Slade. Released on the heels of their most triumphant moment as a band, the 1980 Reading Festival (see Slade Alive at Reading '80 EP for more on that), Slade made a powerful statement with We'll Bring the House Down: "We're back." What the band did was to take the best five songs from the previous platter, Return to Base (no one had heard that album anyway, they correctly figured), and mix them in with great new material for a killer album that wouldn't take forever to make. Simple logic will tell you that when you get rid of the worst songs and replace them with great songs, the album's gonna be a lot better. Such is the case here. The title track is automatic. One listen and you'll be chanting along, just as Slade audiences did ever since the band started playing the song. An absolute must-hear. Also, "Dizzy Mama" (riff-wise a ZZ Top "Tush" soundalike) was the Reading show-opener, and it grabbed that crowd by the throat even thought the audience had never heard it. And "When I'm Dancin' I Ain't Fightin" is pure classic Slade. This is just the type of song that made people go crazy over this band in the first place, and it stacks up to their chart-topping singles. This was the beginning of a slow build back up the British charts. We'll Bring the House Down didn't go too far, but it set the stage. Slade was back, making records people wanted to hear. The long cold winter was over.
© Geoff Ginsberg /TiVo