Slade

While there has been an enormous number of Slade collections over the years, Shout Factory's 2004 release Get Yer Boots On: The Best of Slade is the first comprehensive U.S. compilation, containing both their '70s peak and their early-'80s comeback. If the track listing looks vaguely familiar to Slade-heads, that's because it does share numerous similarities to the 1994 British collection Wall of Hits, which also covered the band's entire career, extending it to their brief return to the U.K. charts in the early '90s.

Before the hits really starting coming, Slade showed why they were one of England's best live acts with this fevered concert recording from 1972. Set alight by plenty of stomping beats, lumbering bass, fat guitars, and Noddy Holder's hoarse vocal scream, Slade Alive! finds the lads from Wolverhampton goading on their rabid fans at every juncture ("Wan ya ta really let loose on iss one"). In return, the crowd's handclap choruses and drunken exhortations fire up the band, inspiring them to take pub rock to glam proportions ("In Like a Shot From My Gun"), make a fine mess out of a Steppenwolf classic ("Born to Be Wild"), and add a bit of feedback to John Sebastian's folk-pop ("Darling Be Home Soon"). Plus, hits like the MC5-esque "Know Who You Are" and retro-rocker "Get Down Get With It" are given proper live workouts.

Cum On Feel The Hitz is a superlative and comprehensive collection of Slade singles from 1970 to 1991. Cum On Feel The Hitz is released as a double CD and a 2LP collection: the CD comprises of 43 singles, while the double vinyl features 24 singles. Cum On Feel The Hitz includes all six of their UK Number one singles: "Coz I Luv You”, “Take Me Bak ‘Ome”, ”Mama Weer All Crazee Now”, “Cum On Feel The Noize”, “Skweeze Me, Pleeze Me“ and “Merry Xmas Everybody” and a total of 16 Top 10 singles. The affection for Slade’s music and attitude remains undimmed today, as 1973’s “Merry Christmas Everybody” has gone on to become Britain’s best loved Christmas song. Formed in Wolverhampton in 1966, Slade's chart career spanned 3 decades.

Believe it or not, Slade on Stage is the most intense recording Slade has ever made. That's heavy. This live album, recorded circa Till Deaf Do Us Part, shows the band playing faster, harder, and better than ever. Slade on Stage contains five of the band's new songs and four of their classic hits, along with an audience singalong to end the show. The first three songs set the stage. Slade comes out of the gate so fast with "Rock and Roll Preacher," "When I'm Dancin'," and "Take Me Bak Ome" that if they didn't follow those three up with a ballad, you'd almost have to take the record off. It's that intense. During "Preacher," Noddy Holder leads the crowd when the music quiets down, "I see the light – GLORY HALLELUJAH, baby I'm on fire!"

The Very Best of… Slade effectively renders every past Slade hits collection redundant, as remastered sound and a sharp eye for all the band's U.K. chart entries serve up a peerless examination of what remains one of British rock's most flawless careers. No matter that the hits went so badly off the boil around 1975-1976 – still, three-quarters of disc one is nonstop solid gold and the remainder of the set isn't far behind, as Slade's mid-'80s renaissance delivers further smashes "My Oh My" and "Run Run Away." Which would be hits enough for anybody, but the fun doesn't end there. A bonus second disc then digs into the darker recesses of the Top 75 to pull out the band's lesser successes, a mixed bag that runs from "All Join Hands" to "Ruby Red," the 1980 live version of "Born to Be Wild," "Gypsy Roadhog," "C'Est la Vie," and more. It's not a complete guide to Slade on 45 (there's no "Give Us a Goal," for a start), but it comes close enough.

Till Deaf Do Us Part is Slade's hardest-rocking album ever. Their playing is at its fiercest and the material totally kicks ass. While this was not quite the commercial success the band was hoping for, it didn't kill their momentum by any means. They were now packing halls again instead of playing to half-empty small clubs. The disc includes three songs that would be played live at every gig the band did from this LP's release until they stopped playing out. The opener, "Rock and Roll Preacher," features Noddy Holder praying at the altar of rock & roll. This number is so blistering, one wonders just how heavy these guys can get.

2009 compilation from the Glam popsters. This holiday-themed release brings together some of the band's best loved hits (including, of course, 'Merry Xmas Everybody'), creating the perfect Rock compilation for your annual Christmas party. With their unique blend of Pop-perfect Rock 'n' Roll, outrageous flamboyance and sense of fun, Slade are one of the best loved British bands of all time. Since forming in 1966, they notched up 23 Top 20 singles (including six #1s) and six hit albums. In the early '70s, Slade were, without doubt, the biggest band in the UK charts: they scored an incredible eleven Top 5 singles between 1971 and 1974 alone. Features 'Mama Weer All Crazee Now', 'C'mon Feel the Noize' and 'Skweeze Me Pleeze Me'.

While Slade's early to mid-'70s hit repertoire represents one of the most perfect runs in British rock history and has been amply anthologized accordingly, it is often easy to forget that their career did not end when the number ones did. Slade kept going until the early '90s, enjoying a roller coaster of highs and lows as they did so, and this package delves into most of them. Picking up in 1979, as the band came off a short-lived stint with manager Chas Chandler's Barn label, and fading out with the band's last proper LP, 1987's You Boys Make Big Noize, the package runs through 17 songs, but eschews, peculiarly, the hits for which the period is best remembered.

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.

Crackers is a studio/compilation album by the British rock band Slade. It was released on 18 November 1985 and reached No. 34 in the UK charts. The album was produced by bassist Jim Lea except "All Join Hands", "Do You Believe in Miracles", "My Oh My" and "Run Runaway", which were all produced by John Punter. The album contained a mix of the band's previous hits, some re-recorded songs and a selection of covers. On Crackers, Slade tried to create an LP that had a party atmosphere to it.