Play It Loud - SLADE***

Raven/See Us Here/Dapple Rose/Could I/One Way Hotel/The Shape Of Things To Come/Know Who You Are/I Remember/Pouk Hill/Angelina/Dirty Joker/Sweet Box

For their second album Play It Loud this good time rocking band have abbreviated their name and temporarily adopted a dubious skinhead image. Within a year they would be topping the UK singles chart to launch themselves as the most consistent British singles group of the early 1970s.

“Extremely inconsistent, but the brunt of these tracks are at the very least good. Only a few are out and out clunkers. They've got a hell of a compositional range, tackling heavier-than-average hard rock, psych, blues-based boogie rock, and late 60s The Who in equal measure and occasional within the same song.”

“Noddy has such a recognizable voice. Starts off rocking and turns into hippie stew but what else would you expect in 1970. I can hear in a few of the songs what they would become later but here they are just a band still finding their way.”

“With the Ambrose dropped, and a harder sounding name, the band dipped into the skinhead fashion that was sweeping the country and became the first skinhead band. They certainly didn't play the sort of music that skins were into, but it was all about publicity, and the band received loads.”

“It was the band’s first real foray into writing for themselves, and although the LP contains some covers, there is enough original material to highlight the bands talent. Holders voice is still raw, Hill's guitar is as good as it was ever going to be, Powell's drumming kept everything steady, and in Jimmy Lea, they had unearthed a bass player of phenomenal ability. Dirty Joker is his standout track here.”

“I consider this to be Slade's most outstanding album. It contains, in rough form, nearly all the elements that would make them UK superstars, but adds to the mix odd, thick, almost classically-constructed vocal harmonies, atop rather bizarre minor key hooks to create a slightly discomforting overall sound.”