Before Slade became one of Britains favourite glam bands of the 70s they had been knocking on the door for a few years before. They had a love of American blues and that’s what they started off playing. They came to the attention of Chas Chandler who thought a change of image and label would be a good idea. So the skinhead image was adopted and Play It Loud was released. This live album was from that tour.
This was the second full length album I ever owned, and I do have a soft spot for the raw power of this record. There are only seven songs on the album, the majority of which are covers including their first chart single Get Down And Get With It, which has all the hallmarks of the Slade to come. The album closes out with a monster version of Born To Be Wild. But the cover of Alvin Lee’s Hear Me Calling is my favourite track. It’s good to hear how raw and rockin’ Slade were before fame came a knocking.
8/10 from The Grooveman.
