FEEL THE NOIZE is a 21-track greatest hits collection featuring the work of U.K. glam rockers, Slade, including "Cum On Feel The Noize," "Mama Weer All Crazee Now," and "Gudby T'Jane."
By no means the first (or last) ever Slade hits collection, Wall of Hits is nevertheless the only one you truly need, a solid roundup of every British Top Ten smash the band ever scored, plus a smattering of lesser-rated (but equally deserving) Top 20 entries, and only one track -- 1991's "Universe" -- that really doesn't belong. Neither has time taken any toll on the quality of the music. Whether causing roaring traffic to grind to a halt or bearing their souls in a ballad, the members of Slade not only made great records, they also tapped emotions -- wild and wacky, reflective and raw -- that make fans never tire of singing their songs. The statistics behind the track listing, meanwhile, are boggling. Between 1971 and 1975, Slade slammed 17 songs into the chart, including half a dozen number ones and six more that peaked between number two and number four. All but one (1975's number 11 underachiever "In for a Penny") are here. The group resurfaced in 1982 for a second bite at the cherry, and delivered "Run Run Away" and "My Oh My" (plus a hit reissue of "Merry Xmas Everybody"); then they came back again in 1991 with "Radio Wall of Sound." If Noddy Holder hadn't quit long ago, it would've taken a brave man indeed to bet against a fourth Slade revival in the first years of the present century. As it is -- well, like the song says, "Thanks for the Memory." ~ Dave Thompson
The finest collection ever assembled on Slade's hit-making heyday, Feel the Noize: The Very Best of Slade contains all of the group's hit singles from the early '70s, from 1971's "Get Down and Get With It" to 1975's "Thanks for the Memory (Wham Bam Thank You Mam)." In between those two songs, all of the group's big, dumb, irresistible, and misspelled hits -- "Cuz I Luv You," "Take Me Bak 'Ome," "Mama Weer All Crazee Now," "Gudbuy T'Jane," "Cum On Feel the Noize," "Skweeze Me Pleeze Me" -- are featured. Though it is missing latter-day hits like "My Oh My," Slade never got better than they did at their stomping glitter-rock peak, and Feel the Noize captures the essence of that era. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine minimize