SLADE - The Amazing Kamikaze Syndrome - (RCA) - 1983, Keep You Hands Off My Power Supply, England, Glam.

I've been dreading this.

I was never big on 1970s Slade, when they were at the peak of their powers, so I'm not sure how I wiould deal with Slade from 1983. I may be pleasantly surprised.

I was wrong.

This is loud, and not loud good. It's also none too original. Don't get me wrong I like loud music and I'm not looking for answers in music because that's what we have books for. But, I like things that make me tap my foot, make me reflect, or tickle my funny bone. This album doesn't do any of those things for me as it is paint by the numbers glam rock, updated to the 80s, by which time the genre was well and truly dead, or should have been. Hello punk.

I should say I have nothing against glam – I have bits and pieces of The Sweet, Mott the Hoople, Alex Harvey, T Rex, Roxy Music, Queen, lots of of Bowie and Suzi Quatro as well as the New York Dolls (if you want to call them glam) but there is unsubtle and derivative and then there is unsubtle and derivative. And this is as unsubtle and derivative as it comes. The legions of Slade fans didn't seem to notice though as the album went to # 49 in the UK in 1983 and #33 in the US (where it was called "Keep You Hands Off My Power Supply"), and the singles also did well: Run Runaway (#7 1984, #20USA), My Oh My (#2 1983, #37USA), (And Now the Waltz) C'est la Vie (#50 1982).

Which just goes to show the influence of punk was more on the underground than in the charts.

Lead singer Noddy can sure belt out a tune but I think some of the loudness (though they were always loud) can be attributed to the rising popularity of English New Metal and bands like Iron Maiden etc.

Slade traverse all musical roads from point A to point B and back again on this album. There is the thumping hard rock with dumb song titles ("Slam the Hammer Down", "Cocky Rock Boys", "Cheap 'N' Nasty Luv" (obviously a homage to their 70s song titles) ) as well as the careers summation song in "Razzle Dazzle Man" and then back again with a small stop for the obligatory ridiculous cigarette lighter held up high ballad song, "My Oh My" … no original thoughts have been wasted.

Though, to my ears, it is also a scam as they don't have the courage of their 70s recordings … there are some new waving stylings a la Big Country on "High and Dry" (which also has a rip off "All Day and All of the Night" intro riff – which sounds like the 80s Kinks who were coincidentally riding high on the charts in 1983), the Queen-ish "C'est La Vie", and the rock 'n' roll-ish "In the Doghouse" (though 50s rock always loomed large in glam – think "Mud", Roxy Music" and even some Slade). Then of course there is the post modern feminist Slade with "My Oh My" –

            I believe in woman, my oh my
            I believe in lovin', my oh my
            Don' a women need a man
            Try and catch one if you can
            I believe in woman, my oh my
            We all need someone to talk to my oh my
            We all need someone to talk to my oh my

Is this the band that wrote: "Get Down and Get with It", "Skweeze me Pleeze Me", "Bangin 'Man" and "Lock Up Your Daughters"?

Where is the mindless, primitive sounding, thumping hard rock?

Ultimately glam was the the working class persons music of choice and it may have been the "pop" side of hard rock but it did rock … even though there is no mistaking glam for Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Status Quo, Black Sabbath or Mountain.

And, I know there are people out there who love the sheer dumbness of it and find the genre signposts hysterical but I must say I never understood that (just like I never understood "The Darkness"). I find "This is Spinal Tap" hilarious but the music still sucks. Maybe I take my hard rock too seriously … which would indicate I have the problem. I would have thought it wasn't Noddy's (lead singer) intention for you to laugh at him. I think he would tear your bleedin head off then again he might be laughing all the way to the bank. I know that Noddy likes to take the piss but this album is witless.

Having said all that, I would probably see them live if they were playing at the pub down the road … I just wouldn't buy their records, unless they were $1.

Slade may have had their time but in 1983 this is as redundant as Kiss or Alice Cooper were at the same time though all the hard rock poodle bands in the US were certainly influenced by it … think Motley Crue, Poison etc.

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