Slade Alive, Vol. 2

Slade Alive, Vol. 2
Live album by Slade
Released	27 October 1978
Recorded	USA autumn 1976 & UK spring 1977
Genre	Hard rock glam rock
Length	41:01
Label	Barn
Producer	Chas Chandler
Slade chronology
Whatever Happened to Slade? (1977) Slade Alive, Vol. 2 (1978) Return to Base (1979)

Slade Alive, Vol. 2 is the second live album by the British rock band Slade. It was released on 27 October 1978 and did not enter the charts.^[1] Titled as the follow-up to the band's commercially and critically successful 1972 album Slade Alive!, the performances on Slade Alive, Vol. 2 were taken from the band's autumn 1976 tour of the United States and their spring 1977 UK tour.^[2] The album was produced by Chas Chandler.

Background

Returning from the US in late 1976, Slade found the UK music business much changed from when they had left in 1975 to try and crack the American market. Punk rock had exploded to become the dominant influence on youth culture and the music press. Despite Slade's reputation as one of the great high-energy bands of their day, in this environment they had become irrelevant. Regardless, they were determined that they were now a better live act than ever and refused to call it a day. Their 1977 album Whatever Happened to Slade was a commercial failure, and on their UK spring tour they found they could no longer fill large venues.

By 1978, the band continued to suffer from a lack of commercial success. Despite being successful at filling small venues for their live performances, their new records were barely selling. With their new output no longer being released on Polydor Records but instead on manager Chas Chandler's label Barn Records, singles such as "Burning in the Heat of Love", "Give Us a Goal", "Rock 'n' Roll Bolero" and "Ginny, Ginny" were all chart failures. In the hope their live reputation would translate to success when released on record, the band released Slade Alive, Vol. 2 in October 1978. However, it too was a commercial failure, and Slade would only regain popularity after performing at the Reading Festival in 1980.^[3][4]

Track listing

All songs written by Noddy Holder and Jim Lea except "My Baby Left Me" by Arthur Crudup.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
Record Mirror	[6]
Superpop[7]

Upon the album's release, Record Mirror described it as a "worthwhile, if not exactly essential purchase, and enough possibly, to get the group back on an even keel". They added: "Slade are essentially a live band, no matter how good their records are, they'll never match up. All they will ever be are plastic souvenirs of a great live show." Superpop felt the album captured "exactly what [was] actually going on" with the band at the time, adding that the album was a "neat little package".^[8]

AllMusic retrospectively said: "Slade Alive, Vol. 2, like all live Slade, is searing. The album is excellent, both in terms of performance and sound quality. They also did a great job of selecting material for this disc. A nice balance of classics and newer material that hadn't really been heard before. Slade has by this point developed into a full-fledged heavy metal band while retaining everything that made them great in the first place."^[9]

Personnel

Slade

• Noddy Holder - lead vocals, rhythm guitar
• Dave Hill - lead guitar, backing vocals
• Jim Lea - bass, backing vocals
• Don Powell - drums

Additional personnel

• Chas Chandler - producer
• Alwyn Clayden - design (cover)
• Alex Agor - photography
• Alan Goldberg - stage lighting

References