Slayed?

Slayed? is the third studio album by the British rock group Slade. It was released on 1 November 1972 and reached No. 1 in the UK. It remained on the chart for 34 weeks and was certified Silver in early 1973.[1][2] The album was also the band's most successful of the 1970s in the US, peaking at No. 69 and remaining in the charts for 26 weeks.[3] In Australia, the album reached No. 1 and went Gold, knocking the band's live album Slade Alive! to No. 2.[4][5][6] Slayed? was produced by Chas Chandler.

Slayed?
Studio album by
Slade
Released1 November 1972
Recorded1972
Genre
Length34:30 (53:42 with bonus tracks)
LabelPolydor (UK/US)
ProducerChas Chandler
Slade chronology
Slade Alive!
(1972)		 Slayed?
(1972)		 Sladest
(1973)
Singles from Slayed?
  1. "Mama Weer All Crazee Now"
    Released: 25 August 1972
  2. "The Whole World's Going Crazee (promo only)"
    Released: October 1972
  3. "Gudbuy T' Jane"
    Released: 17 November 1972
  4. "Let The Good Times Roll (America only)"
    Released: August 1973
  5. "Move Over (Japan only)"
    Released: November 1973

Background

After achieving their breakthrough hit with "Get Down and Get With It" in 1971, Slade would continue to achieve further success with their follow-up singles "Coz I Luv You", "Look Wot You Dun" and "Take Me Bak 'Ome". The 1972 live album Slade Alive! also gave the band their first success on the albums chart, reaching No. 2. Having achieved their second UK number one with "Take Me Bak 'Ome", the band soon finished recording their next studio album Slayed?. In August 1972, the lead single "Mama Weer All Crazee Now" was released and was another UK chart topper. Slayed? followed in November and reached No. 1. A second single, "Gudbuy T'Jane", was also released that month and reached No. 2 in the UK.[7]

In October, "The Whole World's Goin' Crazee" was released as a free 7" Flexi disc with the Music Scene magazine. The B-Side was "Bonnie Charlie" by Mike Hugg.[8] In August 1973, "Let The Good Times Roll" was released as a single in America where it reached No. 114.[9] In November, "Move Over" was released as a single in Japan.[10]

Song information

"How D'You Ride" had originally been considered as a potential single, with Chandler particularly keen on seeing it released as one.[11] In a 2006 interview, drummer Don Powell revealed of "I Won't Let It 'appen Agen": "If you listen to the start of that one you can hear somebody shout, 'Yeah!' That's me shouting, because it felt so good when we started, that I just couldn't help saying it. And it was kept."[12]

The idea for "Gudbuy T'Jane" came to Lea while the band was in San Diego. He completed the song on the flight home to the UK. Holder's lyrics were inspired by a woman called Jane who demonstrated a sex machine on a TV show on which the band appeared.[13] The idea for the lyrics of "Mama Weer All Crazee Now" came from the band's show at the Boston Gliderdrome in Lincolnshire, where a bouncer had told them about another act who'd appeared there drunk – "crazy with whiskey".[13]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[14]
Christgau's Record GuideA–[15]
The Guardian[16]

Upon release, Record Mirror described the album as "all pretty stomping, insistent and bawled out stuff", adding "they deliver the goods here, alright".[17] In the Record Mirror poll results of 1974, Slayed? was listed at No. 4 on the Top 10 list of best British albums.[18] New Musical Express said the album was "one of the greatest rock 'n' roll releases ever".

Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times felt that aside from some "effective moments" on side one, side two best displayed Slade's "power and direction". He concluded: "If you've been missing the solid, raunchy rock sound in recent months, get slayed and play it loud."[19] Tom Von Malder of The Wheeling Herald (Illinois) felt the album recalled the "kind of raw music that the Rolling Stones used to play when they did "Street Fighting Man"." Malder concluded: "Slade is punk, street rock at its best and loudest."[20] American rock critic Robert Christgau felt the album showcased "boot-boy anthems that are every bit as overpowering as has been reported, and also more fun. Noddy Holder can wake up the crazee in my neighborhood any time he wants." Henry McNulty of the Hartford Courant described the album as a "fierce, unrelenting type of rock", as well as a "total body assault, leaving the mind free to wander in the void where the meaning ought to be."[21]

In 2010, Classic Rock considered the album an "essential classic", adding that it featured "party-hard tracks, and even something approaching a ballad with "Look at Last Nite", ensuring that Slayed? inarguably ticks all the right boxes." The Guardian noted the album's singles and other tracks as being "deservedly party riff monsters", but added: "Slayed?'s majesty lies in the melancholy ballads. "Look at Last Nite's" haunting refrain fingers both empty celebrity and fame's creeping downside."

The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[22]

Track listing
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."How d'You Ride"Noddy Holder, Jim Lea3:11
2."The Whole World's Goin' Crazee"Holder3:35
3."Look at Last Nite"Holder, Lea3:05
4."I Won't Let It 'Appen Agen"Lea3:16
5."Move Over"Janis Joplin3:45
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
6."Gudbuy T'Jane"Holder, Lea3:32
7."Gudbuy Gudbuy"Holder, Lea3:28
8."Mama Weer All Crazee Now"Holder, Lea3:44
9."I Don' Mind"Holder, Lea3:05
10."Let the Good Times Roll / Feel So Fine"Leonard Lee3:46
Japanese '24 Bit remaster 2006' bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."Take Me Bak 'Ome" (non-album single)Holder, Lea3:16
12."Cum On Feel The Noize" (non-album single)Holder, Lea4:25
13."Skweeze Me, Pleeze Me" (non-album single)Holder, Lea4:30
2006 Salvo remaster bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."My Life is Natural" (B-side of "Coz I Luv You")Holder3:17
12."Candidate" (B-side of "Look Wot You Dun")Lea, Powell2:52
13."Wonderin' Y" (B-side of "Take Me Bak 'Ome")Lea, Powell2:49
14."Man Who Speeks Evil" (B-side of "Mama Weer All Crazee Now")Lea, Powell3:17
15."Slade Talk to 'Melanie' Readers" (Issued on a single-sided flexi-disc) 6:46

Personnel
Slade
Additional personnel

Chart performance
Chart (1972) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[23] 1
Austrian Albums Chart[24] 3
Canadian Albums Chart[25] 27
Dutch Albums Chart[26] 10
French Albums Chart[27] 8
German Albums Chart[28] 10
Norwegian Albums Chart[29] 3
UK Albums Chart[30] 1
U.S. Billboard 200[31] 69

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[32] 1× Gold 20,000[32]

References
  1. "Slade Scrapbook Website". sladescrapbook.com. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  2. Slade Fan Club Newsletter February–March 1973
  3. Whitburn, Joel; Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Albums 1955-1996; p. 717. Published 1997 by Record Research Inc.
  4. "Slade Fan Club Archive". Weebly. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  5. "Slade Fan Club Archive". Weebly. Archived from the original on 23 April 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  6. Slade Fan Club Newsletter April–May 1973
  7. http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/30945/slade/
  8. "Slade – Weer All Crazee – Main Page". Slade-weerallcrazee.co.uk. Retrieved 23 June 2012.
  9. "Billboard - Google Books". 1 September 1973. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  10. http://www.45cat.com/record/dp1918
  11. Powell, Don; Falkenberg, Lise Lyng (11 October 2013). Look Wot I Dun: Don Powell of Slade - Don Powell, Lise Lyng Falkenberg - Google Books. ISBN 9781783230006. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  12. "Slade: Remaster interview with Don!". Bigboyzbignoize.blogspot.co.uk. 1 September 2006. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  13. Slade's 1997 compilation Greatest Hits booklet
  14. Thompson, Dave. "Slayed? – Slade". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  15. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: S". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved 12 March 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  16. Dave Simpson (25 August 2006). "CD: Slade, Slayed? | Music". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  17. Record Mirror Magazine review 2 December 1972
  18. "Rocklist.net...Steve Parker...1001 Albums". Rocklistmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  19. Los Angeles Times - Rock 'n' Roll: Following Elton John's bouncing ball - Robert Hilburn - 28 January 1973 - page 42
  20. The Wheeling Herald - Tom Von Malder - 9 March 1973 - page 43
  21. Hartford Courant newspaper - 17 February 1973 - page 20
  22. Dimery, Robert (2005), 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, United Kingdom: Universe Publishing, ISBN 1-84403-392-9
  23. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 277. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  24. Steffen Hung. "Slade – Slayed?". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  25. "Results – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  26. Steffen Hung. "Slade – Slayed?". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  27. "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste". Infodisc.fr. Archived from the original on 6 May 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  28. "charts.de". charts.de. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  29. Steffen Hung. "Slade – Slayed?". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  30. "Slade | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  31. "Slade". AllMusic. 25 June 2002. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  32. "Slade" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 28 August 2013.
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