For Disc Two, he said: 'Six-cylinder blasts through songs first heard by Ten Years After, Janis Joplin and Little Richard acknowledge their showband roots, but it's the affirmation of Holder's and Lea's fast maturing songwriting talent that marks it as a pivotal gig in the group's stratospheric career trajectory.' Paul Elliott of Mojo said: 'If ever a band earned the epithet 'rollicking' it's these Black Country boys.

Covers of Traffic, Fairport Convention and The Beatles, however, suggest levels of deft musicianship not always evident in their cacophonic hits. Terry Staunton of Record Collector wrote of Disc One: 'The disc offers an insight into the band's early versatility, though with the exception of the pounding 'Know Who You Are', their self-penned material comes across as disjointed and lacking focus.

The second CD captures a band at the peak of their glam stomp.' These long-lost radio sessions give some feeling of how they arrived in the peace'n'love era like a force-10 gale. But then, if you ever saw them live, you'll know how good this lot were – one of the best.' The Guardian said: 'This is a treat, tracing the Black Country rockers' fascinating 1969-72 progress from a band Tony Blackburn introduces as 'the skinhead set' to the biggest pop phenomenon since Beatlemania. This is Slade before the hits, a raw, rocking high paced crew. Upon release, Classic Rock stated: 'For those who regard Slade as nothing more than a '70s hit machine, Live at the BBC is gonna be a right old shock. ''This is Radio 1, we're all having fun''ĭisc 2 - Live At The Paris Theatre, London, 17 August 1972 No.Ĭritical reception Professional ratings Review scores ''Everyday the sounds we play on Radio 1''

The Uncut Wood by Slade James