Slade Album: «Rogue's Gallery»

- Customers rating: (4.3 of 5)
- Title:Rogue's Gallery
- Release date:1999-09-06
- Type:Audio CD
- Label:Import
- UPC:731454740623
- 1 Hey Ho, Wish You Wellimg 5:19
- 2 Little Sheilaimg 4:11
- 3Walking On Water, Running On Alcohol
- 4Myzterious Mizster Jones
- 5 Harmonyimg 3:45
- 6 7 Year Bitchimg 3:21
- 7I'll Be There
- 8I Win, You Lpse
- 9 Lock Up Your Daughtersimg 3:29
- 10 Time To Rockimg 4:10
Not a bad song in the bunch. Try listening to it and driving very fast at the same time, as this has a marvelous effect. How these songs never made it far in the U.S. is a mystery to me, as I would listen to Slade over U2 or the Stones without hesitation. You won't be disappointed. (Hint: Fish seem to bite more often while listening to Slade in the boat!)
I came to Slade after Quiet Riot covered a couple of their songs, and now I love them. In my opinion, this is their best album. It is a very pleasing blend of hard rock with 80s-style pop metal. The songs are catchy and fun. However, "true" Slade fans who liked their 1970s work don't like this album (or their albums _Keep Your Hands Off My Power Supply_ and _You Boys Make Big Noize_) as much as the earlier Slade albums. In my opinion, they are better. Thus, if you love 80s metal, this is a great album to add to your collection. If you prefer 70s rock, this might not be the best choice.
THIS ALBUM IS CRAWLING WITH GREAT GUITAR JAMS, MASTERFUL DRUM WORK, AND THE GREAT HARMONY VOCALS SLADE IS KNOWN FOR. THE BALLADS WILL MAKE YOU SWAY, AND YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO STAND STILL DURING THE FASTER JAMS. IT'S FEEL-GOOD MUSIC FOR THE SOUL.
A great bunch of songs, but the synth/keyboard parts detract at every turn. "Little Sheila" is the only song that seems to have been able to incorporate the key noise without it sounding totally out of place. Listening to "Hey Ho", you wish "keyboardless" mixes or demos were available - it rocks, but gets mucked up with synth.
I guess we can thank Van Halen's "1984" for this choice of instrumentation. Overall an excellent set of songs, unfortunately frozen in time.