Alive At Reading '80 (Live)

When Slade re-formed for Reading Festival in 1980, the band was received as glam’s Lazarus rising from the dead, although glitter rock hardly seemed relevant at the time. Noddy Holder even mentioned in an interview that a lot of overstocked Slade vinyl had been melted down, recycled, and used for new punk rock releases. The band was invited to play the stage at the last minute and finally agreed, encountering hoards of screaming fans it didn’t know still existed. “When I’m Dancin’ I Ain’t Fightin’” opens, sounding as tough and tight as Slade did in the early '70s, with Holder’s soulful rasp and the band’s uncanny chemistry still well intact. Slade even tore into Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild,” delivering what many a British journalist dubbed as the definitive version (dig Dave Hill’s unhinged guitar solo on this one). A fast-driving medley of “Somethin’ Else/Pistol Packin’ Mama” shows Slade doing what it does best: blasting '50s rock ‘n’ roll through humongous '70s amplifiers to a crazed crowd. An eight-minute version of “Keep a Rollin’” closes with an epic performance.