Slade in Flame reviews
Review by on 23 Sep 2010
First off, a disclaimer. I’m too young to know much about Slade. Outside their well-known classic tunes, my previous experience of Noddy Holder on film extends to those incredibly irritating “Nobby’s Nuts” commercials. How the film fits within the trajectory of Slade themselves, rather than the band they portray, I do not know. What I do know though is that, judging SLADE IN FLAME with my youthful naïveté, it is enjoyable, humorous without losing a dark edge and remarkably prescient.
Charting the fictional band Flame’s meteoric rise, if it wasn’t for the dated looking fashion sense it could easily be a contemporary commentary on the current state of the music industry, albeit a cynical one. Flame quickly become a packaged and marketed consumer product, calmly milked for cash by record executive Tom Conti. This makes it all the more relevant 35 years after the original release - the sterility and homogeneity of modern pop music and the greed of record companies being a common complaint.
The film certainly doesn’t shy away from showing the nastier and distasteful elements of Flame’s ascent – which isn’t a reference to the horrendous hairstyles on show. The band’s seedy former acquaintances and associates sniff around to claim part of their new found success.
The band acquits themselves reasonably well in the acting stakes, with Holder conveying some screen presence. SLADE IN FLAME certainly does not celebrate a glitzy rock lifestyle, but that is precisely what makes it so interesting and engrossing.
Jim Ross
Charting the fictional band Flame’s meteoric rise, if it wasn’t for the dated looking fashion sense it could easily be a contemporary commentary on the current state of the music industry, albeit a cynical one. Flame quickly become a packaged and marketed consumer product, calmly milked for cash by record executive Tom Conti. This makes it all the more relevant 35 years after the original release - the sterility and homogeneity of modern pop music and the greed of record companies being a common complaint.
The film certainly doesn’t shy away from showing the nastier and distasteful elements of Flame’s ascent – which isn’t a reference to the horrendous hairstyles on show. The band’s seedy former acquaintances and associates sniff around to claim part of their new found success.
The band acquits themselves reasonably well in the acting stakes, with Holder conveying some screen presence. SLADE IN FLAME certainly does not celebrate a glitzy rock lifestyle, but that is precisely what makes it so interesting and engrossing.
Jim Ross
Review by on 21 Sep 2010
What more could you ask for?
A gritty, humourous music film, as realistic as possible for this genre and made at the right time and the right location.
You can almost smell the beer and smoke of a packed 70s small venue. Noddy Holder was surprisingly impressive and the interplay between the band was very engaging.
And you get Slade's classic How Does it Feel to boot!
A gritty, humourous music film, as realistic as possible for this genre and made at the right time and the right location.
You can almost smell the beer and smoke of a packed 70s small venue. Noddy Holder was surprisingly impressive and the interplay between the band was very engaging.
And you get Slade's classic How Does it Feel to boot!
Review by on 21 Sep 2010
No better way to round off a festival day than a bit of good old fashioned 70s class - & "Slade in Flame" fits the bill nicely.
