New releases - 07.10.06: REVIEWS DVD.

Slade

The Slade Box (Salvo SALVOBX 401)

Appearing hot on the heels of individually upgraded and remastered editions of Slade's most important albums, this four-CD boxed set is a superb alternative, collecting together 84 hits, album cuts and rarities from 1969 to 1991 in a sturdy cardboard longbox, which also includes a 72-page booklet containing an informative essay on the band by Keith Altham, an extensive discography and a multitude of pictures of the band, all for less than #20. Noddy Holder's customary bludgeoning vocal style isn't to everyone's tastes, but his paint- stripping contributions to Take Me Back 'Ome, Skweeze Me Pleeze Me and Merry Xmas Everybody perfectly capture the spirit of the band and he does have his quieter, more sensitive moments, as illustrated by the reflective Everyday.

Al Stewart

A Piece Of Yesterday (EMI 3734742)

Possessed of a slightly fey, but extremely effective and melancholy vocal style - think Neil Tennant crossed with Pete Shelley - Scots folk singer Al Stewart is a master storyteller and excellent songwriter, and this double-disc anthology, issued ahead of a UK tour, contains highlights of his entire career to date, from his 1967 debut album Bedsitter Images through to 2005's Beach Full Of Shells. Stewart's best- known song, the glorious Year Of The Cat, is included in its full six minute glory and is nearly matched by the majestic Time Passages - a song Stewart himself has no affection for - and On The Border. Released simultaneously, Famous Last Words (3740352) dates from 1993, is lighter in texture than many of Stewart's album and contains three bonus cuts.

ABBA