Album review : THE CHRIS SLADE TIMELINE – Timescape (2 CDs)

Brave Words [Release date : 19.07.24]

There’s drummers and there’s Chris Slade. Rock royalty. A musician who knows no boundaries. One who fits seamlessly into most any genre.

His CV includes 6 years with Asia, 5 years with AC/DC and 7 years with Manfred Mann’s Earthband, and many more. He’s the definition of “in demand”.

He formed his own band…eventually… in 2012. With musicians he respected and knew he could work with, namely James Cornford, Stevie Gee, Michael Clark and Bun Davis. “The guys were in bands that played covers of Kansas and Genesis unbelievable well”.

Playing together for so long should have moulded Timeline into a lean, mean, smoking studio machine, but in places you get the impression they’ve burned out all their matches over the years.

They freely mix originals with covers of songs by bands that Slade anchored to solid ground in a past life. Most notably, ‘Joybringer’ and ‘Blinded By The Light’ from his time with Manfred Mann’s Earthband. Milestones on Slade’s journey through the Rock’n’Roll firmament.

‘We Will Survive’, like all the best among the originals, launches from James Cornford’s axework. It’s a 7 minute throwback to the 80s, displaying Uriah Heep influences, in sympathy with the band’s cover of Heep’s magnum opus, ‘July Morning’, on CD2.

And again, largely thanks to Cornford’s subtle frills and fills, two originals – the proggy ‘Living The Dream’ and ‘Freedom Song’ – bubble up to the surface.

But it’s two of the five AC/DC covers that light up the room.

‘Thunderstruck’ recognised by many as one of the best (if not the best) of AC/DC’s explosive, frenzied rock songs. In no small way that was and is thanks to Slade’s brutal, highly skilled drum pummeling.

‘Razor’s Edge’ was AC/DC’s rumination on world politics, an unlikely subject. Here, as on the original, the words are completely overshadowed by the immense riff, nailed here by the consistently amazing James Cornford.

An unusual album then, made so by the mix of old and new, original and cover.

And these covers may well overshadow the new stuff, but so what? If nothing else they tell the amazing story of Slade’s walk among the greats of rock’n’roll. ***

Review by Brian McGowan

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)