Customer Reviews

Ian Hunter (Dig)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Mott the Hoople was on a serious downslide since the summer of 1973 when Mick Ralphs left to team up with Paul Rogers. The guy that took his place in the band got on well with the rest of the chaps and DID have the look of a T-REX wannabe but he DID NOT have Mick's Talent... Mott was on it's last legs but because of a Great album (MOTT) that were at the peak of their popularity, so by default this was the band most of us saw on the stages of America.
By November of 1974 Ian had burnt to a crisp and had to be hospitalised with exhaustion. He Then gave Mick Ronson (RONNO) a call whilst still in a low state over Mott.
They both agreed this was not the time to pack it in and both decided it was time to join forces and with a quick "ELLO" that great record "Ian Hunter" begins!
It opens with "Once Bitten Twice Shy" a strong rocker that echos the Glory Days of Mott spot - on. Ronno shines thoughout with Great Guitars on his Production Excellance.
"Who Do You Love" and "Lounge Lizard" sound as they would have fit in well on the "Dudes" LP but the sound and production of "Ian Hunter" is way beyond "Dudes" with a crisp Drum Sound and the Bite Of Ronno's guitar this record is miles above other releases from this ( Mar 75) era.
I can't get too excited over "Boy" Ian's BIG ballad but it sounds restored due to the Remaster job and the Slags go crazy over it.
"3000 Miles" is a sparse arrangement with just acoustic guitar and heartfelt vocal then comes the Funk/Fire of "The Whole Truth" with great Organ backing to the Upfront Funk Beat with glorious Metal Guitars WOW this one demands a listen, it's that good
"When You Fall" is another ballad and it bleeds into the Poem "Shades Off" and "I Get So Excited" is the Rocker that means closing time for the 75 record but there are 6 Bonus tracks included here so stand by...
!. Coldwater High: This one didn't make the cut for the original album and it won't be hard for you to figure out why.
2. One Fine Day; Another Rocker but Ian has never been happy with this one, again it's not up to the standards of the material that they did use.
3.Once Bitten Twice Shy: The Single Version and a minute shorter.
4. Who Do You Love: The Single Version
5. Shades Off: the Poem tacked on the end of "When You Fall" here presented on it's own and mixed straight into...
6. "Boy": Single Version, this one is GREAT and i'm glad it's here, Now I Get IT!!!
If you like Mott The Hoople You Gotta Get This.... Five STARS...

Nervous exhaustion can take its toll. Ian Hunter was burned out touring and recording with Mott the Hopple. After a length rest Mick Ronson pushed Ian to record his first solo album. Rock 'n' Roll ain't been the same since. "Ian Hunter" started off with "Colwater High" (a song written as the next single for Mott the Hopple)and "One Fine Day" (both included on the Ian Hunter Anthology and here as well). Both tracks were ditched (and unfinished until 2000)in favor of new material Hunter had come up with. Another reviewer mentions that the album has been remixed. It hasn't but it has been remastered from the original master tapes.

"Once Bitten Twice Shy" became a huge hit for Great White over a decade later(it's a pity that Hunter's written material that others have turned into hits for themselves such as "Ships")and charted in both the UK and US for Hunter as well. Ironically opening with "'ello" (the last Mott the Hopple single closed with "Goodbye") the deceptive simple percussion opens the song building with each piano trill and finally with Ronson's slashing guitar solo. "Longue Lizard" was originally recorded with Mott the Hopple (it's on the Mott the Hopple's Anthology). Written about Hunter's days as a single man looking for a woman it's a nasty self portrait of earlier days before he got married again. "Boy" written with Ronson is about David Bowie, Joe Cocker and Hunter himself. The Dylanesque "3,000 Miles from Here" with its simple acoustic guitar and vocals gives way to the rocking "The Truth, The Whole Truth and Nothing But the Truth". The album closes out with the epic "It Ain't Easy When You Fall/Shades Off" and "I Get So Excited". In addition we get the single mix for "Once Bitten", "Who Do You Love" the original poem of "Shades Off" (again from the Hunter anthology) and the single version of "Boy".

The remastered sound is extremely good with crisp guitar parts and solid bass. The packaging includes a deluxe booklet written by Campbell Devine discussing the making of the album with Hunter, drummer Dennis Elliott and others.

30 years on and even better than ever!!great remaster, great music great to own!! Do yourself a favour and get Ellen Foley's Night Out cd as well, not remastered but who cares..it's Ellen, Ian and Mick and its great!!!

Ian could have never made this album with Mott, it is way too personal an effort. Not a single weak track on the whole blessed thing. "Once Bitten , Twice Shy" , "Boy" , "The Truth...." , it just gets better with each listen. A much under-appreciated album. Do yourself a favor , click the "Add to shopping cart" button

How is it that Great White's version of "Once Bitten Twice Shy" became a hit and not THIS version? Seriously, both versions are really catchy, and I can't believe the song didn't catch on with people 10 years earlier.

That's not the only great song on the album either. "Truth, the Whole Truth, Nuthin' But The Truth" will show you just how talented Ian's songwriting skills are, and if somehow you're STILL not impressed, the most beautiful and saddest song I've ever heard in my life called "It Ain't Easy When You Fall" is right around the corner. Mott the Hoople was great, and guess what? Ian Hunter was too.

From that classic opening drum beat and "'ello" you're in prime rock'n'roll territory from the legendary solo artist and former singer of Mott The Hoople. Is there a better rock story in a song, from the slow build up to the onslaught of guitar from Mick Ronson...then the shredding solo. Classic. Yes that's by far the best track on the album, but the mix of midtempo rockers, mannered ballads ("Boy") and earnest poetry ("Shades Off")are all worth a listen...more variety and imagination than most of the homogenised pop on the radio today...AND you get 6 bonus tracks. Value! Off to re-read my copy of "Diary of a Rock'n'Roll Star" now...

If you like 'Once Bitten Twice Shy', you will dig this album from start to finish. The ballsy 'Lounge Lizard' and the colossal torch song 'It Ain't Easy When You Fall' are major highlights, as is the casually brilliant rocker 'Shades Off'. This album boasts a TRUE glam sound-- if it could be called that-- the sounds of Fifties rhythm & blues and rock'n'roll brassed up with flashy Ronson guitar. Clearly one of the best albums of the Seventies-- even though it rarely makes it into such lists (which tend to credit less worthy acts).

The rack and ruin of Mott The Hoople back in 1974 threw me for a big loop but when the dust settled, things didn't turn out so bad after all. Overend Watts, Dale Griffin, and odd duck keyboardist Morgan Fisher reloaded with street rat vocalist Nigel Benjamin and guitarist Ray Major, releasing two feisty albums under the Mott brand ("Drive On" and "Shouting & Pointing"). Ian Hunter celebrated the end of his hospital stay for nervous exhaustion by grabbing Mick Ronson by the ear and dragging him into the studio to record this eponymous debut solo album.

Festooned in glam-rock glad-rags, "Ian Hunter" has been given the expanded, remix treatment by Sony and sounds as exhilirating today as it did 30 years ago. Worth the price of admission alone for Hunter's " 'Allo " at the beginning of "Once Bitten Twice Shy" and Ronson kick starting his Les Paul and wah pedal a few minutes later, it's equal parts turbine-whine guitar roar ("Who Do You Love," "Lounge Lizard," and "I Get So Excited") and slightly more reflective tracks which manage to avoid dropping off the precipice into malaise or melancholia ("3,000 Miles From Here," "It Ain't Easy When You Fall," and "Shades Off").

This CD is extremely good. The lyrics are excellent along with great music. It is hard to believe that this CD was released as an album 30 years ago.