Customer Reviews

Mott

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Mott the Hoople had covered lot's of ground since the first album was released way back in 1969. Described as "Dylan's, Blonde on Blonde meets spacey roller skating rink music" the band had nothing to prove to me by the 1973 release of their 6th record " MOTT ". I was a crazy off-kilter teenaged wasteland and their music was the soundtrack of my life. Still I was upset over "Dudes" as not being the best way to represent this great band. Sorry to tell you kid's, but once you labeled Mott the Hoople a 'Glam' band you all but destroyed them!

"All The Young Dudes" turned Mott the Hoople into serious "Corporate Product" and ripped the guts out of their center. The great Verden Allen left the band after being labeled one of: "Bowie's Chldren " and then the death blow came right after the release of this album with the departure of guitartist Mick Ralphs.
Ian Hunter, was non to happy of the labels being slapped upon this great band after David Bowie's production on "All the Young Dudes " became their commercial breakthrough to AM radios in the United States. And on "Mott " he now had something to prove that Bowie DID NOT invent this band. In his anger and the loss of Allen the songs flowed and the group took over production to disprove it was all a 'Magic Act' from the gods of glam.

Proof that greatness was still lighting the fires of rock was: "All the Way From Memphis" (as used in the film "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" by the son when he is pissed off at his mother, and he blasts it at her). "Hymm for the Dudes" shows the band want's to break their ties to all things glam, But refuse to throw out their platform shoes just yet. "Drivin' Sister" is flat out rock, and one of the best songs writen and performed by ANYONE! and in it's simple drive, it is PERFECT .

Mick has only one selection featured here "I'm a Cadillac" and it's been labeled as a 'minor tune' but it is a stellar production and features the best playing of the band on "Mott". Mick DID deserve fame & fortune but Bad Company pales in the shadow of what Mott the Hoople could have been. It all ends with "I Wish I Was Your Mother", those mandolins echo on to the heavens. If you want a list of the 10 Greatest Rock Albums of the 70's "Mott" would be on that list, as the group was one of the best of that decade.
Another record follows this one and it pales when it is compared to this, and features a REALLY CRAPPY GUITARIST then came the live album three years too late and after the fact with some really sloppy playing and a REALLY CRAPPY GUITARIST but those last two recording were the most popular things they released and remain their legacy forever, well they did burn out and didn't just fade away.

"MOTT" is a FIVE STAR RECORD by a band that had a lot to say with only a very short time to do so (1969-1973). The Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame is a JOKE... This was OUR BAND

Anger & Angst... This is rock, at it's very BEST.

Tremendously great LP. By far, the best studio LP Mott the Hoople ever cut, although "All The Young Dudes" (also reissued today by Sony Legacy) and the easily-obtainable import "Mott the Hoople Live (1974 - expanded 30th Annivesary Edition)" also are necessary to round out any truly great musical collection. This reissue of "Mott" doesn't stray too far from the original warm, fat sound found on the LP, although it is clearer than the 1988 CBS CD version. The only difference I could detect in this reissue and that first CD pressing is there's a bit of horns near the beginning of "All The Way From Memphis," right before Ian Hunter's vocals come in for the first time, that aren't on the original 1988 CD. Who knows, maybe the 1988 CD omitted the horns, if they were originally recorded in 1972/73 but not not used, either on the vinly LP version of the first CD. Whether the horns were originally on the LP or not (I have the vinyl but my turntable is inactive) remains a mystery to me.
However, that is the only artistic difference I noticed in the new CD version, and it really doesn't take away from the wonderful vibe that runs rampant through "Mott." Everything else seems to be the exact same vocal takes, guitar parts, bass, drums, etc. Also, this CD reissue includes the complete piano introduction to "All the Way From Memphis," which mysteriously was cut off from Sony Legacy's 2003 reissue of "Mott the Hoople Greatest Hits." Fans will feel the comfort when they hear the piano-pounding back in its proper place on "Mott." Guitarist Mick Ralphs' mandolins on Hunter's exceptional "I Wish I WasYour Mother" really jump out more on the remastered version, solidifying the fact that this cut, despite its odd title, is one of the greatest songs the British group ever cut.
Overall, the standouts are too numerous to list ... "Honolochie Boogie" is fun, kind of like The Stones paying an homage to the 1950s era, complete with Sun Records-like echo and delay on Hunter's barking vocals, and the Bob Dylan-like "Ballad of Mott The Hoople" and the cryptic "Hymn for the Dudes" also are stellar tracks on this masterpiece, which should have sold more than The Stones' "Goats Head Soup" that year but didn't. It's too bad that Mott split too soon, in late 1974. Ralphs quit right after "Mott" was recorded and eventually went on to form Bad Company with vocal great Paul Rodgers, and Hunter dove into a solo career that has won critical acclaim and some fans, but not as many fas as Hunter deserves. Mott the Hoople did carry on for two more studio LPs and a live disc from circa 1976 with another singer, but without Hunter AND Ralphs, it wasn't the same artisitc beast.
Anyone interested in seeing what all the fuss was about circling Mott the Hoople in the early 1970s - Rolling Stone called "Mott" the "best album from the best band of the early 1970s" - this CD reissue is the perfect place to start. Once you're hooked into the group's sound, which is deeper than the really good Bad Company and more retrospective than the Rolling Stones ever were, you'll want to go for the 2004 import of "Live - Expanded: 30th Anniversary Edition," which originally was released on a single LP in 1974 and CD in the late 1980s, but now boasts a beautiful book and pretty much two complete concerts on two CDs. Although "Live" misses Ralphs - his replacement Aeriel Bender is fine but lacks some of the magic found in Ralphs' fingertips - it's still one of the greatest live albums ever put out. Just listen to Hunter on tracks like "Rose" and "Rest in Peace," two mellow tracks that build in tone and emotion and make the purchase of "Live" a necessity.
Like Badfinger and Free, Mott the Hoople have remained underrated to this day. It's a shame, because "Mott," "All The Young Dudes," "Live" and "The Hoople" (1974 studio LP) are true treasurers that will endure forever.

The booklet that comes with every copy of 'Mott' contains this description from 'Rolling Stone': "The best album from the best band of the early-seventies." I don't quite buy into the idea that Mott the Hoople was the best band of the early-seventies, but 'Mott' is definitely one of that decade's shining lights.

Melodic, wistful and rocking, 'Mott' remains the sole album where this star-struck band was able to put it all together. It oozes disillusionment, testament to their one step forward, two steps back existence as they continually battled indifference and inter-band conflicts. True to form, no sooner had they finished recording their breakthrough than guitarist Mick Ralphs left to form Bad Company, leaving a hole in the band that would never adequately be filled.

The band was perfectly balanced by Ralphs' economical but highly-effective guitar playing, and Ian Hunter's dramatic vocal style. While Hunter's vocal mannerisms could be a bit over-the-top at times, the contrast was powerful, and each seemed to complement the other.

Always literate, Mott had a talent for depicting a certain lost grandeur and melancholy that was very English. It couldn't have been lost on Hunter how Mott's fortunes mirrored those of England at large. But when the mood seized them, they could rock with utter abandon. "All The Way From Memphis", "Honaloochie Boogie" and "Whizz Kid" are the honking, stomping proof.

'Mott's bonus tracks are strong, and Bruce Dickinson's remastering is wonderful. It leaves the band's heft intact while articulating sonic detail and separation. To anyone who grew-up listening to 'Mott' on vinyl, it is a revelation. Best of all, 'Mott' remains untouched by classic rock radio. So anyone wanting to taste this wonderful slice of seventies rock needn't worry about an expired freshness date.

Thank you Sony/Legacy from the very bottom of my heart.

First of all, the remastering on this CD is stunning. Everything is crystal-clear: vocals, bass, drums, guitar -- the works. Well done!

Two quick comments:

1. When I was in high school, the cool kids (mostly upperclassmen) carried around albums like Uriah Heep's Live (1973), Yessongs, Queen II and this alubm by Mott the Hoople. There was something about Mott that was alluring to teens looking to identify with angst, rebellion, attitude, and catchy grooves. I remember buying the album around 1974 or 1975 and enjoying it. Something about it always made me feel emotional. Today, I appreciate the album even more -- and feel even more emotional when I listen to it.

2. The songs on Mott stand the test of time. Some 30 years on, this album still sounds fresh. Ian Hunter's voice is a bit of an acquired taste (imagine a cross between Lou Reed and Bob Dylan), but there's no denying the man's passion.

The opening track ("All The Way From Memphis") is classic. The piano riff, alone, is worth the price of admission. But there really isn't a clunker on this disc. Favorite tracks include "Honaloochie Boogie," "Hymn For the Dudes," "The Ballad of Mott the Hoople," and "I Wish I Was Your Mother" -- the song whose lyrics never fail to choke me up for some reason.

Mott by Mott the Hoople is a slice of musical history that no serious collector should be without. I highly recommend this CD.

In the wake of their long overdue commercial success courtesy of the David Bowie produced "All the Young Dudes", Mott the Hoople had a HUGE monkey on their backs. Their success turned out to be a dual-edged sword... the pundits assumed Bowie was the source of Mott's newfound mature, controlled songwriting and production. Which made Mott the Hoople mad as hell. The liner notes for "Mott" open with DH Lawrence's "A Sane Revolution," and the abandon epitomized in that poem becomes the rallying cry for "Mott."

With "Mott," Ian Hunter basically puts a saddle on his back and tells his bandmates, "Mount up... we're gonna make those critics eat their words, and if I have to, I will carry all of us, even if it kills me." "Mott," not "All the Young Dudes," turned out to be the pinnacle of Mott the Hoople's outstanding discography, with Hunter writing or co-writing every track other than Mick Ralph's comparatively weak "I am a Cadillac."

Granted, "All the Young Dudes" is a great Bowie-penned track. But in "Mott," Hunter strings together FIVE equally strong tracks ("All the Way from Memphis," "Hymn for the Dudes," "Violence," "I Wish I Was Your Mother," and "The Ballad of Mott"; along with two that are only a half-step behind ("Honaloochi Boogie" and "Drivin' Sister").

Sadly, Hunter's assertiveness probably drove Mick Ralphs out of the band to join Bad Company (where Ralphs ironically achieved more success than Mott could ever dream of). Without his Scottie Pippen to complement his Michael Jordan-like musical vision, Hunter would founder a bit until he eventually ran into another Mick (Ronson this time -- ironically, of ex-Bowie fame, but I guess irony was Mott's constant companion).

Upsetting the apple cart was Mott the Hoople's modus operandi even before "Mott," and in retrospect, it seems somehow appropriate that they flamed out in the brilliant burst of light that is "Mott." They would release one more album sans Ralphs ("The Hoople"), but things would never again all come together at once like they do on "Mott." Definitely one of the great rock albums of all time.

Mott the Hopple's best album has finally been sonically upgraded making this the best sounding edition of their best album. Produced by the band themselves Bruce Dickinson has gone back to the original tapes, spiffed them up and picked out just about every sonic detail you can imagine. Heck, this sounds better than the vinyl version I bought in the 70's. The bonus tracks have all been released before. "Rose" has appeared on the Mott the Hopple anthology (although never sounding this good) while the demo for "Honaloochie Boogie" (with different lyrics)and "Nightmare" (by departed organist Verden Allen)both appeared on the "All the Young Dudes" 3 disc anthology released in 1998. "Drivin' Sister" is pulled from the UK double CD/remaster of "Live" and is a killer live performance. I'm not sure what Columbia/Sony has in the vault but I would have liked other live performances of material included here that hasn't been released before. Surely there were other shows recorded for that album? Anyhow, the bonus material is welcome even if it has been available before because many fans may not have had the opportunity to purchase the "Dudes" anthology.

The booklet features the original lyrics along with a brief essay about the band and the recording of the album. I was a bit disappointed that more information wasn't included on the recording of the album in the form of interviews, etc. but many Mott the Hopple and Ian Hunter fans will be familair with the circumstances under which this album was recorded.


Written primarily by lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Ian Hunter, "Mott" provides an unflattering glimpse into the machinery of the music business. Hunter turns his jaundiced eye on the business of rock and how it dehumanizes at the same time it glories. Or something like that. Either way "Mott" is one of the finest albums of the 70's with the band in top form.

This remaster sounds terrific, has bonus tracks and a nice booklet to boot. What more could you ask for? By the way those who want to purchase "The Hopple" the 2002 remaster from England sounds about the same as the version available for download.

This band was quite possibly the greatest UK hard-rock band of that country's hard-rock hayday,the post-Beatles, pre-punk epoch of '68 to '75. This is paradoxically because unlike contemporaries like Zeppelin and Black Sabbath,they did not have a "sound,"stylistically they were an ever-mutating wonder, but always with a consistent attitude,somewhere between a beery shout, a punky sneer, and a rueful laugh, all the while kicking up the most hellacious racket imaginable. This 1973 album,their last but one, is their artistic summit and testament, all cylinders firing.

Mott were the brainchild of mad producer Guy Stevens, who sought to fuse the sound of Blond on Blond era Bob Dylan with the attack of Beggars Banquet-era Rolling Stones; to this end, in 1969 he hooked up four mates from Hereford, guitarist Mick Ralphs, drummer Dale Griffen, bassist Overend Watts and organist Verden Allen with a 30 year old (which in 1969 made him Methusaleh as a frontman)weirdo named Ian Hunter, a corkscrew-curl-maned, never-without-his-Foster Grants pianist/singer songwriter who possessed a Dylan-esque sneering wheezy mewl without parallel, a proclivity for baiting audiences to acts of mayhem, and a fantastic gift for his own neo-beat lyrical coinages. In a few short months, they became, alongside the Faces, England's premier live band, with a fanatical following,whose gigs became legendary loci of riots, causing rock acts to be banned from places like Albert Hall, and town councils creating limits on decible levels.

None of this excitement translated to chart action; this is because their conduct in the studio, under the tutelage of the demented Stevens,was as chaotic as their live shows. Their first four albums were on Island.The eponymous debut unleashed the Blond on Blond/Beggars Banquet template nicely musically, but was lyrically lacking; only Mick Ralph's boogieing Rock and Roll Queen and Hunter's astounding assault on Sonny Bono's Laugh at Me (!) hinted at what they could do. Second Island album Mad Shadows was a descent into dark, caterwauling thrash,leavened only by Ian's fabulous metaphysical Chuck Berry rave-up "Walkin' With The Mountain;" the record was done live in the studio, and the band fired Stevens because a squeaky drum foot pedal is so audible throughout,it becomes all one can focus on.The record is an acquired taste, it sounds like Procul Harum after a stint in asylum, with Ian literally improvsing his doomy lyrics at the mike, a la John Cale in the same period. I love it. Wild Life was self-produced,and is a hippy acoustic idyll. Pleasing, but atypical,and it stiffed. On the verge of breaking up due to their inability to chart,they called Stevens back in and recorded their first 100% classic, album 4, Brain Capers. Many have argued that UK punk starts here, with the ferocious cackle that opens the first track,"Death May Be Your Santa Claus," wherein a band on the skids assaults its audience for having the temerity not to buy their records, and then crowing on "The Moon Upstairs" "...We're not feeding you/We're bleeding you/But your're too f*ing slow...And for all of you who always laughed/Let this be out epitaph!" Then they broke up.

Then a few months later, in late 1972,superfan David Bowie rescusitated them by gifting them with a song of his,"All The Young Dudes." Penned as a gay anthem, Mott seized the song and made it their own, a devastating hymn-like ode to a wasted generation stuck between the hippy era they didn't belong to, and an adulthood they cannot face. "The television man is crazy/says we're juvenile delinquent wrecks/I need TV but I got T. Rex..." The song charted magnificently, Bowie pruned their sound to a lean Stonesy roar for the subsequent album, and they rode the glam wave to a place in the sun. Then they collapsed AGAIN.

The relentless touring to support Dudes took a massive toll, as Ian was forced into the spotlight as a "leader," wrecking the ecology of the group dynamic, and organist Verden Allen quit. Finding the stardom they had hungered for so long may have been a devil's bargain, they found their subject and cut the record under review,their very best. "Mott" is half rave up rockers about the rock and roll life,and half introspective ballads about getting what you wanted, but losing what you had. It's the most poignant record about the odyssey of a band and its fans ever wrought, and it closes with Ian's most haunting ballad, "I Wish I Was Your Mother," delineating what its like to be locked in a mutually destructive relationship with a loved one: it is hard to tell whether its sexual,or about what was going on within Mott, or about Ian's attitude to the audience -- perhaps all three. After the recording of the LP, guitarist Ralphs quit. The band struggled on to record the arty-glammy "The Hoople," and with their final single,"Saturday Gigs" kissed their audience goodbye and called it quits in '74.

...then last week the original line-up, minus drummer Griffin,who is ill, reunited for the first time in 35 years at the scene of many past triumphs,the Hammersmith Odeon (now Apollo). Originally set for two nights, instant sell-outs expanded the run to five. I was lucky enough to be there for two of the five shows, along with Jimmy Page, Mick Jones of the Clash, Joe Elliot and numerous other luminaries and veterans of legendary Mott gigs reaching back to 1970. I expected the worst, but they were phenomenal. Ian said he wanted to do the shows to see if the magic was still there, and the beauty was, they sounded like a band. They raved up,hoed down,but best of all, the wistful ballads about their parlous career state, "Ballad of Mott," "Hymn for the Dudes," "Saturday Gigs," gained immense poignancy with the passage of four decades("I wish I hadn't wanted then what I want now twice as much..."). Ian at SEVENTY possessed a leonine roar and capered about the stage with the energy of a man half his age, Ralphs spat out those fat, trebly solos of yore effortlessly, Verden battled Mick's guitarwith his Hammond organ, and Overend was a giant ham, wading in among the audience and doing his best to upstage his mates, taking a great sneering laddish vocal on "Born Late '58," and basking in the applause when Ian sang the line from Ballad of Mott "...and Overend is just a rock 'n roll star..." This was a reunion with a reason for being. I found I was singing along with every lyric. On returning stateside, I bought their whole catalohg, my vinyl having disappeared in the '90's. Fresh listening confirmed "Mott" is their classic, but the great might-have-been loser band of the '70's,who made their defeat their subject matter, are worth exploring in depth.

MOTT, the greatest album ever released by Mott The Hoople, is an outstanding masterwork containing a great deal of psychodrama, which is ironic for a band so closely associated with the glam-rock scene. Of course, Ian Hunter's and Mick Ralphs's roots actually were fairly deep, following from such literate writers and bands as Dylan, Neil Young, the Beatles, the Who, the Kinks, the Stones, and even Hank Williams, Sr. and Johnny Cash. The entire album is a treatise on how staying in the past too much can have devastating consequences, especially the ballads "Hymn For The Dudes" and "The Ballad Of Mott (26th March 1972 Zurich)", both of, which along with several other songs on this CD, particularly "All The Way From Memphis", express, for me, why I gave up food-related alumni functions at my old school in favor of losing weight in order to look good for a number of pretty female celebrities. That's pretty good for a bunch of guys who wore makeup and platform shoes on stage. When I first cited these songs to people who asked me why I gave up dinners and luncheons at my old school over certain actresses, the CD I referred to was poorly mastered from late-generation tapes. Now, however, I can play it for them in full, digitally-remastered glory, taken from the original master tapes. If you're able to, sell your original MOTT CD and get this digitally-remastered version, because the instruments and especially the lyrics are much more understandable on this new version than on the original CD or cassette. This remastered version is a must-own for anyone who enjoys literate, thoughtful rock & roll.

Glam, sexual, unforgiving, sad and honest and it Rocks at the same time, just awesome. If you dont have it, you are missing out. A lot of energy in this one.

This was my introduction to Mott The Hoople back in 1973. Intrigued by a Midnight Special (?) of the band performing "All The Way From Memphis," I picked up this album and was thusly hooked. Along with All the Young Dudes, this was the defining album of the band. Their confidence bolstered by the breakthrough with David Bowie is obvious here, and it also cost the band. Ian Hunter's songwriting was overshadowing the rest of the band, and organist Verden Allen left in frustration. With the exception of Mick Ralph's "I'm a Cadillac" and the band collab "Ballad of Mott The Hoople," Hunter was either sole writer or half.

Thing is, he delivered. The glam stomp of "All The Way From Memphis" has made the song iconic (who can forget the way it was used in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore), and there were equally great songs here. The punky "Driving Sister" and the should have been huge "Honaloochie Boogie" rest next to Hunter's Dylan fixations on "The Ballad of Mott" and "Hymn for The Dudes." "Ballad" is easily one of the best songs about a performer's love/hate relationship with being in a band, as Hunter depressingly states "Rock and roll's a loser's game." (Followed by Mick Ralphs' devastating great relationship song..."then you got your spell on me, I hear rock and roll" before taking an extended play-out on his guitar.)

Even the iffy stuff has held up. The dust up at the end of "Violence" may seem hokey, but it still works after all these years. Of course, it was too good to last. Ralphs', like Allen, was squirming under Hunter's increasing control over Mott and left to start-up Bad Company with Paul Rodgers. "Mott" was done before the strain made the cracks damaging, and it still stands as one of Mott The Hoople's two essential CD's.