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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
3 1/2 Stars on this fine reissue with bonus tracks, October 11, 2000
Wagner goes glam. In many respects The Hoople is Hunter and the band's implosion of everything glam. It takes all the cliches and pushes them to the extreme. I wouldn't be surprised to find Wagner's The Ring Cycle buried somewhere in the production. The bombastic production works to the album's advantage and nearly makes up for the lesser material.I had forgotten how much I hated this album when it first came out hot on the heels of the band's finest Columbia album (Mott). Time has allowed The Hoople to age gracefully and what seemed shrill then seems fun now. The sound quality is a major step up over the domestic version of this album on CD. The booklet also tries to be as faithful to the original cover art as possible (that wasn't the case with the first CD). I would have liked to see this reissued like the Roxy Music remasters in an LP style sleeve with mimiciking the original album but I suppose that would be too much to ask for. The opening and closing tracks bracket this CD with two great late period MTH songs. The bonus tracks have been available before (on the Greatest Hits CD, Mott the Hoople Anthology and All the Young Dudes Anthology)so they aren't rare. It would have been nice to have the alternate version of Through the Looking Glass and Saturday Gigs on here as well (and maybe some unreleased bits of studio chatter as well). Still, all in all, this is more than I could have asked for with it's stellar sound and great booklet. Wagner would have been proud if he liked rock 'n' roll.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It's the golden age of rock'n'roll..., March 2, 2006
OK, you could say this is a notch below "Mott." Still, that is high praise indeed, as "Mott" is one of the greatest rock'n'roll albums ever. With "The Hoople," we get more of the same, but on a slightly different wavelength. With the departure of Mick Ralphs, the guitar situation was somewhat confused, leaving more room for Ian Hunter's keyboards in the mix. That isn't to say that "The Hoople" doesn't rock - it does, and like a madman. "The Golden Age of Rock'n'Roll," "Born Late '58" (with Overend Watts on vocals), and "Crash Street Kidds" are first rate proto-punk rockers with Hunter's pounding piano adding to the wonderful noise. "Roll Away the Stone" simply soars, and the psychodrama of "Marionette" is funny and frightening. Two highlights are "Alice" and "Pearl'n'Roy (England)" - loping music hall numbers driven by Hunter's pseudo-barrelhouse piano and gutter poetry. Yeah, this may be a notch below "Mott," but that just means that "Mott" rates a 10 and "The Hoople" is a 9.9 - still sheer brilliance in my book.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful Excess From Glam Rock's Best!, August 6, 2003
Mott The Hoople always struck me as the ultimate glam garage band that couldn't care less what the public thought. This all too brief set is classic and a true representation of what Mott The Hoople was all about.Starting with the piano pounding, "The Golden Age Of Rock 'N Roll", with the theatrical introduction, the band never lets up. "Marionette" is a campy classic with ludicrous lyrics that beg several listens. The string arrangements are perfect for this song. "Trudi's Song" is a rare endearing ballad that works, but Mott would only rarely release one such as this. "Roll Away The Stone" is the ultimate Mott with a killer chorus, back-up and clever arrangement in all it's simplicity. The extra three songs really don't add much, but it's a nice addition. I wish I could have seen this group live, which is said to be the best way to hear them.
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