Mott The Hoople are very underrated

[Guitarplyrjvb]

Love 'em! Ian Hunter's eponymous 1975 record is great, too. Mick Ronson's on it.

[Progbear]

Love 'em! Ian Hunter's eponymous 1975 record is great, too. Mick Ronson's on it.

The story I heard was that after Ariel Bender left, Ronson took his place. When Hunter jumped ship to go solo, Ronson joined him.

[Trane]

Well, Wild Life is definitely the weakest of their early albums but if you didn’t like Mad Shadows, maybe they’re not for you. I’d say at least give Mott a chance before completely throwing in the towel on these guys; I think it’s one of the touchstone rock albums of the 70s.

I'll probably give some day the debut album a listen (there are longer tracks), MS another listen (it's been almost 40 years), but I gave Mott a listen a few years back, because I had never seen the albums before, at least not the European artwork version.

Unless the first two don't strike me again, than indeed, they definitely won't be for me.

[Big Ears]

I do not know the identity of the author of this article, but he seems to have many of the facts in his head, even if they are slightly confusing when written. This link starts in about the middle of the whole piece:

http://www.hunter-mott.com/history/m...ry.html#Ronson

It appears Hunter invited Ronson into the studio with the band (who were welcoming), but was subsequently absent and then ill. During Hunter's recovery, he left the band, taking Ronson with him. How Luther Grosvenor departed the band is not entirely clear.

The disappointment of Mott on their final tour, is explained by Benjamin seemingly being frustrated at not sharing the songwriting duties and having handed in his notice (although it is not much excuse).

I stumbled across the lineup of Hunter, Bender and Fisher in 2018, on the official Mott the Hoople site: http://mottthehoople.com/main/?p=1202

[arabicadabra]

Also, call me crazy, but they were an influence on all kinds of bands. Not only did All The Way From Memphis influence ELO in the stop-start vocal melodies trading with melodic guitar lines (though Jeff Lynne has never said so, it sounds so similar), but I have always thought that Dodo/Lurker by Genesis was influenced by this:

[Skullhead]

Some good stuff, except I Can Feel should be re-named "I Can Feel This Kick Pedal A Squeakin'". Did that engineer ever work again?

I'll assume you are kidding, but if you are not, this kind of removing all the nuance and character from recordings .... moving away from an authentic experience to a cold.. shallow..heartless and calculated one is what essentially killed much of rock and jazz.

What would "Satisfaction" be without hearing him click on the distortion pedal.. or Hendrix for that matter.

It's ok to be real..

really

for real.

[pb2015]

If the credits I read online are right, Andy Johns engineered that album. He kept working.

[Skullhead]

I don't think Mott was underrated. They were a very big band in their heyday. Should they have been as big as Led Zeppelin? No.
The Who? no

Yes, they had more diversity than their hits, but so did The Guess Who, Brownsville Station, T Rex or The Sweet for that matter.

Speaking of The Sweet, are far as I am concerned, they actually invented the sound of modern metal music that is usually credited to Judas Priest and Iron Maiden.
Have a listen to "Desolation Boulevard". There is a track on there that sounds exactly like Iron Maiden but almost a decade before.

[Bake 1]

I don't think Mott was underrated. They were a very big band in their heyday. Should they have been as big as Led Zeppelin? No.
The Who? no

Yes, they had more diversity than their hits, but so did The Guess Who, Brownsville Station, T Rex or The Sweet for that matter.

Speaking of The Sweet, are far as I am concerned, they actually invented the sound of modern metal music that is usually credited to Judas Priest and Iron Maiden.
Have a listen to "Desolation Boulevard". There is a track on there that sounds exactly like Iron Maiden but almost a decade before.

Desolation Boulevard (November 1974) is one of Sweet's best records, but the three tracks from that album that could be seen as somehow proto Maiden, (No You Don't, Sweet F.A. and Set Me Free) don't feel as heavy or metal as earlier records from Deep Purple , Sabbath, Sir Lord Baltimore, Budgie and several others. I like Sweet as confectionery, (sometimes hard) rock, but my measly .02 goes to the 1st Trettioariga Kriget album (July 74) as the record that is the most head frying precursor of post 80's metal.

[spiderfeathers]

I'll assume you are kidding, but if you are not, this kind of removing all the nuance and character from recordings .... moving away from an authentic experience to a cold.. shallow..heartless and calculated one is what essentially killed much of rock and jazz.

What would "Satisfaction" be without hearing him click on the distortion pedal.. or Hendrix for that matter.

It's ok to be real..

really

for real.

Not kidding. It was my first impression, so hopefully it'll "smooth out". I think this form of nuance sounds like it's a demo and it distracts. In fact, I read that during the recording the engineer assured the band that the squeaking would not be audible. But I do enjoy the other nuance examples you give.
OP: Thanks for this thread, I'm now on a binge. "Mott" was the album that got me. Definitely for any fan of...T.Rex, Bowie, and Roxy Music.

[arabicadabra]

I'm so glad to hear that about your Mott binge. Thanks for telling me. As for unintended noises on records, I suppose it's definitely a matter of personal taste. I'd be curious how the reverb-effected squeaking spring of John Bonham's hihat in the middle of Whole Lotta Love works for you.

Not kidding. It was my first impression, so hopefully it'll "smooth out". I think this form of nuance sounds like it's a demo and it distracts. In fact, I read that during the recording the engineer assured the band that the squeaking would not be audible. But I do enjoy the other nuance examples you give.
OP: Thanks for this thread, I'm now on a binge. "Mott" was the album that got me. Definitely for any fan of...T.Rex, Bowie, and Roxy Music.

[spiderfeathers]

I'm so glad to hear that about your Mott binge. Thanks for telling me. As for unintended noises on records, I suppose it's definitely a matter of personal taste. I'd be curious how the reverb-effected squeaking spring of John Bonham's hihat in the middle of Whole Lotta Love works for you.

Sounds totally fine. Not anything I'd ever think of questioning. This rusty swing-set on the other hand... Just google it. Lots of talk about it ruining the song.

[Jerjo]

Just checking on the availability of their catalog and the early albums are all OOP. Now that's just a shame!

[Scrotum Scissor]

I used to love them. I still spin Mott from time to time, and "I Wish I Was Your Mother" is such a fab closing tune - the perfect happy melancholy.

The debut album and Brain Capers were staples during my teens. But for some reason, I never missed them after quitting. I had the exact same experience with T. Rex as well, although I still love Electric Warrior.

[arabicadabra]

That IS a shame, and a recent development, as I'd picked up all the remasters in the 2011-2014 time period.

Just checking on the availability of their catalog and the early albums are all OOP. Now that's just a shame!

[SteveSly]

Big fan of the "Mott" album, although that is the only one I own for some reason. As others have mentioned Ian Hunter continues to put out some of the best music of his career in the last decade or so.

[arabicadabra]

If I ever come into some serious coin I'll buy that huge boxed set of his. Albums and albums of unreleased stuff.



If I could steer you to any ONE other album Steve, it would be Brain Capers from their early days and The Hoople from their post-Mott output.

Big fan of the "Mott" album, although that is the only one I own for some reason. As others have mentioned Ian Hunter continues to put out some of the best music of his career in the last decade or so.

[Progbear]

If I could steer you to any ONE other album Steve, it would be Brain Capers from their early days and The Hoople from their post-Mott output.

The debut and Brain Capers are probably the band at their most undiluted and rocking, prior to their Bowie-mandated makeover (and I personally don’t think the post-Bowie albums had that radical a shift in style, at least not until The Hoople). I mean, I really like Mad Shadows, but I understand that it can be a bit ballad-heavy for some.

[Jerjo]

I tracked down a copy of this comp. Pretty entertaining.

https://www.amazon.com/Best-Island-Y...e+island+years

[progeezer]

I love both the debut and the Dudes album, the others not so much.

The first thing I ever heard by them (on the radio) was "At The Crossroads", and called a record store to see if Dylan had a new album out. Hunter's voice later morphed into something wholly other.

[Zaragon]

Five of the seven Hoople albums are color-coded on the last two M pages of the Albums from England directory. Going by red-count, 1974 seems to be the band's creative highwater mark.

[arabicadabra]

The reviews I've read about the Hunter-Bender-Fisher Mott the Hoople shows (with Mick Ralphs' blessing) have so far been very positive.

[Dok]

[Dok]

[Fracktured]

Big0 has the Mott the Hoople KBFH show up


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