The Ballad of Mott the Hoople and Ian Hunter - Album by Album thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by onlyconnect, Oct 16, 2016.

  1. slipkid

    slipkid Senior Member

    I do have the Astoria live DVD (called Just Another Night) but am drawing a total blank on what any of the songs sound like...
     
  2. onlyconnect

    onlyconnect The prose and the passion Thread Starter

    Location:
    Winchester, UK
    Here's Rollerball, from Strings Attached, really not too stringy!



    Tim
     
  3. GubGub

    GubGub Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sussex
    For some reason I am no longer getting alerts from this thread so I have missed out on a few releases. Of course I bought them all as they appeared (well, sort of. See Strings Attached below) but to summarise:

    Once Bitten Twice Shy - Seemed worth getting because of the wealth of rare material that was on it. I wasn't keen on the Rockers & Ballads structure and wished it had just been chronological. I was also a bit disappointed by the rarities as none of them made much impact on me. They have largely reappeared on the Stranded box from last year and there are several that I have now grown to like from recent listening.

    Rant - Loved it. Still love it. I was a bit perturbed at the time by its apparent anti England stance, especially as the last place in England that Ian had lived was my home town. It was true though. England, or more accurately the UK was and continues to be a ripoff. Some enduring songs on this one Death of A Nation & Knees of My Heart stand out. Morons is the most Mott like song he has ever recorded in his solo career, another one that rang true lyrically from a British perspective and does so even more now. It is possibly my favourite of Ian's solo songs.

    Strings Attached - I only bought the DVD at the time, not the album. I watched it, enjoyed it as a novelty exercise, put it away and have never watched it since, it not being what I am looking for from Ian. I never heard the album until the Stranded box and weirdly it works better for me without the visuals and I enjoyed it tremendously. It will never be my go to Hunter album but it is an interesting departure.
     
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  4. onlyconnect

    onlyconnect The prose and the passion Thread Starter

    Location:
    Winchester, UK
    A couple of notes on Strings Attached. Graham over on the Ian Hunter forum tells me that only the two dates (Jan 29th and 30th) were played with the string section so this really was a one-off (or two-off!). That's also what it says here:

    Ian Hunter tour dates 1975-present

    He also says that it was eventually released in the USA, but not until a couple of years later. Not sure of the ins and outs of this. Discogs does not list a US release. Amazon.com lists the CD with a 2005 release date and a 2014 reissue of both CD and DVD on MIG (Made in Germany).

    I still don't know much about how the event came about - is there any more info in the book with Stranded in Reality?

    Tim
     
  5. GubGub

    GubGub Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sussex
    From what I recall (apologies, I don't have access to my Stranded box at the moment), Ian had a bit of a profile in Scandinavia at the time. Both Dirty Laundry and The Artful Dodger had been recorded there and issued on local labels. Consequently Ian was invited to do these shows which were made specifically for TV. Not sure if they were funded/shown by one of the national stations or if it was a cable deal.

    Will check the full details when I get home.
     
    Last edited: May 30, 2017
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  6. Eiricd

    Eiricd Forum Resident

    I like Strings Attached. As with most such albums, the orchestra rarely works with every song. But when it does, it adds to it imo.
    The dvd is nice, with a very decent stereo track.

    I hope he'll release a new live dvd/blu ray soon. IH and the Rant Band has been really strong live the last decade, so a video document is much needed!

    Astoria 2004, very sadly, falls short in terms of good production.
     
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  7. curbach

    curbach Some guy on the internet

    Location:
    The ATX
    Discogs doesn't list a US release? That's weird. I guess I'll have to add the entry :)

    I can't say Strings did a lot for me at the time, but I haven't listened to it in a very long time. . .
     
  8. onlyconnect

    onlyconnect The prose and the passion Thread Starter

    Location:
    Winchester, UK
    There is an interview on the Live at the Astoria DVD in which Ian Hunter explains some of the background to Strings Attached.

    "It was after [a gig at] the Astoria. Universal in Norway rang me up. We think we could it with beautiful lights, 18 piece orchestra, 6 piece band. I'm mentally adding this up! But it was wonderful, they paid for it."

    He also tells us how the arrangements were done. He sang through the setlist with just a guitar. Then the guitar was removed from the mix, leaving just vocals. The arranger worked with that. This is what he says anyway!

    "It was one of the best couple of weeks in my life, it was so different," he recalls.

    Tim
     
  9. onlyconnect

    onlyconnect The prose and the passion Thread Starter

    Location:
    Winchester, UK
    Just Another Night (Live at the Astoria)
    Ian Hunter and the Rant Band
    Secret Films 116381 (DVD)
    Double CD The Truth The Whole Truth Nuthin' But the Truth (Secret Records/Snapper SMACD906)
    Both released 2005

    [​IMG]

    After Strings Attached and a May UK tour, Hunter seems to have had a quiet 2002 and 2003. In 2004 though he is back on the road, playing gigs on the East Coast of the USA in March, and in the UK in may, Europe in June and September, and in the USA again in October and December.

    The gig on 28th May 2004 at the Astoria in London was recorded and released by Secret Films/Secret Records on DVD (Just Another Night) and double CD (The Truth, the Whole Truth, Nuthin' But the Truth). The band includes special guest Mick Ralphs from Mott days (and also of course Bad Company). Other members are Andy York (Guitar), Ian Gibbons (Keyboards), Steve Holley (Drums) and Gus Goad (Bass).

    [​IMG]

    The set list is a balance between old Mott classics and newer material:

    Rest in Peace
    Rock 'n' Roll Queen
    Once Bitten Twice Shy
    Twisted Steel
    I wish I was your mother
    Knees of my heart
    23A Swan Hill
    Irene Wilde
    The Truth the Whole Truth, Nuthin' but the truth
    Rollerball
    A Nightingale sang in Berkeley Square
    Roll Away the Stone
    Saturday Gigs
    All the Young Dudes
    The Journey (medley)
    Dead Man Walkin'
    Just Another Night
    Cleveland Rocks
    Michael Picasso
    Standin' in my Light
    All the Way from Memphis

    Overall it's pretty great, powerful guitar from York and great to hear Ralphs too, especially on the Mott numbers like Rock 'n' Roll Queen and Dudes. The track The Truth ... is a standout with three lead guitars in play (Hunter alongside York and Ralphs). Rollerball mentioned above is a strong number. The Journey is really a medley of songs from Mott and solo years.

    Joe Elliott guests on Dudes, and both Elliott and Brian May on a rather shambolic but fun Memphis.

    Hunter is to some extent imprisoned by his past; I guess the hope is that some will pick up a DVD like this for the sake of the old numbers, and be impressed by the quality of songs like Knees of my Heart, 23A Swan Hill, Rollerball, Dead Man Walkin' and Michael Picasso (all excellent here), and then explore the man's more recent work.

    Production is pretty simple, which I don't mind. If you haven't picked this up yet, I suggest getting the DVD; there's no real advantage to the CD.

    [​IMG]

    Confusingly, both DVD and CD were reissued under the title All the Young Dudes. It's a worse title and cover but best for availability.

    [​IMG]
     
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  10. onlyconnect

    onlyconnect The prose and the passion Thread Starter

    Location:
    Winchester, UK
    A comment from a reviewer at Amazon UK:

    I was at the gig so I was always looking forward to this DVD. Thing is, it wasn't one of Hunter's, or his band's, best performances and of course the DVD reflects this.
    All the usual Hunter and MTH classics are there and the footage is put together well, sound quality is iffy in places but on the whole okay. Mick Ralphs was a disappointment on the night and it doesn't get much better on the DVD (check out the intro the All The Young Dudes), but he is a legend, as is Brian May. At the gig we couldn't hear his guitar so it looked like he was air guitaring with that classic Queen pose. On the DVD his guitar is well mixed and is a welcome bit of brilliance compared with mediocre other guests (Joe Elliot, Tracey Hunter). Andy York on guitar is consistently good, but on the whole this should not go down as a definitive Hunter performance.
    I tend to agree about Ralphs; not sure if there were technical issues or he was having an off night. But I still think overall it's pretty good, and York is excellent as noted.

    Tim
     
  11. GubGub

    GubGub Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sussex
    Contrary to the recommendation, I bought the CD, not the DVD at the time. Ian now has a number of live albums of varying provenance and this is not one that I go back to often. Welcome To The Club was definitive and is only perhaps rivalled by the Live In The UK 2010 set.

    Good to have Twisted Steel and Rollerball but this one is inessential.
     
  12. onlyconnect

    onlyconnect The prose and the passion Thread Starter

    Location:
    Winchester, UK
    There are a number of live albums, but not that much video - this is the only official Rant Band video?

    I like Welcome to the Club but many of Hunter's best songs had yet to be written. Live in the UK 2010 is good, will get to it in due course :)

    Tim
     
  13. onlyconnect

    onlyconnect The prose and the passion Thread Starter

    Location:
    Winchester, UK
    Incidentally, I'm looking forward to seeing Ian Hunter and the Rant Band later this month (Milton Keynes). Anyone else seeing the tour? What songs are you hoping to hear?

    Tim
     
  14. Braincapers

    Braincapers Forum Resident

    Hope to do Frome, Liverpool, Preston and maybe Sheffield
     
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  15. Old Fred

    Old Fred Forum Resident

    I saw the band Friday night and they nailed it!

    2 hours. 5 encores.

    Set list (as written on the set list I got):

    Trouble
    Once Bitten
    Fatally Flawed
    When I’m President
    Saint
    The Truth
    Morpheus
    Just Another Night
    Fingers Crossed
    A A Alien Boy
    Dandy
    Bow Street Runners
    Roll Away the Stone
    Wish I Was Your Mother
    Ghosts
    23a Swan Hill
    Bastard
    Sweet Jane

    Encore
    Irene
    Memphis
    Long Time
    Life
    Dudes
     
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  16. onlyconnect

    onlyconnect The prose and the passion Thread Starter

    Location:
    Winchester, UK
    Shrunken Heads (May 15 2007)

    CD Jerkin’ Crocus JERK9

    Shrunken Heads Bonus EP JERK9BONUS

    [​IMG]


    Ian Hunter released Shrunken Heads in May 2007, his first new studio CD since Rant in 2001, but had not been as inactive as that long gap implies; there was his orchestrated Strings Attached project recorded in 2002 and released in 2004, and extensive tours in 2004 and 2005. Bear in mind too that he was 65 years old in 2004, so you can forgive him for having some time off.

    Shrunken Heads was mostly recorded at A-Pawling Studios (haha) in Pawling, New York. The core band is Jack Petruzelli (Guitar), Andy York (Guitar and Keyboard), James Mastro (Guitar), Steve Holley (Drums), Graham Maby (Bass), Andy Burton (piano and organ). James Tweedy joins in on backing vocals on three tracks.

    Hunter talks briefly about the album here [Ian Hunter Discusses His New Album, "Shrunken Heads" ]. Why “Shrunken heads”? It’s a political things, “all about small heads voting for small heads,” says Hunter. If Rant was loosely focused on the state of the UK, in Shrunken Heads he turns his attention to his adopted country, the USA.

    I have realised, doing this album by album thread, that Hunter is a poet as well as a musician. Fans will remember Shades Off, a spoken poem on his first solo album, as well as the song 21A, Swan Hill where he sings of writing a poem and showing it to his dad (who gives it a frosty reception).

    The words on Shrunken Heads are printed on the enclosed booklet and worth a look; there are some excellent songs here.

    Words (Big Mouth), which opens the album, is a wry reflection on saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. “Words, little beads of poison, letting out the venom, one thing for certain, babe, I got a big mouth.” It’s pretty funny too, with “yakkety yaketty yacketty” sung in the background towards the end. A strong mid-tempo start.

    Fuss about Nothin’ ups the tempo a little and seems to be directed at business people looking after their own interests and diverting attention from their misdeeds. “You’re making a fuss about nothing”.

    When the World was Round is a slower number which is something to do with information and misinformation. I like the song which has a strong melody even though I’m not sure I understand it - something about “flat earthers” who reject reality and peddle lies?

    Brainwashed is a bit more of a thrash, about consumers being sucked in by brand and TV marketing, sung over a chugging rhythm. “I can’t tell you anything, you won’t listen to it,” sings Hunter despairingly. A fun bit of ukulele played by York.

    Shrunken Heads is a commentary on the state of things where “the rich get richer and the poor get sorer.” The song has an epic feel; it’s depressing but not without humour, “pockets full of shrunken heads” is a nice way to describe coins.

    Soul of America would not have been out of place on All American Alien Boy. Hunter looks for the spirit of America and finds it not in high places but in the common people “putting up with the latest indignities”. It rocks too.

    How’s Your House is about the flooding in New Orleans after the deadly Hurricane Katrina in 2005, set to a powerful beat. “Can anybody help me?” he sings.

    Guiding Light is a classic Hunter ballad, a love song to the “Guiding light” in his life. “We’ll shoot for the moon together babe.” Pretty and moving.

    Stretch on the other hand is a rocker, where “stretch” is doing time. A classic Hunter theme, the rebel who goes wrong. I think.

    I am what I hated when I was Young is a merry-sounding song about getting older, accompanied by banjo. “Sounds as slight and tossed-off as the title suggests, with a hootenanny jug-band arrangement underscoring just what a thin joke it is,” says this review – it is slight, but I don’t mind it at all.

    Read ‘em ‘n’ Weep slows things right down for the close, a lament about a failed relationship and the letters it left behind. Accompanied by piano it is eloquent and moving.

    The initial release of Shrunken Heads came with a bonus EP, with three additional songs. The cover is a take-off of Mott.

    Your Eyes is nothing special but not bad, the kind of rocker Hunter can toss out in his sleep.

    Wasted on the other hand is great, and should have been on the main album, about losing a friend to alcohol (I think). “I hate it when you get wasted, wasted, wasted again.”

    Real or Imaginary is another quiet song, maybe about a young solder writing home who “wonders if I got it wrong.” About fighting for a meaningless cause?

    I really like Shrunken Heads and regard it as one of Ian Hunter’s best. The themes are mostly dark but as usual the music is more upbeat, the band is good and it’s a great listen. I think it works better than Rant, and I think the quality of the lyrics is particularly high, it seems Hunter took great care over them.

    On the back of the bonus EP is a quote from T S Eliot:

    “Those who say they give the public what it wants begin by underestimating public taste and end by debauching it”

    I see in this a reflection on the bad Eighties years when Hunter tried to please his public and his record labels. By the time of Shrunken Heads, released on the “Jerkin’ Crocus” label (cf the All the Young Dudes album), Hunter seems to be following his own artistic vision instead, and the album is all the better for it.

    [​IMG]
     
  17. John Fell

    John Fell Forum Survivor

    Location:
    Undisclosed
    I really like Words (Big Mouth) and I also like Brainwashed.
     
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  18. onlyconnect

    onlyconnect The prose and the passion Thread Starter

    Location:
    Winchester, UK
    I like the way Hunter references his past on Shrunken Heads. There is the artwork for the bonus EP (and the "head" illustration in the booklet for When the World was round) and lyrics like:

    I'm the original mixed up kid
    I ain't proud of what I did
    Now I'm older, calmed down some
    I hate what I used to be when I was young

    (the song is I am what I hated when I was young).

    Original Mixed up Kid is a song from the Mott the Hoople album Wildlife.

    Tim
     
  19. onlyconnect

    onlyconnect The prose and the passion Thread Starter

    Location:
    Winchester, UK
    Songwriting secrets revealed!

    From Graham on the Ian Hunter board:

    Shrunken Heads decide my fate
    It used to be 10, now it's 10: 08

    (which Ian later confirmed came from him getting stuck for the next line - he looked at the clock - 10 o'clock, then sat there trying to think of a line, nothing came , he looked again and it was then 8 minutes past ten - he had his line).

    Tim :)
     
  20. Shrunken Heads is a wonderful album. The standouts to me are "Fuss About Nothin'", (the little descending runs are like a cherry on top), and especially "Soul of America" which I've sung the praises of before. And they both rock!
     
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  21. onlyconnect

    onlyconnect The prose and the passion Thread Starter

    Location:
    Winchester, UK
    I am guessing that the lack of response to these later Ian Hunter albums (which are among his best IMO) means that most here either do not like them or have not heard them.

    I'd be interested to know which?

    Tim
     
  22. John Fell

    John Fell Forum Survivor

    Location:
    Undisclosed
    I have them and I like them.
     
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  23. Old Fred

    Old Fred Forum Resident

    I'll second that. Hunter-Ronson is my fave followed by the later Rant stuff.
     
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  24. PhilBorder

    PhilBorder Senior Member

    Location:
    Sheboygan, WI
    Great song. Surprised it hasn't been licensed by the NFL or car company or something.
     
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  25. slipkid

    slipkid Senior Member

    I have all of them and agree with you that they are among his best work (except for Man Overboard which has only one song that I like, strange to say). Am just too busy lately to offer any opinions and not much to add to what you already said I guess.
     
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