Unknown Soldier

Glamsters, rockstars and Ziggy on board for the ride!

Overview
Mott the Hoople were one of the great often unsung British bands of the 1970s and quite often never received the credit that they were due. They started out trying to reproduce the music of their heroes Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones, but in a harder hitting style and their first two albums the eponymous Mott the Hoople 1969 and Mad Shadows 1970 were a couple of decent albums but nothing special and they didn’t exactly shift many copies either. They were also produced by Guy Stevens who had done a fantastic job on Tons of Sobs the Free debut in 1969. By the time Mott the Hoople got to their third album Wildlife 1971, they had opted to go for a softer feel and produced an album that included country influences and in my opinion it was their best album to date, but yet again the band weren’t shifting too many albums and so by the time of their fourth album Brain Capers, the jury or in this case the record company were pressuring the band to come up with a successful album. Brain Capers would be their best album to date and should’ve been the album that broke them, but it flopped and spelt a possible demise for the band (Brain Capers is reviewed as the second part of the double header) When all looked lost as the band were on the verge of disbanding, a certain David Bowie took an interest in the band and offered to produce their fifth album and help to kick-start their career, by offering them a Bowie written single in “All the Young Dudes” The band would then use this single, to re-launch their fading career along with its parent album which shortly followed. The huge commercial success of All the Young Dudes, would get the band categorized as part of the burgeoning glam-rock movement, which was in full motion in the UK at the time. The band quickly embraced the imagery that went with it and possibly for this reason, the band weren’t taken as seriously as they should’ve been by the music critics, as after all, they weren’t exactly a ‘heavy band’ doing something new here, as the Alice Cooper band were already riding the glam-wagon trail and selling millions of albums with their shock-rock style in the USA. As said above, despite the glam-image that the band portrayed, they were always a hard rock act at heart, despite often flirting with softer leanings from time to time and they were blessed with two amazing frontmen in Ian Hunter and Mick Ralphs, who could easily give Robert Plant and Jimmy Page or Ian Gillan and Ritchie Blackmore a run for their money. I’m not actually comparing the two to any of the above in terms of their style but just in talent. Because in Mick Ralphs they had one of the most accomplished guitarists of his generation who made it look so easy at times and in Ian Hunter they had a vocalist whose ‘bluesy let’s party I’m on drugs kind of voice’ fitted the songs perfectly (he didn’t sound like this all the time though, just some of the time) Mott the Hoople were basically a rock ‘n’ roll band that drove hard, but had fun at the same time and they had an electric live show.

Ian Hunter- Guitar/Vocals
Mick Ralphs- Guitar
Peter “Overend” Watts- Bass
Verden Allen- Keyboards/Organ
Dale “Buffin” Griffin- Drums

Production- David Bowie

Album
Sweet Jane- The album starts off with a cover of this Velvet Underground song written by Lou Reed. Momma’s Little Jewel- A great song that has a real swagger to it and Ian Hunter penned. All the Young Dudes- Sounds exactly like a typical David Bowie song from the era and Ian Hunter sounds exactly like Bowie here, the song is very much a signature glam-rock classic of the time. Sucker- A great track showing just how accomplished this band were and there’s some great understated guitar by Mick Ralphs on show, who again makes it look so easy. At times this song sounds amazingly like a future Clash track at times! Jerkin’ Crocus- The band in one of their real fun loving moods and the song sounds like a nod at times to the Rolling Stones. One of the Boys- Mott the Hoople again at their finest and very much a definitive sounding song that you'd expect from the band. The song starts off with a phone being dialled before moving into the main song proper and the song really rocks out! Soft Ground- Written and sung by keyboardist Verden Allen and it's a solid listen. Ready for Love/After Lights- Mick Ralphs on vocals here and this is quite simply a glorious song and would later be recorded by Bad Company and gain even greater fame. The later part of the song has some fantastic playing by Mick Ralphs. Sea Lights- The perfect closing track and you now know that you've just listened to a classic album.

Verdict
This album was basically designed to break the band and thanks to David Bowie’s help the band finally achieved that breakthrough that had taken five albums to achieve, sure David Bowie had provided them with the hit single “All the Young Dudes” and had suggested that they covered the Lou Reed penned “Sweet Jane” but the best tracks on this album, are without doubt those penned by the band themselves and most notably those written by Ian Hunter. Anybody listening to this album may think that this album doesn’t belong in the criteria for this list, but Mott the Hoople were thanks to this album, an integral part in hindsight of the ‘heavy movement’ in the UK and helped to forge the link between hard rock and glam rock. The band helped to lay the groundwork for bands like Def Leppard and the future hair-metal movement of the 1980s largely thanks to this album and helped to create an identity at the lighter end of the spectrum with a touch of glam. As for the album itself, as said the Ian Hunter penned tracks are the stand-out cuts. On songs like “Momma’s Little Jewel” “Sucker” and "One of the Boys" it’s obvious that here is a writer on a roll, a writer that has found himself reinvigorated and has a desire to take the opportunity of success that has been laid at his feet. Then of course there is the superb "Ready for Love/After Lights" sung by Mick Ralphs and the song is quite simply a timeless classic. All the Young Dudes is a prime example of Mott the Hoople using the glam-rock scene as a launchpad to make their commercial breakthrough, rather than being an integral part of the scene like David Bowie, Marc Bolan and T.Rex, Sweet, Slade or Mud to name just a few. Whilst other bands played rock ‘n’ roll Mott the Hoople just bled it! The two albums featured here are great examples of that description.

An earthy dosage of rock 'n' roll, but nobody took notice!

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Ian Hunter- Guitar/Vocals
Mick Ralphs- Guitar
Peter “Overend” Watts- Bass
Verden Allen- Keyboards/Organ
Dale “Buffin” Griffin- Drums

Production- Guy Stevens

Album
Death May Be Your Santa Claus- Starts off with this pile-driving opener and a song which sets out the tone for the rest of the album. Your Own Backyard- One of the slower songs on the album and despite being a Dion cover, could’ve easily been written by the band. Darkness, Darkness- A cover of the Jesse Colin Young song and a great version of it, it's a song that slowly moves along, before adding in some beefier hard rock parts near the end, it’s a great song and one of the best on the album, it's sung by Mick Ralphs. Journey- Ian Hunter penned and the longest song on the album and a slow moving but powerful rocker, it's a song that really has that epic feel attached to it and amazingly doesn't feel like 9 minutes. Sweet Angeline- A true rocking love song which kicks-off the b-side of the album and one of the band’s most popular tracks. Second Love- Written by keyboardist Verden Allen and a decent but weaker track. Moon Upstairs- The heaviest track on the album and probably the best as well. Starts off with an almost classic metal intro and seriously kicks where it feels nice, it’s a classic cut. Wheel of the Quivering Meat Conception- A heavy sounding outro, could easily be part of the previous song.

Verdict
Brain Capers very much was a return to the harder rocking style of the first two albums, after the softer approaches on Wildlife and again demonstrated the band’s Dylanesque influences throughout the album, there were also strong similarities with Lou Reed’s solo material at the time, but of course in a harder rocking style. This album really should’ve broke the group through to the big time and because it didn’t, it largely went and still goes unnoticed as a really great album. This was the band’s fourth album produced by Guy Stevens, whose production touch at the time, really captured band’s in their true element and gave their albums that ‘live’ feel. Most of the songs follow the same formula which may put some listeners off and that usually consists of slow starts with a gradual build-up throughout the songs, and in the process these songs build up the power but not always the tempo, but there is always the sensation throughout, that these are choice songs and built to stand the test of time! The band’s root sound which is based in a Dylanesque mood, are so evident from the word go on the album opener “Death May Be Your Santa Claus” with its pile-driving chords and this sound is also evident on the album’s longest track “Journey” which lasts around the nine minute mark! In “Sweet Angeline” they gave us a great rocking love song that was always a band favourite, but it’s the later album track “Moon Upstairs” that steals the show, the album is worth buying for this raunchy rocker alone. The band would prove on this album and on All the Young Dudes, that they had an amazing capacity of making almost any cover song their own, so much so, that they could’ve passed for Mott the Hoople originals.

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