An Ian Hunter Fan
09/13/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Okay, I have all of Ian Hunter's albums, and I honestly like this one the best. A lot of people don't agree with me - and if you're considering buying your first Ian Hunter album, get 'Ian Hunter' - but if you already have some Ian Hunter or Mott the Hoople, you should hear all sides of the story. Really, this album (and I don't know if it's Mick Jones/Topper Headon, Todd Rundgren's people, Ellen Foley or what) shows a lot of imagination and development. I think this is more in the spirit of Mott the Hoople than Ian's other solo work: it's innovative and forward-thinking, clever, funny, and intelligent. I also think this holds together as an "album" very well."
Old Records Never Die
Snappy | Northern Hemisphere | 08/26/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Many people will take a lot of Ian Hunter at face value upon first impression and despise him as someone lost in a time gone by. They will hear his music and think "for god's sake get up with the times!" and be very ill at ease with his seamingly lame attempts at being 'modern'. Hunter can seem like he must be from the band they based Spinal Tap on. (And there's a kernal of truth to this - Google pictures of Ian Hunter and you'll see) However, if you can empathize with hunter, there is real value and beauty that has been lost (thrown away, really) by subsequent generations of music lovers over the years. I think Hunter feels that deeply, and (defiantly) mourns it. One subcontext of his music is this message: Look back once and awhile and put yourself in the shoes of someone from his time, and forget for a moment that whole decades have passed. Some incredibly wonderful, unique music was being made then, too. And it was new to peoples' ears at that time. Cinicism was not so pervasive as regards 'Music', by performers, but especially by music fans. The concept of 'music' was almost sinonymous with 'creativity' and 'expression'. The belief that a better world was 'becoming' largely because of music and musicians' influence was almost unquestioned. Unfortunately, cinicism is extremely pervasive in peoples' attitudes today. Many feel that saying "who cares" is being 'cool'. And the thinking of that naturally follows. Ian Hunter's "Short Back 'n' Sides" expresses this, though unintentionally, but also expresses to me the lush beauty of what we're missing by ignoring what came before. Rock on!"
A little short on inspiration, but 2nd disc worth the $
Wayne Klein | My Little Blue Window, USA | 08/29/1998
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Recorded shortly after the WELCOME TO THE CLUB tour, SHORT BACK 'N' SIDES is a mixed bag for Hunter fans. There are outstanding tracks on the album(like autobiographical "Rain", "Central park & West"), interesting experiments("Noises", "Lisa likes rock'n' roll")as well as clear concessions to radio airplay("I need your love"). The flaw with the first disc is the production by Mick Jones and Mick Ronson. It is doubtful that it was Ronson's idea to add the sound effects and odd distortions on some of the tracks. While these effects might be interesting on a Godley and Creme album, they distract from Hunter's strengths--a strong sense of melody with intense autobiographical(edgy)lyrics.The album isn't a complete failure. The addition of a bonus disc of previously unreleased Hunter tracks and demos is a treasure trove for any Hunter/Mott the Hopple fan. Many of the undeveloped or unfinished songs should have been contenders for this album(or the next--the awful--deleted ALL THE GOOD ONES ARE TAKEN).Hunter is in fine voice throughout and many of these tracks are inspired. Also included are some remixes of tracks from the original album(for "Rain" and a limited amount of other songs).While this album is a bit of a come down after YOU'RE NEVER ALONE...(in similiar fashion to the THE HOPPLE album after the glory of MOTT), it has its charms and is well worth owning. The nice thing about the cd age is you can always program past the tracks you don't like and make the ultimate SHORT album."
Track Listings (10) - Disc #1