Always thought "You're Never Alone WHEN You're Schizophrenic
Jim Z | 01/01/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The original album is classic. This expanded reissue makes that classic even better. Although I agree with a fellow reviewer who properly states that some of the live recordings have been available elsewhere , to my ears , these sound much better than any other prior edition.
Having been at the Cleveland show where some of these tracks were recorded makes this a very special release for me indeed. I have followed Mr. Hunter since the Mott The Hoople debut in '69 , and one would be hard pressed to find a more intelligent writer. "Schizophrenic" only scratches the surface.
The man is now 70 and has released a trio of unbelievable discs ("Rant" , "Shrunken Heads" and 2009's "Man Overboard") in recent years. You would benefit greatly from owning all of these , as well as the rest of his Mott The Hoople and solo career recordings.
And if you ever get the opportunity , see him perform live. I have had the pleasure a dozen times and the guy puts on a better show than performers half his age !"
This is a great album ...
James G. Boyd | 10/31/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"And it is great to see it remastered and expanded, but for the hard core fan, which I am, there is something missing. Disc One is great. You get the original album with 5 bonus tracks and further 2 only available as downloads. The original album was 5 star and with the bonus tracks it just show the power of the Hunter/Ronson combination. These guys were on fire. Disc One really is something special and if you don't have it buy it right now.
The problem for me lies with Disc Two, which is a combination of live tracks from shows that the Hunter/Ronson band played at Cleveland, Berkeley and Hammersmith. OK, this is their first legitimate release, but for collectors these have been around for a while. Rather than chopping up three great shows it would have been nice to see them all get official release. I do understand the economics of it, as not everybody is a completist, but it would have been nice to have had these packaged with period photos. I would have happily bought a 3-CD set and I am sure that there are others who would too. It is also a shame that there is no video footage included. There is colour footage from the Cleveland show and some B/W promo footage from the period that would have been a great addition.
Don't get me wrong, this is a great album and it is one that I will be playing for years to come. Ian Hunter is one of the most honest writers in the business and he continues to produce the kinds of albums that others can only dream of. Am I glad I bought it, you bet! But I can dream of what it might have been ... and I would have given it 4 and 1/2 stars, if Amazon had the facility."
Track Listings (14) - Disc #1