Search - Mott the Hoople :: Mott the Hoople

Amazing combination of power and smarts

Passionate About Music | 08/30/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Early Mott, not to be confused with later Mott. It's their debut album. It's not as good as their fourth album, Brain Capers, which is the best of early Mott. Early Mott is not in any way the glam rock band they became. If you like "All the Young Dudes" and are buying your first Mott the Hoople album, do not start with this one!



The choice of the Escher cover image tells you how smart they were. Guitarist Mick Ralphs later formed Bad Company, so you know that their hard rock credentials are secure. They covered the Kinks' "You Really Got Me" years before Van Halen existed. The surprise is how much, in the second and third tracks, they sound like Bob Dylan on the Highway 61 Revisited album. Singer Ian Hunter never sounded more like Dylan than he does here. These two slow songs are also cover versions. Again, their smarts are on display in picking two songs that you don't expect to hear from a hard rock band.



"Rock n Roll Queen" is a great original rocker and always sounded great on the radio, except it also demonstrates that at this stage of their career they're still not very original. It's basically a thin rewrite of the Rolling Stones' "Jumping Jack Flash." They give their source away when they actually start singing "Jumping Jack Flash" at the end."

I'm just a rock n' roll star...

Mark H. | Hanson, MA USA | 01/09/2010

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Mott the Hoople burst upon the scene at the end of the Sixties with five musicians who could barely be considered a real band at the time. Their lead vocalist had just been replaced by strange looking and sounding pianist who had "changed his name in search of fame". Little did Mott know at the time that Ian Hunter would become the dominant force in the band eventually causing original leader, guitarist Mick Ralphs to leave the band he started. Mott's first record is a typical mess of course considering the condition of the band during its genesis but it is still a very good record. The first three songs are covers including a pounding instrumental reimagining of the Kinks classic "You Really Got Me", which is the first song on the album! Sonny Bono's "Laugh at Me" also gets a Mott rendition and both this and "At the Crossroads" seemed perfectly suited to Hunter's legendary Dylanesque vocal delivery. However the album's most memorable track is Mott's first great rocker, Mick Ralph's "Rock and Roll Queen" which has metal bite and classic band meets groupie lyrics. It really should be better known than it is but like much of Mott's pre-Bowie saving era, it has been unfortunately overlooked. Mott's self titled debut is an interesting little record, not essential but still worth a few quality listens."