Label: Sony Music (Japan), SRCS 6246
Style: Classic Rock, Glam Rock, Hard Rock
Country: Hereford, Herefordshire, England
Time: 53:52
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 335 Mb
Charts: UK #32, CAN #51, SWE #8, US #23.
By
1974, Mott the Hoople was quite possibly the greatest concert band in
the world, a blur of high-energy rock, high content poetics, and high
camp costuming -- Ian Hunter the tough guy in leather and shades; Ariel
Bender the street kid, all satin hat flash; Overend Watts, the freakoid
in skyscraper thigh boots; and a live show which out-dressed the lot of
them. If any band deserved a live album, it was Mott. And if any live
album failed to deliver, it was this one. Today, the album's
deficiencies seem less severe. Though the band's Bender era remains
considerably less well-documented than the earlier Mick Ralphs period,
still live material has poured out from a variety of sources, from the
Shades of Ian Hunter compilation to the All the Young Dudes box set, and
onto the spring 2001 reissue of Bender's own Floodgates solo album (an
excellent version of "Here Comes the Queen"). There's even a quasi-legal
fan club release for the 1974 King Biscuit broadcast which remains the
highpoint of the band's live career. Live, however, remains the only
official document of the glory, and the problems commence on the back
cover -- a great shot of the band performing "Marionette" on a stage
hung with puppets, when the song itself is nowhere in sight. Two shows
recorded five months and two continents apart (London's Hammersmith
Odeon in December 1973; New York's Uris Theater in May 1974) are
highlighted by just seven songs and one medley. The hits "All the Young
Dudes" and "All the Way From Memphis," of course, are present, but the
remainder of the track list is bizarre to say the least -- the ballads
"Rest in Peace" and "Rose" were British B-sides only, while "Sucker,"
"Walking With a Mountain," and "Sweet Angeline" were never much more
than filler on their own original albums (Dudes, Mad Shadows, and Brain
Capers, respectively). The medley is mightier, spanning both Mott's own
history, and rock & roll's in general -- who, after all, would deny
the band their own exalted place in the lineage which stretches from
"Whole Lotta Shakin'" to "Get Back" and beyond (the uncredited snatch of
Bowie's "Jean Genie")? But even here, one cannot help but think more
must have happened that night than a breakneck assault on a handful more
cuts -- and sure enough, it did. The Hammersmith show was the night
when the management tried to halt the gig during the closing number, and
wound up causing a riot. The liner notes remember it well, but the
"Mountain" here was found in New York. It is a great album in its own
way, the band are in terrific form, and Bender plays the guitar hero
better than anyone else of his entire generation. But Mott gigs, like
their albums, were about more than simple snapshots -- that was what
made the band so important, that's what made their music so memorable.
And that's what the fearfully episodic Live completely overlooks.
(allmusic.com/album/live-mw0000653827)
01. All The Way From Memphis (05:04)
02. Sucker (06:06)
03. Rest In Peace (05:57)
04. All The Young Dudes (03:49)
05. Walking With A Mountain (05:02)
06. Sweet Angeline (07:02)
07. Rose (04:47)
08. Medley (16:00)
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