Mott

Mom, can we have David Bowie at home? No, we already have a David Bowie at home The David Bowie at home:

Nr. 32/1001 All the Way from Memphis 4/5 Whizz Kid 3/5 Hymn for the Dudes 4/5 Honaloochi Boogie 3/5 Violence 3/5 Drivin' Sister 4/5 Ballad of Mott the Hoople 4/5 I'm a Cadillac 4/5 I Wish I Was Your Mother 4/5 Rose 4/5 Average: 3,7 Nothing extraordinary, but thoroughly enjoyable

Mott the Hoople are a weird one - started life as a meat'n'potatoes rock band much like early Slade, then got lucky at the last minute with a Bowie song, glammed it up and never looked back (for a while). Ian Hunter can't really sing, but his voice sounds great in context. Weirdly self-mythologizing, about of half of their big glam songs seem to be tales of hardship in their workhorse period, as if they were folk heroes returning from a foreign war or something. Obviously, stick to the Greatest Hits, but fully 50% of this album is on there. Have a 4 for the greatest hits (check out Roll Away The Stone, my favorite glam song, Bowie included) and for the fabulous album cover!

Always a fan of this group!! Not an album I had heard ..Loved it!

Unremarkable glam rock. Apparently Mott was offered Suffragette City by Bowie - they should have taken it.

Fun & upbeat. Reminded me a bit of some popular artists, one that comes to mind is Billy Joel.

oooh I like this already. some incredible 70s rock n roll. wasn’t a fan of the first half of the double track “I’m A Cadillac/“El Camino Dolo Roso” but the second half was amazing made me feel some kinda way. love me an all guy band with tight trousers and long hair 😍

Great album this if you like influential Glam/Rock. Thanks to David Jones these boys played a little longer than they should. If it hadn't been for Bowie letting them have All The Young Dudes as a single after this then they would have quit a lot earlier than they did. Love "All The Way From Memphis" "Honaloochie Boogie" and "The Ballad Of Mott" which gives some insight into how close they where to quitting. Good Album and definitely on my list of Albums to hear before you die!

Fun

Good classic rock

Mott the Hoople in the game of life.... yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.... in all seriousness, this is some stellar stuff and way more than I was anticipating. Whether this was at the zenith of the glam rock zeitgeist or at the beginning of the end, Mott is pure glamorous swagger throughout, from album cover on down. Don't dismiss the more soulful songs that are on the album too, Hymn for the Dudes and Ballad of Mott the Hoople!

Hadn’t listened to any albums, but liked their popular songs. This was great.

Never heard of them before. I thought they sounded like David Bowie and then looked up the bands history. Awesome album.

I have always loved this album. It may have taken Mott a while to find their footing (with more than a little help from David Bowie and Mick Ronson), but they put it all together on this one. It didn't last long and after one more great album Ian Hunter went on to a long solo career (and is still making vibrant music in 2023 into his mid-80s). The combination of classic rock, glam and punk was perfect. Hunter's voice, always limited in range, wrote songs and arrangements that were aligned with such limitations, and Mick Ralphs guitar (on his last Mott outing before forming Bad Company) is tasteful and powerful.

9/10 fantastic glam rock album really love this stuff

BOP AFTER BOP

Loved everything about this album.

Great

Decent stuff, you can hear Bowie inmost of their songs.

Sometimes there are records that you should like or at least find interesting based off of your other tastes, but they end up doing nothing for you. This is one of those for me. Its a fine glam record, but it doesn’t really have charm or the highs of a Bowie or T-Rex record. Solid, but not earth shattering.

I don't really know anything about Mott the Hoople, but from start to finish this sounds *exactly* like a musical soundtrack album. I have no idea what the plot of the musical is, but the band is really into it, and it seems to be filled with a lot of campy, knowing irony. If nothing else, it feels like Meatloaf and Pulp traveled back in time and had this as a baby. An ugly, awkward but very musical screaming baby, with David Bowie perhaps looking on as godfather. Fun, but weird. (A shame that the Wikipedia entry has literally *nothing* useful about this album, although it *does* note that Bowie did indeed have a connection to them, having offered them two songs, "Suffragette city" (declined) and "All the young dudes" (fully embraced).) Edit: somewhat hilariously, I got about halfway through what I thought was this album (having followed the YouTubeMusic link from the project page), when I discovered that I'd been listening to "Hoople" (1974). Amazingly, when I found the correct album, I discovered my review so far remained largely the same, although I'd say that "Hoople" is if anything a bit more glam and musical-sounding, while "Mott" is a bit more Bowie-reverent.

Glam rock is one of the easiest genres to mess up. It can be really good, or really bad. It isn’t hard to go completely off the deep end and make something really lame. Such is the case with this album. Most of what I’m about to say is going to sound really harsh. And I get it. If you and your bandmates had been at it for almost 4 years, were 6 albums deep, and had tried a multitude of different genres ranging from heavy psych to country rock, anybody would want to be like Bowie after seeing the success he had with Ziggy Stardust. And they had already attempted the glam rock thing in previous years. But what I wouldn’t recommend doing is swinging for the fences as hard as they do here. Maybe it’s not as bad as I’m making it out to be, but it feels like they are trying to really capture that same lighting in a bottle energy. Especially with the singer. Dude sounds eerily similar to Bowie. The problem with trying to “capture” that same energy is that there is only one David Bowie. And there’s a reason why no one has really come close to mastering the genre in the way he did. This has none of the personality or flair, and as far as I’m concerned, doesn’t revolve around any story or concept. Bowie always put a piece of himself into every project, one way or another. It’s what set him apart. This is just another 70s band of guys with long hair. Even with T. Rex, at least they had a little more going on. Beyond all of that, this is also very uninteresting. It feels stale after the first song, and the only real highlights are basically below average 70s rock songs. Just another one of the seemingly endless number of albums I’ll probably forget about a week from now. Rating: 4/10

(if you want a more passable and more influential Mott album go with "All the Young Dudes") Mott the Hoople had a couple releases so far and if it wasn't for the smash hit 'All the Young Dudes', they would've broke up with today no one knowing who they were. But this single kept them above water for a couple more years until they disbanded in '74. This album is one of the two that most people point to as their biggest achievement album-wise and if you listen to the album, you soon realise that their highest points were pretty average and there isn't much special about the album. It's okay Glam Rock that definitely tries way to hard while succeeding with the fewest moments. Opening track 'All the Way From Memphis' sounds like Proto-Britpop which already throws me off. The hook's quite nice even if they should've done more and the piano riff is kinda cool but overall the song feels so over the top with what they tried to do that nothing really fits together and I am left wondering how this was extended into 5 minutes of a song. This should've been a two minute intro at max but not the fourth longest song. The bridge, the guitar, the vocals, nothing fits and it feels so... just not good. It's a bad song that could've been saved but wasn't. There's a little bit of Hard Rock in 'Whizz Kid' and that actually improves the song. It's got a nice theatrical structure with how the verses are presented and how they move into the pre-chorus. The vocals are less annoying, the guitar sounds good and it overall just works better even if it stays pretty boring. The first song was at least memorable for being not good, this is just boring with a couple of nice moments that aren't really extended on. 'Hymn for the Dudes' is dramatic, full of theatrical performance and builds up like some sort of Opera. It is a pretty decent song, I especially like the intro, and it for some reason reminds me of a certain song but I cannot pin down which one. But the song in general is, again, pretty boring. It's got moments that make me hope that it'll turn better but they just build on the basic aspects of the song instead of the good ones. The song's just a full on snoozer until the guitar solo but then it goes right back. With 'Honaloochie Boogie' we get the first actual good song. It has a nice Pop melody and some weird effects as well as a pretty alright chorus that is weirdly fun to listen to and pretty energetic. The song isn't like perfect or anything but it's alright. It's good. Listenable. And with 'Violence', the first half already ends. The song's a slight return to the heavier sound from Track 2 but this time with some Proto-Punk style both with the vocal delivery and the guitar riff. For some reason they added strings which doesn't fit at all and makes the song sound really weird and dissonant and not in the way were it's good, no this just makes the song bad. It doesn't work. The whole song feels off and like they can't play any of their instruments. It's just terrible, like actually unpleasant and not in the good way. 'Drivin' Sister' gets things going on the second side with some nice guitar riffs and an okay song arround it. It's got a Rock n' Roll feel to it with a lot of Boogie arround it. It's alright but the bridge doesn't fit at all and makes the whole thing twice as boring. The car sound effect is a nice detail but it doesn't safe the song from falling pretty short in general. It's not good and just boring. The slight harmonica blues additions on 'Ballad of Mott the Hoople' are quite interesting and the songs structure creates some moments that aren't bad at all. The main problem is just that the song is way to long and for being a ballad about themselves... it's pretty boring which does pretty much summarize them, I guess. Yeah, not a good song. For some reason they though having a 5 minute snoozer wasn't enough because they added a nearly 8 minute song right after. 'I'm a Cadillac / El camino dolo roso' is made up of two parts but that doesn't really matter as the first part, which is actually quite a good song, gets destroyed by the second half which is just... wait let say it in universal words: "Zzzz Zzzz". After around 3 minutes, the song removes most of the energetic Glam Rock and adds some very present acoustic guitar and turns the whole song into classic British Folk Rock but in bad. These few minutes are dreadfull boring with the few exceptions of a guitar breaking through which awake you from your slumber but as there isn't much more, you fall right back into other worlds that try to avoid whatever hits your ears as much as possible. Ok, that was maybe a bit too harsh but the song gets ruined and ends up being boring. The daring idea of the song is just not converted well at any point. 'I Wish I Was Your Mother' closes the album and the song is like most stuff here, pretty boring and without many interesting things. The only thing that makes the song somewhat cool? is the fact that the vocals for some reason feel a lot like some parts on "Pictures of You" by The Cure. Don't ask me why I think they sound alike but I do know that one of them is much better. This song is pretty boring and why the actual f is there a mandolin here??? favourites: Honaloochie Boogie, Whizz Kid least favourites: Violence, El camino dolo roso, All the Way From Memphis, I Wish I Was Your Mother Rating: light to decent 4 https://rateyourmusic.com/~Emil_ph for more ratings, reviews and takes

Deeply disappointed, to where I started getting angry on behalf of all the talented people who never got any support from a record company while these guys apparently floundered for half a dozen albums. As far as I can tell, their only great work was whatever Bowie and Ronson had left in the tank after Ziggy Stardust and Lou Reed.

👍🏻

This is fine stuff, hitting the sweet spot between glam, hard rock, rock n roll and pop. Ian Hunter has the perfect voice for a mid-70s band, the songs are dry and witty and Mick Ralphs guitar is wonderful. One of those albums you can play time and time again with tiring of it.

I love it

Amazing

Pretty fire

Great Album. Ian Hunter is underrated. One of the best, most identifiable voices in Rock. Big fan of his solo work. Saw the “reunion” show a few years ago and it was fantastic. These songs remind me of what it could of been if I was a few years older when this was released. Mandolin on “ I Wish I Was Your Mother”…now that’s Glam!

Goofy hippies all day.

Banger enjoyed it very much. It’s as old as my mum also 🙃 8-9/10 idk.

All The Young Ddudes – what a great track!

This album is so influenced by Bowie that it might as well be by The Spiders from Mars. To be clear, that is a compliment from me. Favorite track: Honaloochie Boogie

I cannot express to you enough how much I loved the music on this album. I literally lost myself when I was listening to the musical aspect. The vocals(although worked well with some songs) overall is just not my thing. Reminded me a lot of Bob Dylans voice, which again, I just can't appreciate. I would however keep this album in my steady rotation for the music alone. SO GOOD!

Really great record that doesn’t fit neatly into any category. Is it glam? There’s definitely a Bowie influence (or was it the other way around?). Rock and roll with sax and piano and Ian Hunters fantastic emotive vocals pulling all together perfectly. Also, I was introduced to Mott the Hoople in high school by a buddy who was a huge fan so there’s a big nostalgia factor here.

Really great album. Glam meets boogie rock perfected.. So many great songs, All the Way From Memphis, Honaloochie Boogie, Violence, Drivin' Sister and I Wish I Was your Mother. I l also just absolute love the way Ian Hunter sings on this album.

Mott The Hoople were the living embodiment of rock and roll - and Ian Hunter still is. I love this band. Their Live album is criminally underrated and is easily in the top 5 live albums ever.

9/10. In my opinion, 1970's hard rock is hard to get wrong. This isn't the most innovative album of all time, but it is still thoroughly enjoyable!!! :)

Like the last Mott album I got, I was pleasantly surprised by this album. Maybe it was due to lowered expectations (I've had a lot of duds lately) butthe songwriting is surprisingly solid and, while there are some tracks that are way too try-hard, the band sticks to its own thing for the most part. And that thing is solid. Not amazing. But really solid.

Really good - I can see why Mott fans love Mott!

A decent album. Enjoyed it.

Really enjoyable Glam Rock, never heard of this band, but glad this came up. I get why Bowie saw something here.

much more classic rock than i was expecting. very good vibes.

Sehr wie früher Bowie, nett

Good album! Rock n roll!

Great stuff. Some bits sounded like the love child of Davids Bowie and Gilmour.

I really loved the first song, so it's a shame that the rest of the album didn't quite live up to it. But I still quite enjoyed it. Just good old rock by some guys who may or may not have enjoyed some recreational marijuana or other substances (not judging). I also enjoyed the occasional harpsichord, sound samples and over the top guitars.

Ian Hunter's vocals sound so fresh despite the album being almost 50 years old. A good English rock album

I do remember them... but I liked them more on this album!

Loved It. Brilliant stuff. A proper 1970s album. One for the car driving home from god knows where, on a Friday afternoon. 4/5.

I love how influential this album is. I hear so much Dylan inspiration that would go on to inspire Bowie to create many great albums. I love the ensemble production on these songs with their wide arrangement of instruments, not to mention that they are bangers as well. My only complaint is that the first track has an annoying bit at around the 4 minute mark, but a great album over all. Highlights: 2, 3, 7, and 9.

It sounds a lot like Bowie. They were obviously inspired by him in some way, and I think they've done a fantastic job of recreating his sound and feel. Sure it's not a perfect replica but it's definitely not sub-par. Favorite track: I Wish I Was Your Mother

Surprised me, was very enjoyable and had a lot of different styles

At first I thought it sounded like any other rock n roll from that era and a bit forgettable but as it went on it got better, good fun. Can't believe Chole gave it a 1.

It seems very of it’s time, not in a bad way, it’s not overly sexist or anything, they are singing about old a Stuff that at the time would’ve been new stuff.

Love this! Glad Bowie encouraged them not to break up.

Rock! And Roll!

Classic rock tunes

Bowiesque

All the young dudes! This song isn’t on this album but ya feel it still

Классный альбом напомнил моего любимого Боуи. Глем-рок 70-х

surprising...grew on me.

A good album to chill

kinda good actually

A good listen

Only knew all the young dudes by these guys and that weren't even in here! liked it though

Siempre pensé en ellos en una banda copia del Bowie glam pero la verdad me dejaron callado y sentado. Discazo. Puntos por tener una rola donde imitan a Bob Dylan y llamarle I wish I was your mother. Genialidad.

This is a lot of fun, good old fashioned, bluesy rock and roll with a touch of glam. Mott does an interesting job of balancing their swaggering rock star vibe with this softer, more elegant sensibility that reminds me of Bolan or Bowie. All great songs, front to back, with no filler. Fave Songs: I’m a Cadillac / El Camino Dolo Roso, All the Way from Memphis, I Wish I Was Your Mother, Whizz Kid, Ballad of Mott the Hoople, Hymn for the Dudes

all killa, no filla

Entertaining classic rock album, not as good as some other legendary bands bit still enjoyable

Great classic rock, nothing more to be said!

Each song is bit different

Hard rock clàssic anglés dels 70, del que només podria pertànyer a aquella década. Com un dels grans pics del moviment, tot el disc en si mereix la pena, no hi ha tema que no sigui punyent, melòdic i amb el seu punt just d'agressivitat. No et canses mai d'escoltar-los. Quina pena que la relació entre Ian Hunter i Mick Ralphs no tingués més continuïtat

Another surprise band. I had heard "All the Young Dudes" before, but did not know the name of the band, I would have guessed Bowie who actually wrote and gave the song to Mott The Hoople. This album sounds to me like a continuation of All the Young Dudes, the Bowie influence on them is very prominent. Enjoyable album, need to listen to it again. 4

i thought it was just a side gig from bowie but this album shows that they have their own quality in writing interesting songs inbetween rock and glamrock genre

Never herd of this thing before… The album starts with all the way from Memphis it’s a solid piano rock song but my god, the singer is trying so hard to be David Bowie. There’s nothing bad about it though just a catchy well made pop song with whipping noises near the end are so unnecessary still good. Whizz kid is a great crunchy rock song but it’s slowed down chorus is the best element of the song really adds a layer of gloominess. Actually this is an amazing song my only problem is that overly processed guitar solo. The piano in hymn for the dudes sounds like you’ve just been knocked out in a boxing match really cool. After that goes it forms into a great acoustic track but yeah it’s literally the sound of Bowie ( luckily I love that sound). Honaloochie boogie is solid I love his distorted vocals. The chorus feels familiar but I don’t recognise the majority of the song. It’s not my favourite but still enjoyable. Violence is this heavy 70’s rock song that breaks into these wired drum/ violin parts that oddly fit, there’s also a sample of an argument at the end which really up’s the quality. The second half of the album starts with drivin’ sister nothing is bad with this song but it’s just the most boring typical song to be honest not bad though. Ballad of mott and the hoople slows down the album forming this beautiful centrepiece to this album the lyrics are a bit too “rock n roll” for my liking but there’s nothing bad about this song. Next is the medley of I’m a Cadillac/ El Camino Dolo Roso. The first bit ( I’m a Cadillac) is a solid rocker amazing gloomy sounding verses that explode into some epic yet lovely-dovey chorus. Then is the second part (El Camino Dolo Roso) a mellow instrumental I think it serves as a good coda to the track but it’s a little too long for me; actually this reminds me of the guitar solo in the middle of suede’s the asphalt world 21 years later in 1994. The album ends on a not closery note with I wish I was your mother it’s nothing bad but has nothing to it that makes it distinctive as a closer to an album. It’s a very good album, to an extent it feels too much like a Bowie knockoff but in a good way there’s better albums to waste your time with but it’s definitely an album people should hear before they die.

Strong glammy follow up to All the Young Dudes, with a more confident sound and direction. The back half going a more balladic direction was a nice surprise too. High 4 for sure.

A good highlight of glam rock here. Favorites: "All the Way from Memphis", "Ballad of Mott The Hoople", "I'm a Cadillac / El Camino Dolo Roso"

Love the Bowie vibes in the beginning and the whole album is just really solid rock. 4/5 top tracks: Whizz kid Hymn for the dudes

I've always had a soft spot for Mott The Hoople. Yes, as far as legendary glam-rock outfits go, Ian Hunter is not as good a singer as his mentor Bowie, and the band is mostly known because the latter was kind enough to give one of his greatest songs to them. But Hunter is still an endearing presence, very eccentric yet efficient at times, even with his limitations, both vocally and lyrically. And even when Ian was out of the picture, the band could still do great stuff. I've always thought that it was unfair that their last album with replacement Nigel Benjamin has been so unfairly panned by critics. *Shouting and Pointing* was no masterpiece, but it was very fun and lively, musically speaking. It just had the misfortune to be released too late, when glam-rock was already a thing of the past... To return to the subject of *this* album, when Ian Hunter was still leading the band, what strikes me the most in *Mott* is how carefully constructed it is. Had that Bowie song, "All The Young Dudes" been included in this record, rather than in that lackluster eponymous one right before it, this album would be a stone-cold masterpiece. There are so many great details in it, from the tricky piano modulations of "All The Way From Memphis" to the synth bridge on "Whizz Kids", from the roaring and unruly chorus of catchy"Honaloochie Boogie" to the downright vocal and lyrical insanity that "Violence" is. What also strikes me on "Mott" is that the more you go deep into the album, the more Bowie's symbolic tutelage fades into the background, to soon become replaced by the one of Bob Dylan, not exactly a glam-rock reference to say the least. Hunter's frail voice might explain all this, especially on ballads very much under the influence of the American bard ("Hymn For The Dudes", "Ballad of Mott The Hoople", "I Wish I Was Your Mother"). As a result, the album is probably richer and more interesting than any other one in the band's career. And yes, this, even without *All The Young Dudes" in the tracklisting... Number of albums left to review or just listen to: 843 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory: 85 (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 39 Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more important): 32

Hard rock de los 70's movido y con un sonido increíble. Sorpresivo verlo clasificado también como glam rock. Creo que sienta las bases de lo que muchas bandas legenderias de los 80s harán, combinando canciones de mucha energía con power ballads. Hymn for the Dudes, All the Way from Memphis y I'm a Cadillac / El Camino Dolo Roso son las mejores. Gran descubrimiento.

Very Bowiesque. I liked it

Excelente disco de rock setentero con buenos instrumentos, estilo de canciones y voces. No los conocía en absoluto. Me han parecido todo un descubrimiento y les voy a dar una oportunidad.

Glam rock is just really fun, you know? It's not necessarily deep, but it's a good time. Also, this was my first time listening to Mott the Hoople. Color me impressed.

I like their style of storytelling, and it's a very good example of glam rock done well but also with passion and heart in reflection. Ballad of Mott The Hoople is wonderful.

Very Bowie-esque. I liked it but it wasn’t something I’d go back to again

Wham bam, thank you ma'am.

Ok

Back half of this got better

You can hear what they're going for. I'm still not sure I'm ever going to sit down and put on Mott the Hoople on purpose, but it's a solid album. Best track: Ballad of Mott the Hoople

Sounds like David Bowie's less talented brother. Still sounds ok 3,5/5.

Quite enjoyable - part of a scene which was bright and energetic and exciting and so is this.

Really enjoyed this

A band always ahead of their time.

Très agréable écoute, dans un style très proche du David Bowie époque glam. Les a-t-on seulement vu déjà ensemble dans la même pièce? "All the way to Memphis" se détache, j'aime bien le banjo ou peu importe de "I wish I was your mother", du reste rien ne se détache complètement mais est plutôt bon.

Hey had a lot of fun with this one! Really like the vocalists tone and there isn't too much noodle jamming to make me frustrated. Dunno what a Mott is or who The Hoople are but I'm into it. 3 and a half! Fave track: Whizz Kid

Oh, here we go! Solid classic glam rock, which is really cleanly produced. All the songs here are consistently good and there are no duds - it's another one of those albums that makes you smile because the music is so fun and enjoyable. Standouts are All the Way from Memphis and I'm a Cadillac / El Camino Dolo Roso.

Very solid. You can hear some innovation and a distinct voice here. Not another Beatles or Beach Boys impersonation act. Proto-classic rock you could call it. A lot of bands would pick up this baton in the later 70s and you can hear the roots here.

A strong and proper rock record. There's a retro, '50s-ish vibe with the saxophone on opener. One recognizes that Ian Hunter can be a bit of an acquired taste (few vocalists sing with such an heavy accent, British or otherwise) but one hears real yearning and regret in it, effort and a certain hauntedness, and a cheekiness. "Ballad of Mott" is best, but "Hymn for the Dudes" and "Honaloochie" and "I Wish I Was Your Mother" are also top-shelf (yes one much prefers the sadder and more subdued side of Mott to the, say, silly provocation of "Violence").