The Ballad of Mott: A Retrospective

Amazon.com
Though their recording career spanned a mere five years, Mott the Hoople saw more than their share of ups and downs; the ups being of the artistic sort while the downs were related more closely to the grind of the road and the demands of their short-lived stardom. Unfortunately, those musical highs couldn't fend off the emotional lows and the band fell apart shortly after completing a genre-defining trilogy of glam-rock records--1972's All the Young Dudes, '73's Mott, and '74's The Hoople. Those three august achievements are well represented here by the likes of the David Bowie-penned "All the Young Dudes," "All the Way from Memphis," and Mott frontman Ian Hunter's heartbreaking "I Wish I Was Your Mother." Delving gingerly into the group's pre-breakthrough Atlantic years, this handy two-disc anthology is further fleshed out with some nifty rarities and unreleased tracks. --Steven Stolder

The Ballad of Mott: A Retrospective,Mott the Hoople,Sony,Album Rock,Glam Rock,Hard Rock,Pop,Proto-Punk,Rock,Rock & Roll,Rock/Pop

The Ballad of Mott: A Retrospective

Average customer rating:

What am I missing?
A great start for a great band
Great Compilation!
Buy All the Young Dudes and Mott before buying this
Missing a great song

The Ballad of Mott: A Retrospective
Mott the Hoople
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Proto Punk | Hardcore & Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Hard Rock | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Album-Oriented Rock (AOR) | Classic Rock | Styles | Music

Glam | Classic Rock | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

You're Never Alone With a Schizophrenic
Ian Hunter
20th Century Boy: The Ultimate Collection
Live
New York Dolls

ASIN: B0000027G3
Release Date: 1993-06-15

Tracks:

Rock And Roll Queen
Walkin' With A Mountain
Waterlow
Sweet Angeline
All The Young Dudes
Momma's Little Jewel
One Of The Boys
Sucker
Sweet Jane
Sea Diver
Ready For Love/After Lights
Ballad Of Mott The Hoople
Drivin' Sister
Violence
Rose
I Wish I Was Your Mother

Tracks:

Honaloochie Boogie
All The Way From Memphis
Whizz Kid
Hymn For The Dudes
The Golden Age Of Rock 'N' Roll
Rest In Peace
Marionette
Crash Street Kidds
Born Late '58
Roll Away The Stone
Where Do You All Come From
Henry & The H-Bomb
Foxy Foxy
Saturday Gigs
Lounge Lizard
Through The Looking Glass
American Pie (Excerpt)

Amazon.com

Though their recording career spanned a mere five years, Mott the Hoople saw more than their share of ups and downs; the ups being of the artistic sort while the downs were related more closely to the grind of the road and the demands of their short-lived stardom. Unfortunately, those musical highs couldn't fend off the emotional lows and the band fell apart shortly after completing a genre-defining trilogy of glam-rock records--1972's All the Young Dudes, '73's Mott, and '74's The Hoople. Those three august achievements are well represented here by the likes of the David Bowie-penned "All the Young Dudes," "All the Way from Memphis," and Mott frontman Ian Hunter's heartbreaking "I Wish I Was Your Mother." Delving gingerly into the group's pre-breakthrough Atlantic years, this handy two-disc anthology is further fleshed out with some nifty rarities and unreleased tracks. --Steven Stolder

Customer Reviews:

What am I missing?.......2007-03-02

OK... I don't get it. I always thought that I'd adore Mott. Quite honestly, all I'd heard was All The Young Dudes, but I'm a complete Bowie fanatic and have been for a good 20 years. Being that I was only 3, though, when Mott had their heyday, all I'd known was All The Young Dudes. Still, they had everything right going for them, and their reputation was excellent. Plus the majority of the Bowie-produced All The Young Dudes album is here, plus nearly all of their other acclaimed albums, Mott and The Hoople.

Wow. What a disappointment. Maybe you had to be there when this was big, but I would say upwards of 80 percent of this is just horrible. Bad Dylany impersonations, dumb lyrics (they've milked the words "ballad/hymn" and "dudes" for all they are worth) and (because of Mick Ralphs involvement) -- worst of all -- too much macho Bad Co.-inspired boring rock.

No spark here, aside from All The Way to Memphis, ATYD, Sea Diver, their version of Sweet Jane and maybe Whizz Kidd.

Big big big disappointment. I bought this because I thought the single disc Greatest Hits wouldn't be enough. Now even that's too much.

Lotsa hype here but it just doesn't deliver. If you only know ATYD, just stick w/ Bowie's version of this great song and be done.

A great start for a great band.......2007-01-18

How to describe Mott the Hoople? Raucous, wry, introspective, passionate, fun -- What a shame Mott never really hit it that big in the US -- our loss.

This was my intro to Mott. Now I am so hooked. On Ballad of Mott:Retrospective, you get nearly all of their three most famous records -- All the Young Dudes, Mott, and The Hoople. You get a little taste of their sound from before they joined the Columbia label -- just enough to wet your whistle for the early stuff.

What's really remarkable about this set is the high quality of the b-sides and previously unreleased material. Mott's b-sides were better than many other group's best songs.

Great Compilation!.......2005-07-29

Mott the Hoople was one of the most interesting British glam-rock bands of the 1970's. They started their recording career with Island Records as a progressive rock band. They released 4 fine ( though uneven ) records for Island during 1969-72, before they changed for CBS. This change combined with David Bowie producing his own "All the Young Dudes" for them gave the big breakthrough and a new profile as the rock'n rollers of glam rock.

This 2 CD collection concentrates on their CBS period, though each of their 4 Island albums are represented by one track. These 4 tracks are all good songs in their own right, but can obviously not cover the great variety of their output during that period. So go for other compilations / or the originals ( now with bonus-tracks ) if you want to research their early days.

David Bowie produced their first album "All the Young Dudes", and his touch his very apparent through-out the album. The sound is close to his own on albums like "Hunky Dory", "Ziggy Stardust" or "Alladin Sane". Only two track has been left out from that album, which along with the follow-up "Mott" was their most consistent record. Their song-writing matured during that period, and although the band was uncertain whether they would be able cope with Bowie's skill, when the recording's of "Mott" began, that self-produced album shows the band at the peak of their creativity. Only one track is missing from the album. Outstanding tracks from the album are the rockers "All the Way From Memphis" and "Honaloochie Boogie" along with the great ballads ""I Wish I Was Your Mother", "Ballad of Mott the Hoople" and "Hymn for the Dudes".

Unfortunately guitarist and songwriter Mick Ralphs was growing frustrated with Ian Hunter taking more and more of the spotlight, and he left soon after the release of "Mott". Spooky Tooth guitarist Luther Grosvenor ( Ariel Bender ) was recruited to take his place, but things never become the same again.

Their final studio album, the slightly chaotic and spotty "The Hoople", did contain some fine tracks and was a commercial succes, containing the two hit-singles "The Golden Age of Rock'n Roll" and "Roll Away the Stone"; but the spark had gone, and they spilt up in 1974.

Besides their albums the band recorded some fine singles-only tracks; all of which are included here. Hunter's ballad "Rose" is outstanding and it also became a live-favourite. The late B-side "Rest in Peace" is another song in the same category - great song!

The two 1974 A-sides "Foxy Foxy" and "Saturday Gigs" are also great; especially the autobiografical ballad "Saturday Gigs" is outstanding. This was one of the very last recordings they did, featuring guitarist Mick Ronson. A little sad they did split up after that, because the recording shows that this new line-up had the potential of creating new exciting material. On the other hand "Saturday Gigs" is a worthy final note to the career of a great band.

Great informative booklet!! Recommended!

Buy All the Young Dudes and Mott before buying this.......2005-05-27

If you like the band enough to be contemplating buying this retrospective, a much better place to start is with All the Young Dudes and Mott. Those two albums are classics in the purest sense: songwriting and execution are as good as it gets in rock music. The other individual albums are not as essential and relatively inconsistent in comparison with the 2 previously mentioned. For most people, therefore, this compilation samples the rest of the band's catalogue sufficiently.

Missing a great song.......2005-03-18