For anyone curious about how it sounds:


Rock And Roll Queen


You Really Got Me


At The Crossroads

You Really Got Me and At The Crossroads are from their first TV performance at the Beat Club in Germany in 1970. Rock And Roll Queen is from a french TV special shot in 1971.

Great clips....a band ahead of its time. Though they get respect and recognition. They still kinda fly under the radar.

I went to watch the clips again and the embedding was disabled.

Mott the WHOple?

Very cool I am looking forward to this thread and learn more about this great band. I am only familiar with a two or three of their albums so this will be a good education for me.

DeathCult said....

Quote:

Was just being a smartass, it's cool.

I wasn't tripping. I still get a good laugh at that photo of you guys hangin w/ Sax

Sooo, did the saga of Mott The Hoople end or do we have a lazy author here??

Enlarge this imageReduce this image

Mad Shadows (1970)

SIDE ONE
Tunderbuck Ram
No Wheels To Ride
You Are One Of Us
Walkin With A Mountain

SIDE TWO
I Can Feel
Threads Of Iron
When My Mind's Gone

1970 proved to be a very problematic time for Mott The Hoople. Sales of their debut had been slow and poor, but their live success was immense. The band found it difficult to come to terms with the situation. Stevens, based on this situation got the idea to record the next album live in the studio to capture the feel of a Mott gig. Mad Shadows, the resulting album, was a very dark album, reflecting the band's mood. If their first album had been fun, jamming and carefree, their second was dark, sombre, introspective, and shooting straight into the abyss. The album was received poorly, receiveing many negative reviews and bad sales. The band themselves to this day aren't happy with the albums mix, Hunter especially feeling it was poorly recorded. Verden Allen was initally so incensed with Guy Stevens over the mix of Ralph's powerhouse "Thunderbuck Ram" that he broke a white label press of Mad Shadows in two over his knee before Stevens's eyes because his storming organ solo was so far behind the guitar it lost all it's impact. Ian Hunter feels his vocals really ruin the album saying that "you can hear the guys trying to play, and I'm all over the place...just me egoing out." The band would make it's first trip to the USA in May of that year, where they met with the same curiosity of explosive gigs, but terrible album sales.

Things start off with a beautiful biting piano intro before wee jump headlong into a thundering Ralphs riff in the raucous little rocker "Thunderbuck Ram". With some tasty riffs delievered regularly (backed by some piano lines just as powerful as the riffs), and lyrics sung with an immediacy that sounds almost like a drowning man crying out. Full tilt classic track. Moving on to the piano driven, sludgy introspection "No Wheels To Ride" it gives off a raw emotion that turns it into a truly beautiful song. Along with another thundering guitar track, very 'eavy indeed. "You Are One Of Us" is an anthemic jam that boogies along to the organ quite nicely, and would've worked well as a live platform for them to build their jams off of. Another element which really adds to the feel of the album is Hunter's untouched balls out vocals here, undeniably raw and full of that power that is so sorely absent from most recordings. So they don't sound perfect, who cares, they grab hold of you and command you to listen! "Walkin' With A Mountain" is another tearing rocker that would become a live favorite til the end of the band. Building off a punchy little blues riff, the rest of the instruments get just as rowdy, even paying homage to the Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash" towards the end while the Ralpher rampages us into oblivion. The rhythm track on this song is great as well, has that boogie feel to it, and with a fun singalong chorus to boot. Despite being more upbeat, it still carries that weight along with it, making those riffs almost brooding in stature. "I Can Feel" is a quiet little piece which has an gospelish feel to it, but features some gorgeous piano and guitar work in it. Got to love those tones, very relaxing! A big complaint with this one has always been the squeaky bass peddle, which personally doesn't bother me, it fits in alright with the song, and adds some character by being recorded live in the studio like that. Hunter is also in great voice on that track. "Threads Of Iron" is an upbeat ditty with with a jammin main riff, and a couple of changes that are awesome, especially the heavier turn at the end, Buffin pounds those skins like no other! Hunter's screaming/moaning through the recorded insanity and jarring piano sounds no less than perfect running through it all. Lord Watts' bass amp is in great volume here as well, giving it a thicker feel. The descent into insanity is a perfect picture of Mott's jamming prowess of the early days. "When My Mind's Gone" is the most interesting song on the record. Guy Steven sat Hunter in front of the piano and told him to play whatever came to mind, and the following was recorded purely stream of consciousness (and reportedly Stevens' hypnotisim) in one take live. The resulting ballad is excellent, once again picking up that brooding feeling, while Hunter's voice carries you away. Overall, one of their best albums, and is well worth hearing, even if you have issues with raw production.

SINGLES

Thunderbuck Ram w/ Walkin With A Mountain (1970)

The best two rockers from the album together! Japan sure lucked out with this exclusive single. There's also an alternate version of Thunderbuck with some things guy cut out added back in that's just ballsy as all get out that will be coming up in the anthologies.

THE BAND:
Ian Hunter- Vocals, Piano
Pete "Overend" Watts- Bass
Mick Ralphs- Lead Guitar, Vocals
Verden Allen- Organ
Dale "Buffin" Griffin- Drums

NOTES:
Recorded at Olympic Studios, Barnes from Febuary-April 1970. The original working title for the album was Sticky Fingers, which would later be used by the Rolling Stones, who were recording at Olympic at the same time. The segue into "Jumping Jack Flash" during "Walking With A Mountain" was cause by Jagger & Richards walking into the stupid. Jagger sings a few back up lines during as well.

The album was recorded live in the studio with no overdubs, however several songs were dropped with outtakes including: Going Home (Hunter sings a few lines of it during the jam in Threads Of Iron), Moonbus; Chosen Road; Hunchback Fish; It Would Be a Pleasure, Can You Sing The Song I Sing?; Liberty Belle; Ballad of Billy Joe; Coalminer's Dilemna; Enough Is Enough; Presence Of Your Mind.

The front cover is a Gabi Nasemann mirror-image photograph of a fire grate. (Nasemann's work can also be found on covers of science fiction magazine New Worlds, on Michael Moorcock books, and on Hawkwind album covers.) The inside cover reproduces William Strutt's painting Peace, and a little child shall lead them, representing the biblical prophesy in Isaiah 11:6-9 ('... and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.') The Baudelaire poem quoted on the back cover is a translated passage from Damned Women, taken fom from the preface to the 1959 novel Mad Shadows.

The 2003 Angel Air remaster would contain bonus tracks. How Long? A demo of the Brain Capers track Death May Be Your Santa Claus, and It Would Be A Pleasure. Which is a Ralphs composition that pointed towards the more mild/countryish direction the band would take on their nextalbum.

Walkin' With A Mountain

Sorry if this one doesn't work either.

Glad that you are back and I am learning alot about this band thanks to this thread, over here in the States I do not believe Mott The Hoople was as successful as they were overseas

I've only ever heard that "one" song that they play here in the states. This is very informative.

I prefer Ian Hunter solo albums best although some MTH was good. I actually like Pointing & Shouting best after Ian Hunter!

Wargod51

welcome back DC....thanks for the very imformative overview of "Mad Shadows".

I made a mistake here during these posts because I got release months confused as I was looking at the US release date of Brain Capers, Midnight Lady and Downtown actually come after the Brain Capers album. Downtown (A Crazy Horse cover) was actually Mott The Hooples final recording for Island.

Interesting side notes: Their were actually a few different titles for this album before a compromise was finally reached, the working title for it (which was fully intended to be the final title) was actually none other than AC/DC, but was eventually abandoned in favor of either Brain Haulage or Bizarre Capers before drummer Buffin merged the two and came out with Brain Capers.

The Non-LP track Midnight Lady sold decently at first as a single, but after they performed it on Top Of The Pops, it stopped selling. That's GOTTA be some kind of record eh?

Wildlife is great.....Just wonder what Mott would of sounde like with Gran Parsons putting his two cents in for a song or perhaps an album ?

I've been reading through these posts. I really have never checked out much of this band, but I might have to now.

This thread is interesting and I am with ULT makes me want to check out their releases.