Product Description

After 1973's MOTT, a loosely structured concept album aboutlife in a rock & roll band, the only obvious choice for a follow-up was 1974's THE HOOPLE, a loosely structured conceptalbum about the overall state of rock & roll in the mid-'70s. Opening with "The Golden Age of Rock and Roll", a half-serious, half-satiric look at rock & roll's past, the album continues with the darkly cynical "Marionette", and a pair of classics about teenage life, the sympathetic "Born Late '58"and the proto-punk "Crash Street Kids". The last of these makes obvious the Clash's debt to Mott the Hoople (Clash guitarist Mick Jones was an enormous Mott fan, and lobbied for the band's producer, Guy Stevens, to come out of retirement to produce their classic LONDON CALLING in 1979). THE HOOPLE is a snapshot of the mid-'70s rock & roll scene that foreshadows the impending rise of punk.

Track Listing

1. Golden Age Of Rock 'n' Roll
2. Marionette
3. Alice
4. Crash Street Kidds
5. Born Late '58
6. Trudi's Song
7. Pearl 'n' Roy (England)
8. Through The Looking Glass
9. Roll Away The Stone
10. Where Do They All Come From
11. Rest In Peace
12. Foxy Foxy
13. Do You Remember The Saturday Gigs
14. Saturday Kids
15. Lounge Lizzard
16. American Pie/The Golden Age Of Rock 'n' Roll

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22427 in Music
• Released on: 2006-04-03
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Extra tracks, Original recording remastered

Customer Reviews

It's the golden age of rock'n'roll...
OK, you could say this is a notch below "Mott." Still, that is high praise indeed, as "Mott" is one of the greatest rock'n'roll albums ever. With "The Hoople," we get more of the same, but on a slightly different wavelength. With the departure of Mick Ralphs, the guitar situation was somewhat confused, leaving more room for Ian Hunter's keyboards in the mix. That isn't to say that "The Hoople" doesn't rock - it does, and like a madman. "The Golden Age of Rock'n'Roll," "Born Late '58" (with Overend Watts on vocals), and "Crash Street Kidds" are first rate proto-punk rockers with Hunter's pounding piano adding to the wonderful noise. "Roll Away the Stone" simply soars, and the psychodrama of "Marionette" is funny and frightening. Two highlights are "Alice" and "Pearl'n'Roy (England)" - loping music hall numbers driven by Hunter's pseudo-barrelhouse piano and gutter poetry. Yeah, this may be a notch below "Mott," but that just means that "Mott" rates a 10 and "The Hoople" is a 9.9 - still sheer brilliance in my book.

The bonus tracks on this remastered version actually add substantial value to the package, a few b-sides/outtakes, stomping, storming live tracks, and Hunter's wonderful farewell "Saturday Gigs."

GREAT CD EXCEPT ONE LITTLE PROBLEM
Would be a solid 4 star (****) if not for a little problem. Mott's "The Hoople" is a very good CD and the bonus cuts and re-mastering make it even better except for one little thing that's driving me nuts. During the spoken part of "Roll Away The Stone" when the girl answers Ian's question about bring her records to the party, her voice is very distorted. This appears to be not only on this remastered edition but also the original CBS CD and the first remastered version from a couple of years ago as well. I understand that it probably exists in the original master tape, however, with all the modern studio technology and gadgetry available today I'm sure somebody could've spent a couple of minutes 'cleaning' this up if they wanted to. Please don't let my two star review scare you off from buying this CD. If you like Mott, you'll like this CD. Along with 'Brain Capers', 'All The Young Dudes', and 'Mott', it is essential Mott rock.

Years ahead of it,s time
A must for any serious music fan. This record was light years ahead in innovation and freshness when it was originally released. It is now 2009 and still blows the lame 21st century wanabees into oblivion and in no way sounds dated. To listen to the originals buy this cd all else is is immatation.