Big Ears

The road accident effected Paul Hammond's ability to play and he eventually committed suicide. The events were terribly sad and an enormous waste of a talented musician.

Unknown Soldier

He's a classic example of a talented musician that missed out and like most things in life he wasn't lucky. Atomic Rooster weren't a lucky band at all and Vincent Crane had an equally sad story.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Unknown Soldier

Overview
I found 1972 the toughest year so far for deciding on what to leave off the top 10 list and the biggest loser would finally be Budgie’s second album Squawk, which I felt wasn’t as strong as their debut and fell behind both the albums of the Hard Stuff and the Flower Travellin’ Band in terms of song quality. So with this in mind, the Flower Travellin’ Band make position number nine and follow up Satori with their North American based Made in Japan album, an album that was being made to break them in the west. In order to achieve this transition, a Satori Compilation album was released at the end of 1971 as a taster, featuring material from Satori and material that would also feature on the upcoming Made in Japan album. The Flower Travellin’ Band were now being marketed as a Japanese version of Led Zeppelin and their brand of hard rock was now being seen as a possible marketable Asian package for the west. If the truth be told though, their sound had progressive leanings and the wacky experimentation of the then burgeoning ‘Krautrock movement’ making them far more than a straight-up hard rock band! Also the band had that constant ‘I’m on an acid trip feel to them’ which was part of the band’s offbeat charm. So for this to happen and to make the band more marketable, a fair amount of tweaking would be needed to make the band accessible to western ears. So the band was shipped off lock, stock and barrel to North America, but not to the USA….but instead to Canada! They landed in Canada in 1971 and that would be their base to supposedly produce a more streamlined and accessible album for the western market. The band would be produced by Paul Hoffert of Canadian band Lighthouse, who put out a jazz-infused rock sound (their 1971 album One Fine Morning is worth checking out) This choice of producer, may well have put the band members at loggerheads with Paul Hoffert, who had clearly been picked by the record label and with the band having little say on the matter. Hindsight tells us that both parties were generally unsatisfied with the final product that is featured on Made in Japan, but many others would find it quite an intriguing listen.

Joe Yamanaka- Vocals
Hideki Ishima- Guitar
Jon Kuzuki- Bass
Joji ‘George’ Wada- Drums

Production- Paul Hoffert

Album
Introduction- A brief publicity intro advertising the band playing live, along with other well-known artists. Unaware- A mostly acoustic number the immediately draws comparisons with one of Jimi Hendrix’s softer tracks and leads us gently into the album. The latter section of the song sees Joe Yamanaka upping the volume and his voice dominates the song, I guess you either dig his voice or you don’t! Aw Give Me Air- A track that could have been on Satori albeit in a more complex form, it has a plodding feel and also has that very accessible feel to it, thanks to some impressive guitar licks. Kamikaze- This is classic Flower Travellin’ Band in every sense and one of the best tracks on the album. Starts off with some impressive singing accompanied by that potent guitar, before Joe Yamanaka enters some trippy singing and the guitar of Hideki Ishima is just so slick sounding. Hiroshima- A real leviathan of a track, touching on the haunting subject of ‘Hiroshima’ this song is one of the slower tracks on the album and the band show an almost creepy and cold perspective, on such a harrowing subject. Spasms- The most progressive track on the album and in many ways the type of track the band wanted to put out. Heaven and Hell- A weird song based around a love-theme and a subtle cry to the peace loving 1960s. That’s All- The album closer, again draws back to the band’s roots and has a funeral march feel to it, there’s even a sitar on show.

Verdict
Made in Japan is often a much maligned album, as purists often see it as betraying the band’s pure base sound which despite having western influences, was still firmly rooted in a Japanese sound and feel. I always felt that Made in Japan despite not being as spectacular as Satori, was still an impressive album that married the band’s base Japanese sound with a western dominated one and I’d go as far to say, that the band may have got their own way here over the record label, because I don’t hear too much in terms of accessibility on the album at all! Taking two of the best songs from the album “Kamikaze” and “Hiroshima” sees the band firmly sticking to their Satori roots and in “Hiroshima” they put out a song that moves along at a very slow pace, which at times feels similar to slower Black Sabbath leanings from the same period. In fact the slower mid-tempo songs tend to dominate the album. There is also nothing accessible about “Spasms” which I’ve already stated was more progressive in feel and saw the band aspiring to the ‘Krautrock sound’ that they were truly being influenced by. The closing track “That’s All” is the band putting out another sombre sounding track with some interesting experimentation. In fact only “Unaware” and “Aw Give Me Air” sees the band going somewhere to meet the record label half-way and putting out something more accessible. Needless to say, the album was poorly received and didn’t sell well and led to the band being largely forgotten for the rest of the decade. Made in Japan might not be as spectacular as Satori, but is probably their best album after that masterpiece and is well worth checking out. Especially since the album feels like it has been produced by an artist (Paul Hoffert) that wasn’t overly familiar with the genre he was producing. This can often lead to dodgy results, but at times it can lead to an interesting amalgamation of sounds and influences, and I feel Made in Japan falls into that second category. This album is most definitely for fans of the band rather than the average listener, as Joe Yamanaka’s voice along with the album’s slow to mid-tempo feel, may not be everybody’s cup of sake.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Unknown Soldier

Overview
The ‘heavy movement’ of this period was undoubtedly dominated by British acts, who had shown a far greater level of both commercial success and innovation within the genre, just think both Black Sabbath and Deep Purple here in terms of innovation and Led Zeppelin taking the blues to its heavy conclusion. The only US acts that could compete here were Grand Funk Railroad in commercial terms and recent breakthrough Alice Cooper in terms of innovation, but neither of these bands were seen as actual pioneers of the American proto-metal movement. This honour would fall to established acts like Blue Cheer and Mountain, along with newer bands like the previously featured Sir Lord Baltimore and Dust. Like Sir Lord Baltimore, Dust were another New York based outfit and like Sir Lord Baltimore were a three piece band and in additional member Kenny Kerner they had a lyricist and a producer. The one thing all these bands had in common though, was the tendency to operate as power-trios and the power-trio that Dust most aspired to sounding like, surely had to be Mountain and across the band’s minimal two album discography, there are strong links to the Mountain sound. Their first album which featured on my “Albums that missed the cut……” section for 1971, had seen the band put out a decent effort and the album had a definite Mountain influence to it. Their sophomore effort Hard Attack, would be an all-round more accomplished effort and despite its heavy leaning title, the band mixed in quite a few quieter moments and showed that they had real song writing qualities to match their all-out assault, and they certainly weren’t afraid to mix up the diversity either. Whilst the band would never achieve any real success, the band members would go on to other projects, with Kenny Kerner and Richie Wise forming a production team, who of course would go on to produce the first two Kiss albums a few years later, Kenny Aaronson would join Stories and Marc Bell would eventually wind up several years later as Marky Ramone! On a final note, the album cover of Hard Attack was extremely forward thinking for its time and would not have looked out of place ten years later in the era of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) or even as an album cover for a 1980s power metal band!

Richie Wise- Guitar/Vocals
Kenny Aaronson- Bass
Marc Bell- Drums

Production- Kenny Kerner

Album
Pull Away/So Many Times- Starts off with a gentle acoustic intro before the pace really picks up and leads us into quite a frantic song, before sweeping us back into another gentle interlude and then finally moving into heavier territory. Walk in the Soft Rain- A great example of the band’s songcraft, as gentle sections are meshed in with heavier sprinklings, this is really an accomplished song. Thusly Spoken- A slow moving song and I’m guessing that the listener by now, is probably wondering if this is actually a proto-metal album……listen on and find out. Learning to Die- Now we move into true heavy territory and this is a great song, even if it sounds amazingly at times like Mountain’s “Nantucket Sleighride” and in many ways sounds like a seminal heavy track of its era. All in All- Just a typical mid-album rocker, solid but nothing special. I Been Thinkin- Another quieter track before the album moves into its thumping instrumental effort. Ivory- A stunning instrumental set of less than 3 minutes, as the band show just what accomplished musicians they are, with some great guitar and drum work. How Many Horses- The most offbeat and unexpected track on the album and has a subtle country feel to it as well. Suicide- A stomping track that is truly heavy and amazingly covers similar ground to the “Suicide” track recorded by Stray a year earlier and also reminds me of the “Crazy Horses” track by the Osmonds, strangely enough also recorded in 1972. Entanco- A gentle acoustic outro.

Verdict
This again is another album that may not appeal to quite a few listeners and I’m guessing that anybody unfamiliar with the band, may not get what they might have expected from reading the overview and seeing the album title and its cover! Sure the listener will find the heaviness of Sir Lord Baltimore here, the sonic assault of Mountain, but they might not be expecting the numerous softer tracks, which sound far removed at times from a band of their ilk. The term accredited to the album ‘proto-metal’ might well be misleading as well thanks to the progressive elements featured here, but one thing is certain though, is that this band could be heavy when they wanted to. They could be heavy in an all-out assault style like Sir Lord Baltimore on the superb “Learning to Die” or on the instrumental “Ivory" but also in a much slower more methodical way and this style is very much in evidence on “Suicide”, which in turn makes some of the softer tracks like “Thusly Spoken” a real delight on the ears. Listening to this album, reveals quite a different band from some of their American counterparts, as they really had a flair for the melodic and songcraft, rather than a straight-up sonic assault and had they stayed together as a band, they may well have moved out of heavy territory and into softer terrain. As a band they could play and in frontman Richie Wise they had a stellar guitarist who could play a certain number of styles, but he was probably best highlighted on the “Learning to Die” and “Suicide” tracks. Overall the album is a great example of a band combining heavy numbers with quieter numbers and really demonstrating a contrast between the two styles. Another trick the band used to great effect on Hard Attack, is that you never really know what kind of track could be coming up next, whether it’s a gentle interlude or a real power drill effort, which really adds interest to the album. Dust as a band never really got off the ground and this album is one of those almost forgotten American proto-metal classics (if proto-metal is the right word for them) that has stayed locked away….. in a long forgotten musical vault.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Trollheart

Weren't these guys later employed on Molly Hatchet's album covers?

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Unknown Soldier

They could've been, but I'd say the Molly Hatchet covers share more with Manowar, as they all seem to feature the power of the male species.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Unknown Soldier

(All the rest of the albums for the year were so special, that it was hard at times to seperate them quality wise and on a different day I may even put them into different positions, so here are the top six)

Overview
For many a year, I often thought of this album as a live album, this was largely due to its concert style cover and its album title……which of course all look exactly how I imagined a live album to be. But when I finally got into Trapeze many years later, I quickly found that this was a studio set and in fact their second best studio album after the classic Medusa set (see 1970 list) Since the release of that majestic Medusa album, Trapeze hadn’t released anything in 1971 and they eventually returned on a very strong footing in 1972 with their excellent third album You Are the Music…We’re Just the Band. In many ways I wasn’t actually quite certain if this album actually belonged in the main list, I’m not speaking quality wise here, but more album genre and feel, as a lot of the material is basically softer compositions, that really outweigh the heavier material 2 to 1. The band of course were no strangers to this sound, as on the Medusa album, they had superbly fused in softer elements on several songs, none more so than on “Jury” which serves as a great example of this characteristic on that album. On You Are the Music…We Are the Band, the band don’t really tend to fuse harder and softer elements into the same song, but have gone for the more straightforward approach of a harder number and then a softer number etc, which in many ways makes this album a far more straight-forward effort than the previous Medusa. This album though, would sadly prove to be their last with the classic line-up of Glenn Hughes, Mel Galley and Dave Holland. In the wake of this album, Glenn Hughes would go onto replace Roger Glover in Deep Purple, which was certainly a move by him to hit the big time, which sadly wasn’t going to happen with Trapeze and he would do this at the expense of leaving behind his far more primary and pivotal role in Trapeze. He would of course return briefly for a second stint but by then the spark had been long lost. Trapeze themselves would produce this album, which ended John Lodge of Moody Blues tenure with the band. The album also features some interesting guest-spots from artists such as the B.J Cole, Rod Argent and Jimmy Hastings amongst others.

Glenn Hughes- Bass/Vocals
Mel Galley- Guitar/Vocals
Drums- Dave Holland

Production- Trapeze

Album
Keepin’ Time- One of the album’s principal rockers and very much a perfect example of the band rocking out, the song has a great funky beat throughout and is a great album opener. Coast to Coast- A slow track that is beautifully penned and a track that suits Glenn Hughes to a T and a real highlight of the album. What is A Woman’s Role?- One of the most soulful tracks ever put out by the band and in many ways reminds me of signature future Toto tune, this is a great song in every aspect and essential. Way Back to the Bone- The fourth great track in a row and we’re in harder rocking territory again and some really great playing by Mel Galley especially in the second half of the track. Feelin’ So Much Better Now- Another good and steady middle album track, that very much sounds like a typical Humble Pie song from the era. Will Our Love End- Another one of the slower tracks on the album, an impressive track that might not have the interest of some of the other softer tracks on the album, as it relies more on basic song structure and accompaniments. Loser- A soulful harder rocking song, which again really highlights the raspy voice of Glenn Hughes on these type of songs. You Are the Music…We’re Just the Band- An instantly recognizable title track, that really has a live feel to it and always reminds me of something that the Doobie Brothers would be doing a few years later.

Verdict
This album sits next to Medusa as the best album that the band ever put out and again is one of those albums that really doesn’t suffer from any weak songs. Medusa takes the podium position of course, but this album can give it a run it to the wire, as this album is truly chock-full with great tracks throughout and as stated above the album can really be divided between its harder rocking and softer tracks. Firstly looking at the softer tracks, these tracks song for song probably come out on top and again serve as perfect examples, of a band that truly know their songcraft when it comes to laying down quality compositions. This can be seen on songs like “Coast to Coast” and “What is a Woman’s Role?” which demonstrate just how special these softer numbers are and really show that Trapeze were masters of this style. The softer tracks were also more suited to Glenn Hughes’s lower-vocal range, better than the harder rocking tracks on the album and on this album his voice seems even more soulful than ever, which lends itself perfectly over to these songs. On Medusa his voice often gave over to a less soulful delivery and often relied more on an abstract style. Secondly, the harder rocking tracks on the album like “Keepin’ Time” and the title track “You Are the Music…We’re Just the Band” really do rock out and are infused with liberal dosages of funk, and are both high on energy. When it comes to the funky sounding harder rocking numbers “Way Back to the Bone” is certainly the killer track on the album as far as I’m concerned! Glenn Hughes, Mel Galley and Dave Holland on You Are the Music…We’re Just the Band, may well have just put out one of the most soulful, funkiest and softest sounding hard rock albums ever recorded!

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Unknown Soldier

The wizard came and drank my wine.

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Overview
After their breakthrough on Look at Yourself, Uriah Heep were at their creative height as a band and on that album they had demonstrated their perfect fusion of hard rock and progressive rock all on the same album, sure it had been done before, but not quite to the same level of excellence. The band now took that creative spark and applied it to their next album Demons and Wizards. This album amongst Uriah Heep afficionados consistently ranks up there along with Look at Yourself as their best ever work. Up until now, the mercurial talents of Dave Byron, Mick Box and Ken Hensley had proved to be the backbone of the band, but in the arrival of New Zealander bassist Gary Thain ex Keef Hartley and Ken Hensley’s drumming buddy Lee Kerslake ex Toe Fat, the band had what would now be seen as their definitive line-up. Demons and Wizards would go on to sell more than 3 million copies worldwide and launch Uriah Heep upto the second level of strata in the heavy world, behind the top level which had the likes of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. One of the most interesting things though about Demons and Wizards, was its overtly progressive rock style album cover which was originally presented as a gatefold design for its vinyl release. By using the talents of then very popular artist Roger Dean, who at the time was best known for designing album covers for Yes and later Asia, here was an artist that was well known for his exotic outwardly designs. This album cover certainly demonstrated the band’s interest in both medieval mythology and futuristic themes (a requisite of 50% of prog bands at the time) the album cover also denotes, that the band were also having fun with these themes, as opposed to the more over-serious posture set out by the likes of Yes. Just five months after the release of this album, the band would release their fifth studio album The Magician’s Birthday (reviewed below) and producer Gerry Bron would be on hand to produce both albums.

David Byron- Vocals
Mick Box- Guitar,
Gary Thain- Bass
Ken Hensley- Keyboards/Organ
Lee Kerslake- Drums

Production- Gerry Bron

Album
The Wizard- Starts off with an acoustic guitar before picking up the pace and playing out as a heavy rocker, it’s basically a song about a wandering wizard. Traveller in Time- Opens up with some delightful high-pitched subdued vocals, before again moving into harder territory and featuring some groovy wah-wah style guitar, also great accompanying work by Ken Hensley as always. Easy Livin- The obvious single from the album, it has a galloping pace and swirling organ accompaniment, very much a typical Heep track from this era and along with “The Wizard” were both released as singles. Poet’s Justice- Probably my favourite track on the album and at times reminds me of “Shadows of Grief” the killer track from Look at Yourself, but this is a great song in its own right and shoots around the place for a full 4 minutes. Circle of Hands- A heavy sounding ballad and with a strong gospel feel about it, it’s heavily organ dominated and it’s no surprise that is was solely written by keyboardist Ken Hensley. Rainbow Demon- probably one of the heaviest songs on the album and they're really touching into Deep Purple territory here. All My Life- Almost starts off sounding like a typical Wishbone Ash song, before moving into recognizable Heep territory, it’s a nifty 2 minute plus track. Paradise/The Spell- The longest track on the album (originally presented as two separate tracks, but reviewed here as one long song) as the two tracks work well as a medley finale. The first part starts off like the album opener with an acoustic guitar, before adding more layers and the “Paradise” part of the song ends with some superb singing. The song then enters into the punchier sounding “The Spell” the later part of the medley and after the first few minutes, enters into a more deliberate and well executed section, before the whole song ends up in finishing with that punchy medley feel. On some versions of the album there is the following bonus track “Why” this was originally a b-side and it’s a great example of how b-sides from this era were just as good as their better known a-sides.

Verdict
So how does this album compare to Look at Yourself? Look at Yourself had basically been the band’s crowning achievement, where all the aspects of their unique sound all came together on one album, it had also been a high-energy workout, full of swirling organ which all meshed the band’s hard rock and progressive elements in perfect unison. Demons and Wizards on the other hand is an even more balanced album pace wise, it has the high energy workouts from Look at Yourself with its galloping guitars and swirling organs, but overall the band have gone for creative slower tracks, which are just as progressive in feel and style as the faster tempo material and this time they are even more confidently executed, and on some occasions all these styles meet in one song. Dave Byron’s vocals, also show greater diversity and range and are perfectly cemented into place by both Mick Box and Ken Hensley on guitar and keyboards. The album mixes itself between short rockers such as “The Wizard” and “Easy Livin” and lengthier progressive tracks like “Circle of Hands” and “Paradise/The Spell”. On a song like “Traveller in Time” the band showed that they were masters of condensing the more complex progressive style tracks, down into just three minutes and certainly giving birth to the future pomp-rock sub-genre that would emerge in the 1970s and would be demonstrated by bands such as Queen and Styx. But also contemporary Progressive acts of the time such as Yes were heavily influencing the band, just check out “Circle of Hands” which has a Yes “Starship Trooper” feel to it throughout! Again the stand-out instrument on the album are Ken Hensley’s keyboards which dominate yet again. At times on this album, Uriah Heep touch into territory normally occupied by the likes of Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Yes. But the beauty of Uriah Heep, is just when they cross the line of sounding like these bands, they quickly deliver us a unique Heep bridge or chorus, just to remind us that this band is Uriah Heep and nobody else. Anybody looking to pick up just a couple of Uriah Heep albums from their prime early to mid 1970s period, should look no further than than Demons and Wizards and their previous release Look at Yourself.

The day of darkness comes to every man.

David Byron- Vocals
Mick Box- Guitar,
Gary Thain- Bass
Ken Hensley- Keyboards/Organ
Lee Kerslake- Drums

Production- Gerry Bron

Album
Sunrise- A power ballad where Mick Box and Ken Hensley alternate their guitar and keyboard to great effect, an ideal album opener. Spider Woman- A song with an infectious chorus and one of the album’s punchy rockers. Blind Eye- A mid-tempo song, clearly written by a band that were churning out quality songs and the whole song if firmly anchored by Gary Thain’s bass. Echoes in the Dark- The most accomplished track on the album, has a superb eerie feel and a great guitar lead is laid down by Mick Box. Rain- A superb piano led ballad, which features some of Dave Byron’s most effective singing ever. Sweet Lorraine- One of the band’s best known songs, highlighted by Ken Hensley using his synthesizer to great effect. Tales- When hearing this song the first thing that comes to mind is just how accomplished it sounds and it's a perfect example of the mid-tempo pace that was being laid down by the band. The Magicians Birthday- A really epic finale track, that starts off as a light-hearted ‘happy birthday’ song, before it kicks into zanier space rock territory and the band put out some stunning guitar jamming and drumming over this progressive 10 plus minutes album closer. The bonus tracks from this album feature numerous outtakes and the real highlight here is "Crystal Ball"

Verdict
The Magician’s Birthday follows straight-on from Demons and Wizards and in many ways the two albums could’ve been a double album release. In fact had it been a double album, it would’ve been one of the best of the decade! The Magician’s Birthday whilst not being as cohesive and solid as Demons and Wizards, still continues strongly with the medieval and futuristic themes that were dominating the band at this time and again the album benefits from Roger Dean’s artwork. The Magician’s Birthday literally follows the creative format of Demons and Wizards, but as said above the songs song for song aren’t as dynamic as on that album, but on the other hand, they are definitely as accomplished as anything on Demons and Wizards! The Magician’s Birthday largely lends itself over to more reflective slower sounding tracks, with typical ballads, power ballads and mid tempo tracks all dominating here, this is certainly in contrast to the higher energy workouts of the previous two albums. Therefore it’s no surprise to find that the best tracks on the album, are largely the slower tracks and on songs like “Blind Eye” “Echoes in the Dark” “Rain” and “Tales” Heep show that they're very much masters of their craft. The distinctive Uriah Heep high-energy sound is found far more fleetingly on this album, but can be easily noted on a song like “Spider Woman” and in “Sweet Lorraine” the band had an obvious single in that song. I would also say, that this album might possibly be Dave Byron’s greatest vocal display song for song on any Uriah Heep album, his vocals are just so good. The Magician’s Birthday ranks as one of the best Heep releases from this their vintage period and in many ways it’s one of those progressive hard rock albums from that period, that lends itself over to being a pre-cursor to the future AOR style that would take the US by storm from the mid-1970s onwards. If Look at Yourself and Demons and Wizards are the best two Uriah Heep albums, then The Magician’s Birthday is the hidden gem that should be sought out, after listening to those two albums.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Unknown Soldier

Glamsters, rockstars and Ziggy on board for the ride!

Overview
Mott the Hoople were one of the great often unsung British bands of the 1970s and quite often never received the credit that they were due. They started out trying to reproduce the music of their heroes Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones, but in a harder hitting style and their first two albums the eponymous Mott the Hoople 1969 and Mad Shadows 1970 were a couple of decent albums but nothing special and they didn’t exactly shift many copies either. They were also produced by Guy Stevens who had done a fantastic job on Tons of Sobs the Free debut in 1969. By the time Mott the Hoople got to their third album Wildlife 1971, they had opted to go for a softer feel and produced an album that included country influences and in my opinion it was their best album to date, but yet again the band weren’t shifting too many albums and so by the time of their fourth album Brain Capers, the jury or in this case the record company were pressuring the band to come up with a successful album. Brain Capers would be their best album to date and should’ve been the album that broke them, but it flopped and spelt a possible demise for the band (Brain Capers is reviewed as the second part of the double header) When all looked lost as the band were on the verge of disbanding, a certain David Bowie took an interest in the band and offered to produce their fifth album and help to kick-start their career, by offering them a Bowie written single in “All the Young Dudes” The band would then use this single, to re-launch their fading career along with its parent album which shortly followed. The huge commercial success of All the Young Dudes, would get the band categorized as part of the burgeoning glam-rock movement, which was in full motion in the UK at the time. The band quickly embraced the imagery that went with it and possibly for this reason, the band weren’t taken as seriously as they should’ve been by the music critics, as after all, they weren’t exactly a ‘heavy band’ doing something new here, as the Alice Cooper band were already riding the glam-wagon trail and selling millions of albums with their shock-rock style in the USA. As said above, despite the glam-image that the band portrayed, they were always a hard rock act at heart, despite often flirting with softer leanings from time to time and they were blessed with two amazing frontmen in Ian Hunter and Mick Ralphs, who could easily give Robert Plant and Jimmy Page or Ian Gillan and Ritchie Blackmore a run for their money. I’m not actually comparing the two to any of the above in terms of their style but just in talent. Because in Mick Ralphs they had one of the most accomplished guitarists of his generation who made it look so easy at times and in Ian Hunter they had a vocalist whose ‘bluesy let’s party I’m on drugs kind of voice’ fitted the songs perfectly (he didn’t sound like this all the time though, just some of the time) Mott the Hoople were basically a rock ‘n’ roll band that drove hard, but had fun at the same time and they had an electric live show.

Ian Hunter- Guitar/Vocals
Mick Ralphs- Guitar
Peter “Overend” Watts- Bass
Verden Allen- Keyboards/Organ
Dale “Buffin” Griffin- Drums

Production- David Bowie

Album
Sweet Jane- The album starts off with a cover of this Velvet Underground song written by Lou Reed. Momma’s Little Jewel- A great song that has a real swagger to it and Ian Hunter penned. All the Young Dudes- Sounds exactly like a typical David Bowie song from the era and Ian Hunter sounds exactly like Bowie here, the song is very much a signature glam-rock classic of the time. Sucker- A great track showing just how accomplished this band were and there’s some great understated guitar by Mick Ralphs on show, who again makes it look so easy. At times this song sounds amazingly like a future Clash track at times! Jerkin’ Crocus- The band in one of their real fun loving moods and the song sounds like a nod at times to the Rolling Stones. One of the Boys- Mott the Hoople again at their finest and very much a definitive sounding song that you'd expect from the band. The song starts off with a phone being dialled before moving into the main song proper and the song really rocks out! Soft Ground- Written and sung by keyboardist Verden Allen and it's a solid listen. Ready for Love/After Lights- Mick Ralphs on vocals here and this is quite simply a glorious song and would later be recorded by Bad Company and gain even greater fame. The later part of the song has some fantastic playing by Mick Ralphs. Sea Lights- The perfect closing track and you now know that you've just listened to a classic album.

Verdict
This album was basically designed to break the band and thanks to David Bowie’s help the band finally achieved that breakthrough that had taken five albums to achieve, sure David Bowie had provided them with the hit single “All the Young Dudes” and had suggested that they covered the Lou Reed penned “Sweet Jane” but the best tracks on this album, are without doubt those penned by the band themselves and most notably those written by Ian Hunter. Anybody listening to this album may think that this album doesn’t belong in the criteria for this list, but Mott the Hoople were thanks to this album, an integral part in hindsight of the ‘heavy movement’ in the UK and helped to forge the link between hard rock and glam rock. The band helped to lay the groundwork for bands like Def Leppard and the future hair-metal movement of the 1980s largely thanks to this album and helped to create an identity at the lighter end of the spectrum with a touch of glam. As for the album itself, as said the Ian Hunter penned tracks are the stand-out cuts. On songs like “Momma’s Little Jewel” “Sucker” and "One of the Boys" it’s obvious that here is a writer on a roll, a writer that has found himself reinvigorated and has a desire to take the opportunity of success that has been laid at his feet. Then of course there is the superb "Ready for Love/After Lights" sung by Mick Ralphs and the song is quite simply a timeless classic. All the Young Dudes is a prime example of Mott the Hoople using the glam-rock scene as a launchpad to make their commercial breakthrough, rather than being an integral part of the scene like David Bowie, Marc Bolan and T.Rex, Sweet, Slade or Mud to name just a few. Whilst other bands played rock ‘n’ roll Mott the Hoople just bled it! The two albums featured here are great examples of that description.

An earthy dosage of rock 'n' roll, but nobody took notice!

!

Ian Hunter- Guitar/Vocals
Mick Ralphs- Guitar
Peter “Overend” Watts- Bass
Verden Allen- Keyboards/Organ
Dale “Buffin” Griffin- Drums

Production- Guy Stevens

Album
Death May Be Your Santa Claus- Starts off with this pile-driving opener and a song which sets out the tone for the rest of the album. Your Own Backyard- One of the slower songs on the album and despite being a Dion cover, could’ve easily been written by the band. Darkness, Darkness- A cover of the Jesse Colin Young song and a great version of it, it's a song that slowly moves along, before adding in some beefier hard rock parts near the end, it’s a great song and one of the best on the album, it's sung by Mick Ralphs. Journey- Ian Hunter penned and the longest song on the album and a slow moving but powerful rocker, it's a song that really has that epic feel attached to it and amazingly doesn't feel like 9 minutes. Sweet Angeline- A true rocking love song which kicks-off the b-side of the album and one of the band’s most popular tracks. Second Love- Written by keyboardist Verden Allen and a decent but weaker track. Moon Upstairs- The heaviest track on the album and probably the best as well. Starts off with an almost classic metal intro and seriously kicks where it feels nice, it’s a classic cut. Wheel of the Quivering Meat Conception- A heavy sounding outro, could easily be part of the previous song.

Verdict
Brain Capers very much was a return to the harder rocking style of the first two albums, after the softer approaches on Wildlife and again demonstrated the band’s Dylanesque influences throughout the album, there were also strong similarities with Lou Reed’s solo material at the time, but of course in a harder rocking style. This album really should’ve broke the group through to the big time and because it didn’t, it largely went and still goes unnoticed as a really great album. This was the band’s fourth album produced by Guy Stevens, whose production touch at the time, really captured band’s in their true element and gave their albums that ‘live’ feel. Most of the songs follow the same formula which may put some listeners off and that usually consists of slow starts with a gradual build-up throughout the songs, and in the process these songs build up the power but not always the tempo, but there is always the sensation throughout, that these are choice songs and built to stand the test of time! The band’s root sound which is based in a Dylanesque mood, are so evident from the word go on the album opener “Death May Be Your Santa Claus” with its pile-driving chords and this sound is also evident on the album’s longest track “Journey” which lasts around the nine minute mark! In “Sweet Angeline” they gave us a great rocking love song that was always a band favourite, but it’s the later album track “Moon Upstairs” that steals the show, the album is worth buying for this raunchy rocker alone. The band would prove on this album and on All the Young Dudes, that they had an amazing capacity of making almost any cover song their own, so much so, that they could’ve passed for Mott the Hoople originals.

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