| Man Overboard and the Ian Hunter collection |  |  |  |
| Written by Joe Viglione | ||||||||||||||
| Saturday, 27 June 2009 18:44 | ||||||||||||||
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IAN HUNTER Ian Hunter's Man Overboard CD "flies through the air with the greatest of ease", and if you skip over the live music from Strings Attached and Just Another Night: Live at the Astoria in London (both fine DVDs in their own right), the current release on New West picks up where Yep Roc's Shrunken Heads (2007) and Fuel 2000's Rant (2000) left off. The fusion of Americana and Brit Rock in The Great Escape opens what is not a "rock opera" or a concept album per se, though after many spins it begins to sound like an epic journey through the eyes of a young guy just getting familiar with the world. The first tale begins "On the night of my 21st birthday..." with a threat of physical violence ...and someone "looking for my blood"...the music almost secondary to the story Hunter is weaving...and the admonition "you gotta get away...especially when the other guy's bigger than you" is sound advice...but to leave his guitar behind! For shame! The tune ends rather abruptly giving in to "Arms And Legs" - one of the album's highlights- a great melody that could be called a progressive love song. True craftsmanship at play, this should be played on the Top 40 alongside "Ripoff" from Rant. "Girl From The Office" again returns this rock vet to some kind of early Rod Stewart phase, perhaps Gasoline Alley, and while the neo-Celtic overtones are pleasant enough I find this excursion a bit out of place here. "Flowers" draws from The Who's "Behind Blue Eyes" for its set-up, and it would fit nicely on The Rolling Stones...Flowers album, heck I almost want to hear "Out Of Time" or "Sittin' On The Fence" follow "Flowers". "We've all got dreams, but no one's listening" is an interesting thought but the fans are listening and listening intently and like another Brit rocker known for long essays, Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull, Hunter plays the role of minstrel and poet with acute dexterity. "These Feelings" is another strong cut with production that rises above the formula Andy York seems to have framed for most of the sound here. It's those sounds on this track that bring the disc to another plateau and it is the more experimental stuff that adds to the stream of consciousness. Though connected to previous exploits this is a new direction for the artist, and thankfully it's not as severe as Jonathan Richman leaving the "Astral Plane" to sing about the "Ice Cream Man". I mean just reading that fact makes one still shake their head that Jonathan could go so deep off into the Neverland Ranch when we were quite content with him exploring life through perpetually inquisitive eyes and brash declarations like "I'm Straight". No, Hunter hasn't given us an album of nursery rhymes a la Jonathan, this is good stuff, and I'm sure it will grow on me but after many repeated spins I still find the feel of Rant and Shrunken Heads to be more in line with what I like personally - and what this long-time fan expects from Ian Hunter. "Win It All" is the poet waxing philosophical, a paternal collection of advice and encouragement without the militant order of Sly & The Family Stone's epic "Stand", though the sentiment is the same. The cynical side of Hunter is in full bloom with no cure in sight confirming, perhaps, that 2000s Rant and the follow-up, Shrunken Heads, were the prelude to this sort of diary, a Jack Kerouac character with cinema verite' thoughts, words that stream on endlessly in a coherent fashion, perhaps what Hunter was trying to say in The Ballad Of Mott without fully getting his point across. Here he gets the point across, eleven essays that have a similar musical theme and sound that puts the emphasis on the lyrics, vis-a-vis the song "Way With Words". The riffs are understated and the glossy production by Andy is not overkill, country flavors mixed in with the rock, but not as obnoxious and in-your-face as The Eagles Joe Viglione 3:06 AM July 5, 2009 (spending the better part of the past few days on this review) Post Script at 3:21 AM on an early Sunday morning: The Moon Upstairs will always trump John Cougar Mellencamp. Read Joe Viglione's reviews of
Some artists mature like fine wine, "Sunny" author Bobby Hebb, former (latter-day) Velvet Underground keyboard player Willie "Loco" Alexander, Jackie DeShannon (check out her 2000 CD "You Know Me"), Gavin Sutherland (of Sutherland Brothers & Quiver) - find his "Diamonds And Gold" cd - all artists who avoid the pedestrian and mundane to deliver highly effective and creative works. What these performers have in common with Ian Hunter is a desire to generate their art without the thought of selling 3 million copies. Now with Mott The Hoople's Brain Capers as one of my all-time favorite manic rock & roll discs there's no doubt I have a bias towards Hunter's music, but that being said his initial solo albums and the final Mott The Hoople albums were not my cup of tea. Sure, I got them all but they didn't call to me the way Lou Reed's "Sally Can't Dance" and "Coney Island Baby" spoke volumes (and Lou himself is said to detest Sally Can't Dance, perhaps his finest pure pop record). Ian Hunter is an important artist functioning in this post-hit record world of an industry that is falling apart. It is a travesty that tiny labels are distributing this important art - from Jackie DeShannon's astounding efforts to Willie Alexander's perpetual fountain of brilliance. The cover of Man Overboard with the roller coaster (or is it a bridge? A man at a crossroads near a river, hard to tell from the small photo) - and the title - appear to offer something special. The musicianship is spot on, you can hear that much from the 30 second clips, and Hunter - compared to Dylan throughout his career - says things to me that Bob Dylan just doesn't care to communicate anymore. Which is why I adore the Dylan back catalog as much as I look forward to these new chapters from Ian Hunter. I'm quite sure my essay on "Man Overboard" will be quite lengthy. For right now read my thoughts on the re-release of the essential Brain Capers. Joe V. 10:38 PM Saturday night, June 27, 2009. The expanded Brain Capers. It doesn't come with the black mask, though that iconic symbol is the last page inside the 20 page booklet. "Death May Be Your Santa Claus" grooves out of the speakers with the fun that made Mott The Hoople one of our favorite bands. Sure, "All The Young Dudes" was very important in getting the band's trademark established, but this opening track was, to me, what this group was truly all about,at least for being one of my all-time favorite bands and - one of the greatest albums of all time. This is the real deal, kids, so after you've explored the beauty of "Ready For Love" and "One Of The Boys" and the Bowie-produced Columbia (Ok, ok, Sony) release, go to this rock & roll Bible and learn how to make great, unbridled sound that rules. The live versions of "Midnight Lady" and "The Journey" (nine minutes and forty-five seconds) are a plus, and the booklet gives great insight...though I can't find where the live takes are from? on this 2003 Angel Air re-release. The bonus tracks aren't on the American Rhino Records version so get ahold of the British CD. Here's the Angel Air site: http://www.angelair.co.uk/sjpcd160.htm
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| Last Updated on Sunday, 05 July 2009 19:35 |
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