AMG Review of Introduction to Mott the Hoople

Thom Jurek
All Music Guide

The uninitiated and merely curious should beware, and the glorious crew of crazies that are Mott fans should also take note. An Introduction to Mott the Hoople is not merely a Mott the Hoople best-of compiled by Fuel to wring few more dollars from the catalog. The 13 cuts compiled here are all live versions or rehearsal versions licensed from someone or other in Mott's private tape collection. What this set basically represents is a compilation of cuts taken from Recall's 2004 Walkin' with the Hoople collection and the double-disc Purple Pyramid Concert Anthology from 2005. That's OK. They used most of the best stuff anyway. The live version of "Thunderbuck Ram," "Walking with a Mountain," and the medley of "Roll Away the Stone/Sweet Jane" are prime Hoople. The raggedy "All the Way from Memphis" and "All the Young Dudes" are a testament to the band's immediacy and stage presence and showed how they could really rough up these songs in a live setting. In addition "The Original Mixed-Up Kid" that's here is one of the very 'eaviest of Mott's live tracks, and "One of the Boys" is one of its snottiest. If you have the other collections, consider this superfluous; if you don't and you want to experience Mott apart from their sometimes spotty studio records, this is for you.