Concert Anthology

AMG Review of Concert Anthology

Mark Deming
All Music Guide

This collection of live recordings of the mighty Mott the Hoople during their peak period (1971 through 1974) sure looks good -- the memorable front cover design has been stamped with silver foil on black leatherette stock, with the discs carried inside a gatefold digipack case. However, there are no liner notes and the fidelity varies wildly throughout the two discs. It's also clear that most of this material has already been released, since bandmember announcements of the songs about to be played don't match the actual songs that are performed, suggesting that this set was mastered by programming a CD player to play selected cuts from Angel Air's series of posthumous Mott live discs. Still, this being Mott the Hoople, there are plenty of great songs here and some crackling performances.