All the young dudes must click this link and go back to the main Mott the Hoople page All the Young Corn Overall Album Score: 8.3 out of 10 So, David Bowie decided to spread the wealth (after achieving monumental success with The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Under the Washbasin) and decided to help the ready-to-fold Mott the Hoople. He gave them a lesson in Glam 101, teached them how to look gay, and how to write gay songs. Yep! If you know your rock music history, you'll know that David Bowie produced this album and gave Mott the Hoople a hit song ("All the Young Dudes"). And if'n ya wanta compare this with David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust, it is a bit more consistent, but it lacks the same dynamics that made Bowie's album so excellent. However, this is still a super album! Notice the exceptionally high score I gave it! There is not one bad song on here ... and not all Glam albums can claim that they don't have one bad song in them ... and not all Glam *artists* can claim that they have one brain cell in them. This band lost significantly in its popularity over the years, whereas David has not, but this album is in print and I even found it in my local CD store. So go for it! Pick this one up! It's worth it! At least every Bowie fan ought to have this one in their collection. Why? Well... because David produced it ... it has one of his best songs in it ... David plays the saxophone in it ... and I'm pretty sure he supplies a little background vocals (either that or whoever does sing the background does an uncanny impression of him.) Bowie fans might also like to know that Mick Ronson also came into help, but he didn't play the guitar at all. He might have helped arrange them, though, for the band. Anyway, I highly recommend this album. Anyone who would call the Glam movement a good movement could practically build their case around this album. It's catchy, intelligent, lively music that you can listen to over and over and over again, and you'll never grow tired of it. (Well, on second thought, you probably will grow tired of it ... but it won't happen before the next geologic epoch.) Overall Album Score: 8.3 out of 10 (This is a super Glam album with its fair share of good tunes! It's damaged only by some lapses in mediocrity toward the latter half.) Average Song Score: 8.4 (This is a pretty strong score! There are a few tracks on here that I am not too enthused about, but nothing scored below a 6.5 indicating that this is, at least, a consistently good album. However, only one song scored a 10.) Album Tilt: 8.5 (This is a good Glam album. Probably better in at least some respects to T. Rex's Glam albums. It has catchier tunes, diversity, and very competent instrument playing!) Artist Rating: 8.0 (For a reinvention, they deserve at least some credit. They should also get some credit for hanging in there to create what is undoubtedly a classic Glam album! Though it isn't much of an artistic statement, just a collection of solid material.) Track Reviews Sweet Jane 8.5/10 It's competent, but it's a rather bland cover of the Velvet Underground tune of the same name. (Albeit, it's more clean and custom cut for the pop audience, and turned into a Glam tune.) But all in all it's quite nice, catchy, and everything! Momma's Little Jewels 9.5/10 This is definitely a nice catchy Glam number written by the Mott themselves! It has me dancing along with it and everything! It's definitely better than that cover (which is surprising almost). It even has a good riff and fine arrangement and instrument orchestration and whatnot. This song has a really neat ending! It just sort of dies... All the Young Dudes 10/10 This is the defining moment of the album! Too many times do I see myself skipping the first two tracks and listening to this, or going back to it when I am somewhere farther along with the album. The reason, simply, is that this is such a well-written tune and the orchestration is absolutely impeccable! So, I like this song! And so do you! (If you don't I'll make you like it.) This is a gay anthem by the way. (That's not why I like it, though ...) I guess that Bowie wasn't going to use this song anyway. The only place it would fit, musically, would be in Ziggy Stardust, but it wouldn't go with the plot, see. Oh well. It fits wonderfully here. Sucker 9.5/10 SUCKA! Geez! This is MORE catchy Glam stuff! My gosh! It's about as good as T. Rex ever carried Glam (even though T. Rex more or less were the founding fathers of Glam). Everything is excellent. Good tune, good instrumentals (especially the neo-Baroque harpsichord in the chorus and the nice, haunting background vocals). I like this song entirely! Jerkin' Crocus 7.5/10 This is an interesting tune. For one, I swear Queen (or somebody) ripped it off because it sounds so familiar. I might stumble upon it sooner or later. And also, that synth in the background sounds eerily like New Wave (which wouldn't happen for three years). Other than that, this tune isn't nearly as catchy or otherwise wonderful as all those previous tracks, but it's still pretty good! Don't get me wrong! (That song title is suggestive! ... Oh my, I think that I'm going to embarrassingly blush!) One of the Boys 9.5/10 I'm not exactly sure how much opposition I'll get with giving this track such a high rating, but apart from "All the Young Dudes," this is the most memorable track on the album! Great riff, great tune, what's weird is that the same old thing is basically being repeated throughout the whole duration. But through odd moments of the day, this song gets recycled through my head, and it's not necessarily a bad thing. The end, involving a telephone call, I think is entertainingly creative! So I give this song my thumbs up and a nod as the second best track of the album. But I think I'm pretty much alone on that! Soft Ground 6.5/10 Ehhhhh... it sounds a bit more like derivative 60's rock than a Glam tune. But I don't hate this track at all. I never skip it. It just doesn't have quite the memorable tune or quite the good arranging as the other tunes. This would be the album's three-minute bathroom break. Ready For Love/After Lights 7/10 If you don't make it back from the bathroom in time for this six-minute track, don't sweat it! While this song has a good riff, a nice tune, and a well-defined chorus, it just fails to inspire. It won't make you sing along with it or dance in the streets or ... it might make you skip back to "All the Young Dudes." But really. This isn't a bad track at all! It works perfectly when you're driving in the car with it. I never skip it. Sea Diver 8/10 As for the most dynamic song on the album ... here it is! With this, I can believe this band once tried to perform soul songs. It has feeling, soul, great orchestration ... it's the most Ziggy-like track of the album. It might even be more moving and convincing than anything on Ziggy but the tune is too uninspired and unmemorable! It's performed correctly, though. ALLLLLL THE YOUNNNNNNNNNG DUUUUUUUUUDES!!! E-mail your ideeeeeeeeeeeeas here!!!!

All reviews are copyrighted by Michael Lawrence. He's all the young dudes.