If your finished with the hoople people, then go back to the main Mott page We the Hoople Overall Album Score: 7.9 out of 10 All the young duuuuuuuuuudes, carry the neeeeeeews! ...That was two albums ago, wasn't it? Oh well. As if Mott the Hoople suddenly discovered that deviating from the path that was kindly showed to them by David Bowie was a misstep, Mott the Hoople returned entirely to Glam and became more ... theatrical! With this move, they get even closer to David Bowie ... a lot of these songs sound a bit Ziggy Stardust in style! The first two songs are rock-opera-esque, indeed. "The Golden Age of Rock and Roll" delivers a campy, 50's sounding theatrical tune that sounds like a stellar opening to a rock opera. The following song, "Marionette," was actually identified as a mini-rock opera by Ian Hunter. The last two songs sound rather theatrical as well. But the rest of the songs don't sound much connected to rock-opera-ness. Frankly, that's a little bit disappointing. If Ian Hunter was a bit more on the ball as far as songwriting goes, he might have truly come up with a regular gem with The Hoople as a whole. As it stands, it is merely an album with a few good tunes on it. This album also illustrates the end of Mott the Hoople's big peak. Ian Hunter decided that he wanted to leave the band after this one. The remaining members carried on the band's name for two more albums, but they were bombs. Yep, from their folk beginnings to their real-trashy end, they only had three real notable albums. They certainly weren't the best albums that the music industry could offer, but I actually enjoyed listening to them! While the songwriting might not have been tops all the time, the band created many more gems than the average band could ever have been able to. Long live Mott the Poohle! Overall Album Score: 7.9 out of 10 (Man ... After listening to those first two tracks, I had almost thought I stumbled upon one of those rare masterstrokes ... A cheesy and fun rock opera kind of like Ziggy Stardust. But most of the remaining album is relatively disappointing.) Average Song Score: 8.3 (There are a few quite worthwhile keepers in this otherwise feeble album!) Album Tilt: 8.0 (A feeble album this may be most of the time, but it's also fun! I like fun.) Artist Rating: 7.5 (Sorry, folks! Perhaps if Ian Hunter actually had done a rock opera instead of pretending that he did a rock opera, I might have given this one higher points. Nevertheless, these songs are rather spotty in quality.) Track Reviews The Golden Age of Rock and Roll 10/10 BOY does this album start out promising! I'm one of those utter weirdoes who gets a kick out of theatrical songs that are based on the piano. Of course, it only really *starts* out theatrical sounding. The rest of this is a pretty booging-ful Glam song. The tune is pretty good (although, not quite as good as "All the Way From Memphis," to be sure). Just the same, Mott the Hoople are at top form here! Marionette 9.5/10 Wow! Ian Hunter really got his songwriting down *packed* here, and combined it with his almost stubborn determination to be 'bizarre if you can't think of anything better to do,' which was left over from the previous album. This track is trashy, campy, and a complete blast! This one and the previous song both led me to believe that this would be some sort of bizarre rock opera. I was a bit disappointed that the fun rock opera feel leaves after "Marionette." Alice 8.5/10 "Alice" is still a pretty good job, but Hunter's true identity as a 'feeble' songwriter is beginning to shine through the cracks. Truthfully, the main redeeming quality of this track is that it has these bizarre and quiet pauses, which keeps this song interesting ... and, dare I say it, fun? It's not quite as fun as those first two tracks though. Those were fun! Crash Street Kids 7/10 Whoah ... The All-Music Guide likes this one ... Well, the general songwriting isn't better here than any of the previous songs. I guess it's just slightly more normal. The All-Music Guide must praise normality. I find this one slightly boring, I suppose. (That end is rather ugly ... but THAT part is unusual, at least!) Born Late '58 8/10 Slightly better songwriting ... Yep, I can wiggle my head joyfully along with this fun'n'trashy GLAM song any day of the week ... even though I wasn't born late '58. I was born late '82, actually. Anyway, this is another fun ... song ... If you don't like this, then you're just another one of those boring boring-heads who should get himself a woman. (Or, if you're a woman, then you should get yourself a lampshade.) Trudi's Song 7/10 Turdi's Song?!?!?!?!?!?! Oh! Sorry! I misread the song title. I suppose that happens often enough ... All right! Now who's the complete whacko who decided to write and record a slow, romantic-type song instead of a fast, glam-type song? A complete (I. Hunter) loser. Pearl'N'Roy 7.5/10 BOY! This is FRUSTRATING! Both this song and that last one seemed to have the makings of great, memorable songs ... but the lack of meaningful hooks in the melody are all that's keeping them from achieving this. This one, more of a party-time Glam track, is just 'okay.' Through the Looking Glass 8/10 Dude! It's the same thing with this one, too! It's sounds almost exactly like something that I might like, but the melody really isn't that good! I really really like the instrumentation. It sounds like it might have been soulful and moving ... but where's the hooks? I don't sense hide nor hair of a hook. Aren't hooks why we listen to music like this in the first place? What's the point, then? Without the hooks, I almost can't forgive the fact that this one is overblown. But I must say that I do enjoy the effort. Roll Away the Stone 9/10 Hey! Look at what *I* found! MEEEEEEEELODY! ... Hmmm ... I likes it! As if this album were really a rock opera all the time, and I didn't just imagine it after the first two songs, "Roll Away the Stone," does sound like an effective closer to an overblown rock opera. ...Oh... and we used to think that Meat Loaf was an original ... (Almost strikingly is this similar to a Meat Loaf song.) Hoople your comments here.

All reviews are copyrighted by Michael Lawrence. He can only see the color periwinkle.