All the Young Dudes, Mott the Hoople, 1972, :40
★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Everyone knows the story. Swaggering into obscurity, glam band finds savior in Glamfather Bowie, who gives them "All the Young Dudes." Band has a hit, but fades away anyway due to reasons. Bowie records his own, far superior, version of his song. The end. But what about the other songs on the album? They must be okay, too, right? Well, sadly "okay" is about it. The guitar work is excellent, though it leans a bit too heavily toward noodling for my taste, and the drumming lends a lot of muscle to the songs. But Ian Hunter's vocals are not as strong as the band's chops. The cover of "Sweet Jane" is decent, but an odd choice to begin the album -- if you're going to cover something so well known right off the bat, it better be a big statement and you should make the song your own. They don't do that. "Ready for Love" is a pale echo of the later Bad Company version. "Soft Ground" is as heavy as early Black Sabbath, but not very interesting. In all, it's just a weak album around an okay single. Favorite tracks: "All the Young Dudes," "Momma's Little Jewel," and yeah, I guess that "Sweet Jane" cover.
