Welcome to the Club

This is a hidden gem. I already had the vinyl version for many years and it was struggling with age related defects so getting the CD was a no-brainer. The versions are clear and the excitement of the band and the crowd can be felt in every track. One of the few examples of the live versions being better than the studio versions.

Ranks as one of the best live albums because of the energy and mick ronsons guitar work you won't come across much better even by today's standards.

The band are in great form but most of all, they have got MICK RONSON. Nuff said!

There is no doubt that this album records Ian Hunter at his very, very best. The atmosphere is thick with tension and the playing superb and Hunter works the audience like a master. That said, this is something of an odd live album for all that. Firstly it contains 2 instrumentals to showcase the talents of Mick Ronson (FBI and Slaughter on 10th Avenue) which make for an oddly muted set of bookends for the live part of this record. Secondly, there are four studio tracks pinned on at the end which are indeed bonuses but were in fact on the original vinyl release of this album which seems an odd thing to do when Hunter's shows surely had enough material to span two discs. Thirdly, although the album is possibly the greatest example of mid 70's rock in it's purest form, it sounds shockingly out of time for an album recorded and released in 1979/80. This serves as a clue as to why Hunter desperately needed to find new directions for the impending decade. The album is as good a document of the live rock genre as Lou Reed's Rock'n'Roll Animal but then that masterpiece was recorded almost 7 years earlier than this one.But enough of my quibbles, on this record you will hear probably the best versions of Mott the Hoople classics and Hunter standards that you will ever hear. The most delightful thing of all is that almost every song is ingeniously rearranged in such a way as to improve on the originals. All the Way from Memphis is just a flawless powerhouse of noise; I wish I was your Mother is beautifully and slowly picked out on mandolin by Ronson and Laugh at Me is speeded up into a strident march. Hunter then moves on to his solo material and it stands up just as well. Irene Wilde is an object lesson in how to make a baying audience hang on your every word and the glorious Cleveland Rocks quite literally whips them up again into a frenzy. IN the case of Cleveland Rocks, I honestly have never heard a moment of oneness between performer and audience so successfully captured on record. Hunter of course has to promote the new album too and those tracks incredibly become instant classics before our eyes. Standing in my Light demands our close attention and Bastard is just packed with blistering vitriol. After these sonic pyrotechnics it is a testament to the sheer quality of Hunter's stageshow at the time that All the Young Dudes becomes merely a pleasant bonus to the feast that has already been served.After the live part of the record finishes we are then presented with the bonus material, none of which was available on any other album when this record came out. These are a strange ragbag of (presumably) studio and live outtakes from (possibly) more than one era. We Gotta Get Out Of Here is an unlikable song to my ears with some strange female backing. Silver Needles is much better though and is a classic Hunter ballad about some unamed rock'n'roll casualty (Janis Joplin? suggest your own). Man O' War has a slightly cocky air with a rather crude lyric (He's the Demon of the Semen(?!))which presumably prevented it making its way onto any main album. The final track, Sons and Daughters is then even more shocking by allowing us to see Hunter in full Country and Western mode, possibly cajolled by Ronson who would later add Patsy Cline's Sweet Dreamer to their set.So, in summary, a magnificent album but for me the strange assortment of bonuses somewhat detracts from the main event. Even more inexplicable when unreleased tracks from the same show at the LA Roxy appeared as B-Sides to the promotional singles from this album (e.g. One of the Boys)

As someone who normally does not like live albums this is surprisingly good he covers a lot and the group he now has are all remarkable musicians

Ian Hunter's live rendition is absolutely stunningly passionately wonderous! Worth the album for that track alone, fortunately the rest of the album is blindin' as well.