Search - Mott the Hoople :: Ballad of Mott the Hoople: Retrospective

Though their recording career spanned a mere five years, Mott the Hoople saw more than their share of ups and downs; the ups being of the artistic sort while the downs were related more closely to the grind of the road and the demands of their short-lived stardom. Unfortunately, those musical highs couldn't fend off the emotional lows and the band fell apart shortly after completing a genre-defining trilogy of glam-rock records--1972's All the Young Dudes, '73's Mott, and '74's The Hoople. Those three august achievements are well represented here by the likes of the David Bowie-penned "All the Young Dudes," "All the Way from Memphis," and Mott frontman Ian Hunter's heartbreaking "I Wish I Was Your Mother." Delving gingerly into the group's pre-breakthrough Atlantic years, this handy two-disc anthology is further fleshed out with some nifty rarities and unreleased tracks. --Steven Stolder