{"id":11127,"date":"2018-09-05T11:36:13","date_gmt":"2018-09-05T11:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.itwriting.com\/blog\/?page_id=11127"},"modified":"2018-09-06T06:38:15","modified_gmt":"2018-09-06T06:38:15","slug":"mott-the-hoople-mental-train-box-set-covering-the-island-years","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.itwriting.com\/blog\/the-ballad-of-mott-the-hoople-and-ian-hunter\/mott-the-hoople-mental-train-box-set-covering-the-island-years","title":{"rendered":"Mott the Hoople: Mental Train box set covering the Island Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

Set for release on 2 November 2018 is The Mental Train, a box set covering Mott the Hoople\u2019s Island years, when the band was less successful commercially but arguably at its best musically. Fans say that the energy of the live performances in these years was never recaptured.<\/p>\n

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That makes this set very welcome. But what is in it? There are 6 CDs, with the first four being all the studio albums plus bonus tracks, CD5 rarities classified as \u201cBallads\u201d, and CD6 live performances. The entire track listing is shown at the end of this post.<\/p>\n

The CDs are all remastered \u201cfrom the original tapes (where available)\u201d (hmm) by Andy Pearce, and Kris Needs selected the bonus tracks and wrote new sleeve notes.<\/p>\n

While 6 CDs seems a lot, the sad thing is that there is not much in the vaults that has not already been released, and this set reflects that. Just one CD of live material seems disappointing as well, considering how special this band was in concert.<\/p>\n

A puzzle is that only 7 tracks are included from Live in Croydon, one of which is Keep a Knockin\u2019 which is already on Wildlife. Then there are 5 tracks from BBC In Concert, 30 December 1971, which is all the live tracks from the Original Mixed Up Kids CD except The Moon Upstairs.<\/p>\n\n

This will still be a good buy for those who do not have any of the albums. What about for fans who have most of it already? They will get a few unreleased tracks (I have not been through to work out how many there are) and the benefit of remastering, on which we will have to wait and see (or hear).<\/p>\n

I will still recommend that you get hold of the entire Live at Fairfields Hall Croydon somehow, as well as Original Mixed Up Kids, and one of various CDs with Stockholm 16 Feb 1971 which is another great live album from this period.<\/p>\n

Notes:<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you have the Angel Air reissues of the studio albums, you will a lot more bonus tracks here, however Find Your Way (bonus track on the first album), It would be a pleasure (bonus on Mad Shadows), and It\u2019ll be Me (bonus on Wildlife) do not feature here. You can also find these tracks on All the Young Dudes \u2013 The Anthology.<\/p>\n

Most of the Two Miles from Heaven compilation does appear hear but inevitably not everything. Surfin\u2019 UK is missing.<\/p>\n

CD1: Mott The Hoople <\/strong>(Originally released November 22 1969)
\n\u2018You Really Got Me\u2019
\n\u2018At the Crossroads\u2019
\n\u2018Laugh At Me\u2019
\n\u2018Backsliding Fearlessly\u2019
\n\u2018Rock and Roll Queen\u2019
\n\u2018Rabbit Foot and Toby Time\u2019
\n\u2018Half Moon Bay\u2019
\n\u2018Wrath and Wroll\u2019
\nBonus Tracks:<\/em>
\n\u2018If Your Heart Lay with the Rebel (Would You Cheer the Underdog?)\u2019 (Instrumental Take 2)
\n\u2018Rock and Roll Queen\u2019 (Single A side)
\n\u2018Road to Birmingham\u2019 (Single B side)
\n\u2018Road to Birmingham\u2019 (Guy Stevens Mix)
\n\u2018You Really Got Me\u2019 (Complete take)
\n\u2018You Really Got Me\u2019 (Vocal mix)
\n\u2018Rock and Roll Queen\u2019 (Guy Stevens Mono Mix)
\n\u2018Rock and Roll Queen\u2019 (Kitchen Sink Instrumental)
\n\u2018Little Christine\u2019 (2 Miles)<\/p>\n

CD2: Mad Shadows <\/strong>(Originally released September 1970)
\n\u2018Thunderbuck Ram\u2019
\n\u2018No Wheels to Ride\u2019
\n\u2018You Are One of Us\u2019
\n\u2018Walking with a Mountain\u2019
\n\u2018I Can Feel\u2019
\n\u2018Threads of Iron\u2019
\n\u2018When My Mind\u2019s Gone\u2019
\nBonus Tracks<\/em>
\n\u2018Thunderbuck Ram\u2019 (BBC Session)
\n\u2018Thunderbuck Ram\u2019 (Original Take with Organ)
\n\u2018No Wheels to Ride\u2019 (Demo)
\n\u2018Moonbus (Baby\u2019s Got a Down on Me)\u2019
\n\u2018The Hunchback Fish\u2019 (Vocal Rehearsal)
\n\u2018You Are One of Us\u2019 (Take 9)
\n\u2018Going Home\u2019 (2 Miles)
\n\u2018Keep A-Knockin\u2019 (Studio version)<\/p>\n

CD3: Wildlife <\/strong>(Originally released March 1971)
\n\u2018Whiskey Women\u2019
\n\u2018Angel of Eighth Avenue\u2019
\n\u2018Wrong Side of the River\u2019
\n\u2018Waterlow\u2019
\n\u2018Lay Down\u2019
\n\u2018It Must Be Love\u2019
\n\u2018The Original Mixed Up Kid\u2019
\n\u2018Home Is Where I Want to Be\u2019
\n\u2018Keep A-Knockin\u2019 (Live)
\nBonus Tracks:<\/em>
\n\u2018Midnight Lady\u2019 (Single A side)
\n\u2018The Debt\u2019 (Single B side)
\n\u2018Downtown\u2019 (Single A side)
\n\u2018Brain Haulage (Whiskey Woman)\u2019
\n\u2018Growing Man Blues\u2019 (Take 10)
\n\u2018Long Red\u2019 (Demo)
\n\u2018The Ballad of Billy Joe\u2019
\n\u2018Lay Down (Take 8)\u2019<\/p>\n

CD4: Brain Capers <\/strong>(Originally released December 1971)
\n\u2018Death May Be Your Santa Claus\u2019
\n\u2018Your Own Backyard\u2019
\n\u2018Darkness, Darkness\u2019
\n\u2018The Journey\u2019
\n\u2018Sweet Angeline\u2019
\n\u2018Second Love\u2019
\n\u2018The Moon Upstairs\u2019
\n\u2018The Wheel of the Quivering Meat Conception\u2019
\nBonus Tracks:<\/em>
\n\u2018Mental Train (The Moon Upstairs)\u2019
\n\u2018How Long? (Death May Your Santa Claus)\u2019
\n\u2018Darkness, Darkness\u2019
\n\u2018Your Own Backyard (Complete Take)\u2019
\n\u2018Where Do You All Come From (Backing Track)\u2019
\n\u2018One of the Boys (Take 2)\u2019
\n\u2018Movin\u2019 On (2 Miles)\u2019
\n\u2018Black Scorpio (Mommas Little Jewel)\u2019<\/p>\n

CD5: The Ballads of Mott The Hoople<\/strong>
\n\u2018Like a Rolling Stone (Fragment)\u2019
\n\u2018No Wheels to Ride (1st House)\u2019
\n\u2018Angel Of 8th Avenue (Tape 816)\u2019
\n\u2018The Journey\u2019
\n\u2018Blue Broken Tears (Tape 816)\u2019
\n\u2018Black Hills (Full Ralph\u2019s Version)\u2019
\n\u2018Can You Sing the Song That I Sing (Full Take)\u2019
\n\u2018Till I\u2019m Gone (2 Miles)\u2019
\n\u2018The Original Mixed Up Kid\u2019 (BBC Session)
\n\u2018Ill Wind Blowing (2 Miles)\u2019
\n\u2018I\u2019m A River\u2019 (Vocal Rehearsal)
\n\u2018Ride on The Sun (Sea Diver)\u2019 (2 Miles)<\/p>\n

CD6: It\u2019s Live And Live Only<\/strong>
\n\u2018Rock and Roll Queen\u2019
\n\u2018Ohio\u2019
\n\u2018No Wheels to Ride \/ Hey Jude\u2019
\n\u2018Thunderbuck Ram
\n\u2018Keep A-Knockin\u2019
\n\u2018You Really Got Me\u2019
\n\u2018The Moon Upstairs\u2019
\n\u2018Whiskey Women\u2019
\n\u2018Your Own Backyard\u2019
\n\u2018Darkness, Darkness\u2019
\n\u2018The Journey\u2019
\n\u2018Death May Be Your Santa Claus
\n(Tracks 1 \u2013 7: Fairfield Hall, Croydon, 13 September 1970)
\n(Tracks 8 to 12: Paris Theatre, London, BBC Radio One, In Concert, 30 December 1971)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Set for release on 2 November 2018 is The Mental Train, a box set covering Mott the Hoople\u2019s Island years, when the band was less successful commercially but arguably at its best musically. Fans say that the energy of the live performances in these years was never recaptured. That makes this set very welcome. But … Continue reading Mott the Hoople: Mental Train box set covering the Island Years<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":9792,"menu_order":610,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-11127","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itwriting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itwriting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itwriting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itwriting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itwriting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11127"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.itwriting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11127\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11132,"href":"https:\/\/www.itwriting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11127\/revisions\/11132"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itwriting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itwriting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}