Why is Mott the Hoople’s All the Young Dudes on my best 1,000 albums ever list?
Rock ‘n roll meets proto-punk meets David Bowie-inspired early ‘70s glam rock. And chocolate and peanut butter (somehow?).
What does Mott the Hoople’s All the Young Dudes mean to me? What does it make me feel? Why is it exciting or compelling?
For most of my young life and into young adulthood – a period by the way in which I was heavily influenced by classic rock (more on this below) – I was vaguely aware of Mott the Hoople as “one of those classic-y rock bands.” The band name alone is one that just sort of sticks out, right?
And then on a parallel track, I was vaguely aware of the song “All the Young Dudes,” and, I’ll admit, to my untrained ear I’m pretty sure I completely assumed this was a late era Beatles song. To be fair, the chorus has a very sing-along-to-the-“Hey Jude”-chorus vibe.
So it was, then, that on one magical day, the rock ‘n roll meets proto-punk meets David Bowie-inspired early ‘70s glam rock chocolate and peanut butter moment came when I realized that Mott the Hoople is the operation behind the song and the album of the same name. And a truly great early 1970s song it is, and the best on the album.
I must give full appreciation for the avant-garde guitars being brandished in that video. Only matched by the hat on the keyboardist, I should think.
“Jerkin’ Crocus” is very Rolling Stones circa Sticky Fingers in a good way. Also, I have no idea what the song title means or what the song is about, but it’s quite a striking song title at that.
The cover of The Velvet Underground’s “Sweet Jane” is really well done, with the beat stepped up into a nice moderate rock groove.
This album also sounds like
As noted above, I think there’s a really compelling mix of Bowie influence (who produced the album, so there you go), Rolling Stones, Velvet Underground, and other glam, proto-punk, and other early ‘70s rock influences.
Personal stuff that’s somehow related to Mott the Hoople’s All the Young Dudes
At a very impressionable young age, I turned away from the popular music of the time – think about what bands your brain conjures when I use the description Dawn of the Hair Metal Era and you’ll be spot on – and went deep into the classics: The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, and The Doors became everything for me. Deep, as I said, but not all that wide. That would come later.
And as quick aside, I could have sworn that Mott the Hoople was mentioned at least once in the brilliant film, Almost Famous, but a YouTube and Google research session provided no dice, as they say. If and when I turn up something, I’ll post it here.
Some stats & info about Mott the Hoople – All the Young Dudes
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? British Bands, Rock, Rock Music, Hard Rock, Glam Rock, Proto-Punk
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 5 out of 5 stars
- When was All the Young Dudes released? 1972
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #905 out of 1,000
Mott the Hoople’s All the Young Dudes on Spotify
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective take on what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.