IAN HUNTER
WHEN I'M PRESIDENT
At 73 Ian Hunter continues to write, record and sing songs better than many people half his age. Hunter has been producing albums for more than forty years, first as leader of 70s British rock legends Mott the Hoople and then as a hugely influential solo artist. Ian Hunter is widely revered as one of rock n roll s most compelling performers and one of its most articulate songwriters.
When I'm President is Hunter's twentieth album and finds him in top form. In fact, this may be Hunter's most consistent offering since the classic You're Never Alone With A Schizophrenic.
Hunter has always been (for me) one of those artists who will have an album with one or two songs that are pure genius and then another seven or eight that are pure filler. For example, the best song on 1983's All Of The Good Ones Are Taken was the title track.
The second best song? An alternate take of the title track.
On the current release, Hunter originals are infectious, personally charged numbers with themes that range from swaggering, to wry to socially conscious to gently introspective.
Bittersweet ballads and chugging rockers showcase Hunter's one-of-a-kind voice and the punchy authority of his longstanding all-star backup combo the Rant Band.
The thing is, Ian Hunter simply has written an album's full of great songs. It seems that some artists lose their inspiration as they age, but Hunter is an exception to that rule.
His last four albums have been solid, aptly demonstrating that Hunter remains a vital, interesting talent with something to say. When I'm President seems to capture Hunter's seven decades of experiencing life on this rock....and it rocks!
How appropriate that the CD ends with a song entitled "Life."
An essential album for Hunter fans, and highly recommended for fans of classic rock.
WHEN I'M PRESIDENT
LIFE
ALL OF THE GOOD ONES ARE TAKEN
(not on the new CD but a great song that many of you probably never heard)
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That was a pretty amusing video for 'All Of The Good Ones Are Taken'. In a way, it kinda reminded me of the movie 'Arthur' because of the relationship between the fool and his butler.
ReplyDelete~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
Dogg-
ReplyDeleteWere you not familiar with that song? It probably came out after you migrated from rock to jazzier pastures.
LC
I don't know when this song was released, but no, I'd never heard it before. I started moving away from the Rock scene in 1984, and by '87 my transformation to Blues and Jazz was fairly complete and I wasn't hearing ANY of the new Rock stuffs at that point.
ReplyDelete~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
Hi Larry and Stephen. I am never familiar with ANY of this music. It's a good education.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jenny-
ReplyDeleteI intentionally stay away from the releases that are big news and try to highlight older hangers-on that most people did not know were still recording, or acts old and new that most people probably would not have heard of.
Larry