Fourteen years ago I led off a review of Ian Hunter's 2009 album Man Overboard with a perhaps too-obvious reference to the classic Jethro Tull line “too old to rock ‘n’ and roll, too young to die.” Hunter was 70 at the time. Somewhere in New England, an ex-pat Brit wearing shades indoors is still laughing—because at age 84, Ian Hunter has delivered one of the most vital and powerful rock and roll albums of the year.
It had been a bit of a rough stretch recently for the former frontman of cult Brit-rock heroes Mott The Hoople, with a planned fall 2019 reunion tour of the 1974 Mott lineup scrubbed due to his tinnitus, followed soon after by the COVID-19 lockdowns. But the irascible, irrepressible Hunter proceeded to do what he’s always done: get on with it. He wrote some new songs. Enlisted musical foil / partner-in-crime Andy York to produce. Rang up a few friends. And started making music again, this time remotely. (So much for old dogs and new tricks, eh?)
The resulting recordings have coalesced into not one but two guest-star-studded albums, with Defiance Part 1 arriving in April. To call this album miraculous is to both overstate and understate the truth. On the one hand it’s simply more of what Hunter has always delivered—no-nonsense, heartfelt, smartly-crafted rock and roll. On the other hand, it’s an ailing octogenarian with two dozen albums behind him delivering both one of the best albums of his career and one of the best you’re likely to hear from anyone this year.
The characteristically cheeky title track kicks things off with a bang, a big, chugging rocker with Robert Trujillo (bass) and Slash (guitar) providing the muscle while Hunter provides the attitude (defiance having been more or less the man’s stock in trade these past six decades). The album’s first single “Bed Of Roses” follows, a steady-on melodic rocker rich with the good kind of nostalgia, celebrating memories of an old favorite haunt / venue without wallowing in them. It’s an absolutely terrific tune taken to the next level thanks to the presence of Ringo Starr and Mike Campbell. A Beatle and a Heartbreaker, I mean, SHIT—and they both play great, of course.
“No Hard Feelings” is yet another superb, revealing Hunter ballad about dealing with a hard-nosed, tough-guy father, trying to discern the right life lessons to carry forward. This one features Jeff Beck (sweet!) and Johnny Depp (whatever). One of the best aspects of this album is that all of Hunter’s guests respect him so much that there’s not a hint of showboating; they all play to the song, as when three-fifths of ’90s hard-rockers Stone Temple Pilots (Dean DeLeo, Robert DeLeo and Eric Kretz) deliver their finest Jagger-Richards flash-and-trash backing on witty rocker “Pavlov’s Dog,” lending an especially Stones-y churn to the bridge and gang vocals.
Next up, Todd Rundgren adds strong harmony vocals and guitar to mid-tempo number “Don’t Tread On Me,” and then we get to “Guernica.” The latter is a fascinating construction, a song examining the backstory behind Pablo Picasso’s masterpiece—pretty high-brow stuff for a rough-and-tumble barroom rocker. But Hunter the songwriter is at his very best here, deciding the way to capture the painting in song is to write from the perspective of Picasso talking about what he’s feeling as he's painting it. It's a brilliant concept which Hunter then executes masterfully, with Mike Campbell returning to provide the requisite big, keening guitar solo and harmony vocals from Hunter's longtime buddy Joe Elliott of Def Leppard.
The one guest-free track here employs a lineup of Hunter’s regulars from The Rant Band—including Andy Burton (bass), Dennis Debrizzi (keys), and York (guitars)—for a look at why “I Hate Hate.” And in fact this pointed, pumping rocker reminds a bit of the Rant album, turning Hunter’s piano into a rhythm instrument as he pounds out a rant about the stupidity of prejudice and bigotry (“Wouldn't it be great if we ran out of hate”… indeed). The track is also a great example of how Hunter’s vocals have evolved through the second half of his career. He might not have as much range at 83 as he had at 30, and he might have a little less power than he used to, but he's never sung better; he knows exactly how to use the voice he has today to optimum effect.
“Angel” offers up another Hunter specialty, a love ballad that’s simultaneously sentimental, witty, and wise. “I always want my angels to be perfect / Except on Saturday,” he sings, with Duff McKagan, Brad Whitford and the late Taylor Hawkins backing him up with more than a century of collective experience on top of the rock world. Once again, they play to the song; it's a piano ballad, so it’s honestly surprising to find those three on it, but they play with restraint and only go for it when it’s their turn, like the professionals they are.
For the penultimate track, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top and Billy Bob Thornton of, well, himself, add their distinctive textures to pulsing rocker “Kiss ’N’ Make Up,” again joined by Hawkins. Then Hawkins and Elliot team with session guitar ace Waddy Wachtel for the powerhouse closer “This Is What I'm Here For,” a big-boned rocker that’s both a mission statement and a celebration of doing what you love, which is exactly what Hunter is doing. He's a man who knows himself, knows why he's here, appreciates that he’s had the privilege of living his rock and roll dreams for most of his life—and has no intention of ever giving it up:
“Well when I was thirty, I was over the hill
And fifty years later, I still kill 'em all
I ain't through, I ain't through
When I'm through I'll notify you”
The first thing this album makes clear is that Ian Hunter the songwriter has not lost a step; if anything, he’s better than ever. The second is how much love and respect the man’s peers have for him. He hasn’t toured much and or been on the radio in many years now, bouncing from one small record label to another (though he was clearly delighted to land this time at iconic Sun Records), but you’d never know it from the roster of A-listers who climbed on board for this album.
The third thing this album makes clear is that Ian Hunter is nowhere near done. If Defiance Part 2 is anything like Part 1, I’ll have to start all over again coming up with a new way to say what this album says loud and proud: Old Guys Rock.