Ian Hunter It’s been my alibi for a long time. The perfect example to use when they tell me that at a certain age it’s normal that you no longer rock, that you’ve given up electric guitars and have dedicated yourself to something more mature? Even if you have taken to covering Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin, something that started out as original in some cases to end up becoming, be it in the case of the “blue-eyed” songbook or other artists from the first half of the 20th century, North America, in almost a nightmare and, by the way, an obligation for more than one. Poor Frankie, who was going to tell him that making cover records of his favorite songs was going to be fertile ground for the descendants of his hated Elvis! But not all succumb. Some remain. resisting. Giving smacks in the mouth to everyone who ensures that rock and octogenarians do not marry. That’s when I wield the records of Ian Hunter and I plant them on top of the table or, better, on my stereo. And you just gave us one more reason with this one. “Defiance Part 1” which, call me lynx, looks like it will have a sequel.
Says the leader of Mott The Hoople in “This Is What I’m Here For” that “when I’m done, I’ll notify you” and, further that “when I was thirty years old I was on top of the hill. Fifty years later he still kills. Clearer water. The song is one of the eleven that make up this album recorded in the Sun Records studios and that, although it comes loaded with guests, is far from the typical old glory album in which the leading role is assumed by them. Slash, Todd Rundgren, Mike Campbell from Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers, Ringo Starr, Billy Gibbons, Billy Bob Thornton or the long-awaited Taylor Hawkins, to name a few, are here to add. But the lead is Hunter and a bunch of other good songs.
The start with “Defiance”, Slash on guitar and Robert Trujillo from Metallica on bass, says it all and reinforces our initial argument. Being eighty-three years old is not an excuse, if you feel it, to continue “giving wax”. And there’s a lot to hold on to. It is true that depending on his companions, things turn slightly towards his sound. So Rundgren’s harmonies shine on “Don’t Tread On Me” and evoke Utopia in something ethereal, “Pavlov’s Dog” it’s got a bit of a desert or soft stoner that soon turns to old fashioned rock and roll with half the Stone Temple Pilots on it, and Billy Gibbons turns very ZZ Top “Kiss N’Make Up”. But above all, the figure of a man always emerges. Ian Hunter Just as inspired as he has been, I was going to say a decade, but I almost dare to extend it to his entire career. By the way, and for lovers of curiosities. You have noticed the title, right? Challenge. Well that, glove thrown, mouth closed.