Joe Elliott of Def Leppard has never hidden his massive admiration for Mott The Hoople, who these days are probably one of the most forgotten bands of the Seventies. Mott The Hoople was also the birthplace for many other bands, including the criminally overlooked British Lions, so when it was announced that the band was going to reform for some shows in 2009 it is no surprise that he wanted to get involved in some way. Some conversations soon led him to The Quireboys who said that they were also keen to get involved, and suddenly a new project was on the cards. The Down 'N’ Outz supported Mott The Hoople at one of their legendary 2009 reformation shows at Hammersmith Odeon, and in the band, was Joe (vocals/guitar/ keyboards), The Quireboys' Paul Guerin (Guitar), Guy Griffin (Guitar), Keith Weir (keyboards) and Phil Martini (drums) and finally bassist Ronnie Garrity (Raw Glory).
The band went down a storm, and even though it was supposed to be just a one-night gig they felt they ought to record an album based on the set, which was just covers of songs by artists related to Mott the Hoople, such as Mott, British Lions and Ian Hunter. Released in 2010, here we have a group of guys with nothing to prove, so they are just going to go out and have a total blast. Actually, they even used some of the recordings taken that night, just removed the audience and let Joe sing to it again in the studio. It is an album that makes the listener smile from the beginning through to the end: they have captured the original sound and have made it their very own. Just listen to the awesome “One More Chance To Run”, it has all the power and stridency of the original, but brought up to date with Joe’s rasping vocals. I can’t believe I missed this when it was originally released, I love it!
