Ian Hunter - "Ian Hunter" Vinyl, LP, Album, 1975 (CBS)

The great team that should have done more music:  Ian Hunter with Mick Ronson.  On the other hand, this is my favorite Mott the Hoople without the Hoople.  I think "Ian Hunter" is Ian Hunter's best album.   The first side of the album is like a mini-opera.  I don't believe there is a narrative here, but the way the songs flow on side one is remarkable. "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" is just classic almost minimal glam rock that goes for the throat.  Mick Ronson's arrangements are never show-off practices but always serves the song.  That's the beauty and talent of Ronson.  His work with David Bowie is very known, but whenever he adds his presence on other recordings, for instance, Lou Reed's "Transformer," it is always fantastic, and he doesn't upstage the star.   In other words, the perfect Captain to the General (Ian Hunter, Bowie, Lou Reed, etc.look at the song in an objective manner).

Ian Hunter is a great meat and potato songwriter.  There is nothing fancy, but what makes him interesting is that he rocks hard, but has a strong pop mentality.  "I Get So Excited" is very much the framework of a classic Ian song.  The chorus is almost ABBA like, but within a rock n' roll frame.  Ronson, I suspect looks at the material like a surgeon or architect.  He knows how to get the parts to work together.  Ronson can write good songs, but his strength is to objectively look at the song.   

Side two of the album is not as dynamic as the first - and it's interesting that on the back cover, they list the sides as Part one and Part two.  Not side one or side two.  And the album feels that way in a sense.  Very much a work that fits into the medium of the vinyl record.  Side one ends with "Boy" which is over 8 minutes long, and it's a tour de force for Hunter's writing (with Mick), but also Ronson's brilliant orchestration.   A song one can presume is about Bowie, but...