Definitely one of the wackiest
albums ever recorded, every track is an
absolute corker. The whole album was put
onto tape in 5 days of madness at Advisions
studios London.
For the sessions Guy Stevens, the bands
original mentor, was brought back after
not being at the controls for the band’s
previous album “Wildlife” (which the band
themselves had already dubbed ‘mildlife’).
Guy arrived at the studio with engineer
Andy Johns, who was feeling no pain having
just come away from the Rolling Stones.
Armed with a case of Vino Calapso and
dressed as Zoro with cape, mask and sword,
insisting the tracks were all laid down
in one take. “Brain Capers” (featuring
the Brain Caper Kids), as the album became
known, had an amazing atmosphere with
last gasp energy capturing Mott in a wild
and manic mood, predating punk rock. The
overall feel of Brain Capers was barely
controlled chaos, but it remains a brilliant
and crucial album. Once described as the
great lost hard rock L.P. of all times,
the record drew a line in the sand between
sixties and seventies music as it was
recorded in 1971, six months before Bowie
gave Mott “All The Young Dudes”. Revealing
almost everything called rock and the
subsequent punk movement six years later,
it was nothing short of fraudulent after
just one listen to this album. You can
clearly hear where “The Sex Pistols” and
“The Damned” got their influences.
Opening track “Death May Be Your Santa
Claus” is a pounding rocker with fearsome
guitars, wailing organ, a catchy hook,
and carrying a trademark message of defiance.
Tracks two and three were imaginative
and tasteful cover versions of Dion Dimuccis
auto biographical anti drug song “Your
Own Backyard” and the Young Blood’s neglected
classic “Darkness Darkness” featuring
Mick Ralphs on vocals and contained some
excellent guitar. Mott had the panache
to re-interpret other writer’s material
with feeling and understanding.
“The Journey”, a sad introspective masterful
ballad some eight minutes long, was Mott
equivalent of Zeppelin’s “Stairway To
Heaven”, building to a dramatic conclusion.
“The Journey” started life as a poem before
becoming the central piece of Mott’s stage
act, demonstrating Hunter is a writer
who has made a major contribution to rock
music. The song was also a personal favorite
of Verden Allen, whose keyboard playing
excelled throughout Brain Capers most
notably on this opus.
“Sweet Angeline” is a brilliant all out
rocker with Hunter adopting Dylanesque
vocals, and is still in his solo live
set today.
“Second Love” was Verden Allen’s first
song recorded by Mott the Hoople and fair
plucks at the old heartstrings.
The penultimate track “The Moon Upstairs”
is one of the most powerful tracks that
Mott ever recorded. The song was unquestionably
six years ahead of its time being a frightening
“New Wave” fuzz tone premonitions that
musically and lyrically rendered late
seventies “Punk Rock” tone clumsy, and
lacking in any real substance.
Brain Capers coda was a two minute instrumental
piece named “The Wheel Of The Quivering
Meat Conception”, which was actually nothing
more than the climax from a frantic jam
from one of the sessions from “The Journey”.
A fine way to close the album.
Pawed by Mott The Dog
Remastered by Ella Crew
E-mail: review@mott-the-dog.com
