Ian Hunter: When I’m President

Ian Hunter
When I’m President
(Slimstyle)
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The ex-Mr. Mott the Hoople hasn’t let age (he’s 74) mellow his always incisive attack. The voice isn’t as sturdy as in his young dude days but even on the few ballads mixed into these eleven firecrackers, he’s inspired and raging against the machine. Any traces of the glam he once personified are replaced with a cranked up attack and an attitude that’s “going to lean on the 1%” as he spits out the title track with hoarse authority. Two and sometimes three guitars slash like razors even on mid-tempo rockers like “I Don’t Know What You Want” upping the energy and edgy intensity of a natural frontman who clearly is not going quietly into his AARP years. Hunter’s lyrics have always been his strong suit so when he closes this album crooning “when you’re down remember that-it’s all water off a duck’s back and laugh because it’s only life,” it’s coming from someone who has seen his fair share of living. He might be heading into his final chapter, but based on this corker, Ian Hunter is alive and well and in fighting form.