When you want to release your latest solo album and rope in a few pals to give it a little lift, have a browse through your Rolodex and call some randoms. Jeff Beck (RIP) longtime pal Joe Elliott tick, Johnny Depp, why not. Billy Gibbons, Slash and Duff from Guns n Roses and Taylor Hawkins (RIP) thats some friends right there to be getting on with and the list goes on and on to be fair. Hell get Waddy Wachtel on the blower as well. Now before I’ve even heard a note of this album I’m excited. To Be fair Ian Hunter ozzes Rock n Roll anyway so I’m not really worried about how good these songs are gonna be I just hoped it wasn’t overwhelming. Hunter explained it as a fluke yeah right c’mon man you’ve got Ringo on your first single as well as Tom Petty’s six-string slinger.
Anyway, I digress they say people of Hunters age shouldn’t be making records into the twilight of his years and once the needle drops and you hear him make sweet sweet music with a metallica bass player and Slash winding in some cool grooves. You realise the title is a metaphotical finger poking you on the forehead say hey, have it! It’s classic Hunter and his voice sounds fantastic full of coolness and a knowledge that if this was a fluke he’s got the hand of God turning the dials because this is class.
The first single sounds like its been carved from granite of timeless cool laid back Rock n Roll. I love its late evening glass of wine vibe – we’re gonna wind things up gently and before you know it the bottle is empty and you’re on the table – arms aloft singing the chorus.
It’s not an album like ‘Dirty Laundry’ where the band sound like they’ve been partying for seven days but it is a classy slow burner in places like the ‘No Hard Feelings’ with Depp and Beck laying their DNA over the song in a haunting slide heavy slice of balladeering. If you want some boogie woogie you can head straight for ‘Pavlovs Dog’ or ‘I Hate Hate’ featuring Jeff Tweedy. On reflection this album would make a fantastic bed fellow companion to Keith Richards ‘Talk Is Cheap’ album. It has a classy vibe and I guess having so many unique players it has variety with every slice making it a very listenable and varied record.
The classic Hunter big Ballads are here and on songs like ‘Angel,’ he’s turning back the clock to classic Hoople. It’s pretty much what I was hoping for, and I’m delighted to hear how good these songs are. Either dipping in on a mix tape or going for the full playlist this works on every level form is temporary class is permanent and let’s face it Hunter is class and this Defiant little gem is an absolute Banger, the kids should be quaking because this old dog is still learning new tricks and wagging his tail like a puppy who got the cream. Buy it! Fuck RSD get this.
ROCK ‘N’ ROLL LEGEND RETURNS WITH STAR-STUDDED NEW ALBUM
DEFIANCE PART 1 SEES COLLABORATIONS FROM LATE, GREAT JEFF BECK, JOHNNY DEPP, JOE ELLIOTT (DEF LEPPARD), BILLY F GIBBONS (ZZ TOP), TAYLOR HAWKINS (FOO FIGHTERS), DUFF McKAGAN (GUNS N’ ROSES), TODD RUNDGREN, SLASH (GUNS N’ROSES), JEFF TWEEDY (WILCO), ROBERT TRUJILLO (METALLICA), WADDY WACHTEL (STEVIE NICKS, KEITH RICHARDS), BRAD WHITFORD (AEROSMITH), DANE CLARK (JOHN MELLENCAMP), BILLY BOB THORNTON & J.D. ANDREW (THE BOXMASTERS) and DEAN DELEO, ROBERT DE LEO & ERIC KRETZ (STONE TEMPLE PILOTS)
FIRST SINGLE, “BED OF ROSES,” FEATURING MIKE CAMPBELL AND RINGO STARR
DEFIANCE PART 1 ARRIVES VIA SUN RECORDS ON FRIDAY, APRIL 21
Rock ‘n’ roll legend Ian Hunter has announced the release of his landmark new album, DEFIANCE PART 1, arriving via the Sun Records label on Friday, April 21, 2023. Pre-orders are available now HERE.
Easily among the most star-studded original albums ever recorded, DEFIANCE PART 1 sees Hunter joined by the late, great Jeff Beck, Johnny Depp, Joe Elliott (Def Leppard), Billy F Gibbons (ZZ Top), Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters), Duff McKagan (Guns N’ Roses), Todd Rundgren, Slash (Guns N’ Roses), JeffTweedy (Wilco), Robert Trujillo (Metallica), Waddy Wachtel (Stevie Nicks, Keith Richards), Brad Whitford(Aerosmith), Dane Clark (John Mellencamp), Billy Bob Thornton & J.D. Andrew (The Boxmasters) and Dean DeLeo, Robert De Leo & Eric Kretz (Stone Temple Pilots).
“It was a fluke,” Ian Hunter says. “This was not planned. Really, I’m serious. I really couldn’t believe some of them. I mean, it’s amazing what’s happened. It’s been such a buzz.”
Now in its seventh decade, Ian Hunter’s illustrious career has long been marked by collaboration, from the golden age of Mott the Hoople to his fabled partnership with Mick Ronson and 21st century renaissance with his crack backing combo, the Rant Band. Now, with DEFIANCE PART 1, the legendary singer-songwriter, author, and rock ‘n’ roll star takes creative solidarity to an unprecedented new level with spectacular accompaniment from a truly awe-inspiring roster of special guests, famous fans, and lifelong friends.
The album first came together in early 2020 with the dawn of the pandemic era. An inveterate hard worker, Hunter took the lockdown as a creative opportunity, writing a series of new songs which he tracked in his Connecticut basement alongside his longtime collaborator, guitarist/producer/multi-instrumentalist Andy York. Working with little more than a computer, guitar, V5 piano, and “a very small keyboard,” Hunter and York created a collection of bare bones demos but with quarantine rules still in effect, were unable to flesh them out further by hitting the studio with the Rant Band. Manager Mike Kobayashi and renowned rock ‘n’ roll photographer Ross Halfin suggested reaching out to some of Hunter’s fellow legends who might perhaps use some of their own lockdown to contribute a track or two. To Hunter’s delight, the project quickly escalated, with a galaxy of stars clamoring to be involved. With time on their hands due the pandemic, his fellow musicians took the demos and stems that Hunter and York put together in his basement and added unforeseen power and creativity through their own trademark talents.
“Everybody’s sitting around,” says Hunter. “It’s Covid. Nobody’s going anywhere. We started sending them out. Slash started doing something. Robert Trujillo from Metallica. Ringo Starr, Mike Campbell. Joe Elliott is on a few tracks. Johnny Depp said ‘Jeff Beck’s with me and we’d like to do a couple of songs.’ I know Todd Rundgren, I toured with Todd way back, he’s done an amazing job. Billy Gibbons. Billy Bob Thornton and JD Andrew from The Boxmasters. It’s never ending. I mean, every day we’d get a phone call, this guy wants to do it, that guy wants to do it. It was like, I can’t believe this.”
Despite its genesis during the pandemic, DEFIANCE PART 1 is remarkably upbeat, ablaze with the life-affirming energy and unbridled passion that has marked Hunter’s music since the start. Indeed, “Pavlov’s Dog” is Hunter at his ferocious best, a snarling rocker featuring the surviving members of Stone Temple Pilots – brothers Dean DeLeo (guitar) and Robert DeLeo (bass) and Eric Kretz (drums). Songs like “I Hate Hate” and the album’s rebellious title track – the latter showcasing the one and only Slash on guitar with Metallica’s Robert Trujillo carrying the groove using the late Jaco Pastorius’ signature fretless bass, the same instrument played by the legendary jazz musician on Hunter’s groundbreaking second solo album, 1975’s ALL AMERICAN ALIEN BOY – offer indisputable evidence that Hunter’s voice remains as uncompromising and provocative as ever before.
Having spent the better part of two years on the project, Hunter isn’t done yet. As its title promises, DEFIANCE PART 1 will be followed by the arrival of DEFIANCE PART 2. The second chapter will feature an equally stunning range of special guests while projecting an entirely different thematic approach and songwriting aesthetic.
With the wind at his back, Ian Hunter has somehow managed to pull off something impossible. DEFIANCE PART 1 is a full-speed-ahead rock ‘n’ roll record rarely heard in this day and age, recorded with a crew of irrefutable rock ‘n’ roll all-stars and released on the definitive rock ‘n’ roll label.
“There are a lot of reasons for calling this album DEFIANCE,” says Ian Hunter. “It’s like, people my age shouldn’t be making records, blah, blah, blah. But we’ve still got a bit left.”
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