The Further Live Adv |

Joe Elliott assembled the Down 'N' Outz as an opening band for the reunited Mott the Hoople, seizing upon the genius idea of playing underappreciated Mott songs -- tunes recorded after the departure of Ian Hunter or by Ian on his own -- to offer a clever tribute for a band that is perhaps the most beloved of all cult acts. On their second go-round, the winkingly titled The Further Adventures Of., the Down 'N' Outz dig into the classic years of Mott but still sidestep the songs that everybody knows and loves: the songs that scraped the charts, whether it was "All the Young Dudes" or "All the Way from Memphis." The great albums All the Young Dudes and Mott anchor this tribute and the group happily stretches to Mott's earliest years -- this comes kicking to life with "Rock & Roll Queen" -- and dives into the murk of "The Journey," an epic that's balanced by the elegance of "Sea Diver." All the Young Dudes seems to get a slight emphasis, but that's largely because the DNO attacks like Mott did in 1972: they have a lot of muscle and heart, and keep the melodrama in check. Surely, any Mott fanatic would have songs they'd love to hear here -- there's a deficit of Brain Capers material and these guys would crush "Sucker" -- but that's a testament to how good the Down 'N' Outz are: you'd be happy to hear these guys play anything Mott played. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

• Genre: Rock
• Format: CD
• Released: 2017-12-01