Shrunken Heads, Ian Hunter, New

Though Ian Hunter hit his popular peak in the 1970s, as the frontman for Mott the Hoople and with solo favorites such as "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" and "Cleveland Rocks, " fans who have followed his career ever since will find him in fine form here. Co-produced by Hunter and Andy York (guitarist for John Mellencamp), the album mixes the hard-crunching rock 'n' roll, literate lyricism, bittersweet balladry, and self-deprecating humor that have long marked Hunter's best work. Musically, both "Stretch" and the piano-driven "How's Your House" have the dynamics of Mott (though the latter was inspired by the aftermath of Katrina), while "When the World Was Round" and "I Am What I Hated When I Was Young" find Hunter in older-and-wiser mode. After "Brainwashed" attacks consumer culture with a feverish immediacy, Hunter finds soul-stirring redemption in "Guiding Light." --Don McLeese

Though Ian Hunter hit his popular peak in the 1970s, as the frontman for Mott the Hoople and with solo favorites such as "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" and "Cleveland Rocks, " fans who have followed his career ever since will find him in fine form here. Co-produced by Hunter and Andy York (guitarist for John Mellencamp), the album mixes the hard-crunching rock 'n' roll, literate lyricism, bittersweet balladry, and self-deprecating humor that have long marked Hunter's best work. Musically, both "Stretch" and the piano-driven "How's Your House" have the dynamics of Mott (though the latter was inspired by the aftermath of Katrina), while "When the World Was Round" and "I Am What I Hated When I Was Young" find Hunter in older-and-wiser mode. After "Brainwashed" attacks consumer culture with a feverish immediacy, Hunter finds soul-stirring redemption in "Guiding Light." --Don McLeese

New West Records, Inc.