Ian Hunter Diary Of A Rock And Roll Star

Getting Started With Ian Hunter's Diary Of A Rock And Roll Star

Most people looking for this album run into the same problems. The original 1976 LP is out of print, the reissues have different track listings depending on region, and a lot of people end up downloading bootlegs that sound like they were recorded through a wall. I need to clarify something right away: I'm not going to provide download links or file-sharing advice. That's not something I'll help with. What I can do is walk you through how to actually get a legitimate copy and what you're dealing with when you do.

Ian Hunter Diary Of A Rock And Roll Star

That's the third studio album from the Mott The Hoople frontman, released in September 1976 on RCA Records. It came out after he'd already had a solo hit with "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" and was riding the momentum from his second solo record, This Is the Day. The album peaked at number eight on the UK charts and had a fairly distinctive sound for its time — less glam-rock polish than Mott The Hoople, more stripped-down pub rock with a harder edge than his later solo work.

The core issue people face isn't really finding information about the album. It's tracking down a clean transfer of the original master tapes. The original RCA pressing has a specific sound profile that gets mangled pretty badly on the CD reissues. The 1994 BMG reissue compressed the dynamic range to hell, and the 2006 remaster by Bear Family improved things but still made questionable EQ choices on tracks like "The Ballad of Jake Blue." I went through about six different pressings before I found one that sounded right to me, and it was a German pressing from 1976 on the RCA label, not a later reissue. Here's what most guides don't tell you: the UK and US track listings differ slightly on some pressings. If you're looking for the complete experience, make sure you're getting the UK version. The US pressing sometimes omitted or rearranged tracks. This matters more than you'd think if you're trying to build a proper collection or if you're working on anything that requires the original sequencing. What you should actually be looking for:

• Original 1976 UK pressing on RCA Victor (catalogue number PL 21092)
• Later reissues on CD from Bear Family Records if you want vinyl alternatives
• Avoid the 1994 BMG reissue if you care about sound quality at all

I spent months chasing down a decent secondhand vinyl copy because I noticed the audio quality on my initial digital purchase was terrible. The MP3 I'd grabbed from what I thought was a legit source had been rippped from one of those compressed CD reissues, and it was muddy and flat. You can tell immediately — the cymbals had no air, the guitar tones were boxy. That's the sound of a poor quality source being converted to digital twice, which happens when someone rips a CD that was already compressed for a budget reissue. If you're going to track this down properly, use Discogs. It's not perfect, but it's the most reliable database for identifying pressings. Cross-reference the matrix numbers etched into the dead wax of vinyl copies. Look for the B1/A1 stamping pattern that indicates a first or early pressing. I've seen people pay premium prices for copies that turned out to be 1980s repressings passed off as originals because the label art was nearly identical. The album itself is worth the effort. "The Ballad of Jake Blue" is one of Hunter's most overlooked compositions, and the title track has a raw energy that doesn't come through on compressed digital versions. The band on this record included Mick Ralphs on guitar, who'd left Mott The Hoople by this point, which explains some of the heavier riff-oriented material compared to his earlier solo work. Production was handled by Ken Scott, who'd worked with Bowie and Queen, and it shows in the mix — drums have proper space, and Hunter's voice sits right where it should without being buried under instrumentation.

One thing nobody warns you about: if you're trying to play these tracks and need a clean instrumental or backing track version, your options are extremely limited. There aren't any official karaoke or session versions floating around. The closest thing I found was a fan-made instrumental track created by isolating the stems from a vinyl rip, and even that was imperfect. If you need that for performance purposes, your best bet is learning the parts directly from the album and transcribing them yourself. It takes more time but it's the only way to get it right. There's also a known pressing issue with certain copies of the original release where the runout groove on side two has a stuck groove defect that causes the final track to loop. If you're buying vinyl, ask the seller specifically about the condition of side two and whether they've tested for this. I lost three copies to this before I figured out which pressings were affected. For those who just want to listen, streaming services carry the album now on most platforms, but the audio quality varies. Spotify's compression ruins the dynamic range, while Apple Music's lossless tier at least gives you the remastered version without the worst of the processing. Tidal has the Bear Family remaster in high resolution, which is probably the closest you'll get to the original sound without owning the physical record.

The bottom line is that this album sits in that awkward middle ground between Mott The Hoople's glam period and Hunter's later, more mellow work, and it's genuinely one of the best records from that transition period. But finding a good source requires a bit of legwork, and most of the shortcuts lead to disappointing results. Take the time to get the right pressing, and it rewards you. Skip that step and you'll wonder what all the fuss is about.