Lost/Forgotten Album #277

[Jon]

The sixth album in the series I thought up all by myself is 1981's "Take No Prisoner" from Molly Hatchet and, most importantly of all, IT'S NOT A REPEAT!

This album follows the Platinum "Beatin' The Odds" that followed the 3X Platinum "Flirtin' With Disaster" and reached #36 on the US charts with no certification. This was also the last album to feature Jimmy Farrar who was replaced by Danny Joe Brown (who had left after FWD) for the killer "No Guts...No Glory".

I always found the album cover to be funny since it depicts the band as serious power lifters. It just seemed so.....wrong. It reminds me of Manowar album covers, you know, with the muscles and stuff. With that album cover, I really never took this album seriously. Maybe other people did as well. 

Yet, this album really isn't bad at all. It's a step down from the previous three album as well as the followup, but if you scrub the album cover from your mind, it supplies a good dose of Southern Rock, Hatchet-style. Plus you gotta give it props for featuring Peggy Bundy on background vocals. See, she DID have a job, Al just didn't know it.

Oh, well. Here's the allmusic.com review:

Molly Hatchet blazes across the face of rock & roll with another Southern/hard rock set, even paying homage to 1950s rock & roll with a cover of "Long Tall Sally." Still, the band doesn't seem able to recreate the intensity of its first couple of releases. "Respect Me in the Morning" appears to start off a set of powerful Hatchet tunes, but the ball gets fumbled halfway into the game.

Take No Prisoners

1. Bloody Reunion
2. Respect Me in the Morning
3. Long Tall Sally
4. Loss of Control
5. All Mine
6. Lady Luck
7. Power Play
8. Don't Mess Around
9. Don't Leave Me Lonely
10. Dead Giveaway

Availability: Remastered version runs around $16. 

 

[Scott]

I bought this one because I really liked the Beatin' The Odds album - still do!  Jimmy Farrerererererrrerrr was a shock at first but the tunes rocked!  This will be a cool reconnection for me!

[Scott]

Man this album needs a decent remastering!  Your album cover thoughts are spot on but it reminds me of Destroyer and Love Gun as well, not to hijack the conversation with a KISS comment, but really its the same thing.  Ace and Peter with muscles?  hahahahaha...  And Man-O-War, ugh...  their image totally blew it for me...  Anyway...

Its not terrible but its not great either. Maybe its a rush job, but there's always the guitar attack when it comes to Molly Hatchet.  So no matter if the song is slacking a bit, just throw in a freakin' smoking geetar and voila!  The whole place is jammin'!  Bloody Reunion gets the boogie going on side 1 which closes out with All Mine - the perfect example of an OK song made better with a jamming geetar session.

But its side 2 that makes this album better IMO.  Its one of those album that you buy where your first impression is not good but you persevere and then flip it over and Boom!  Lady Luck is catchy enough to keep you engaged.  Yes, horns and all.  The boogie keyboards, boogie beat, and chorus make you want get up and dance (ok maybe not but you know what I mean).  Power Play is the best song here IMO.  I've mentioned my popular cassette mix-tape series I crafted back in High School it was titled Good Sh*t Vol x.  This was a lead off track on one of my favorites.  Man I wish I had that playlist somewhere!  It was a tone setter!  hahahaha...

And so the second side goes, Don't Mess Around and Don't Leave Me Lonely got cool riffs, signature solos, and great southern rock boogie!  But the closer Dead Giveaway, just a real nice southern rocker.  Glad I thought of doing a closer playlist first, because it make the AOTW and LFAOTW posts focus on them just a bit more...

Fine work sir!!  Thanks for bringing back the memories!  Makes me want to listen to No Guts...No Glory now.

[Jon]

It is remastered, and that's the version I used.

MIC DROP!!!!!!

[Scott]

That's why I used the word "decent" when describing the re-mastering.  It needs more... 

[Jon]

You'll take what they have since they're won't be a re-remastered version coming in your lifetime.

MIC DROP 2!

[Scott]

[RJhog (Admin)]

Okay, so this was your first swing and miss in this series.  Not really, this was decent.  Not as good as Molly in the good old days, but pretty decent.  They actually sound a bit more like Blackfoot on this album.  Killer guitar work, no surprise there.  

Hey, that sounds like Joyce Kennedy on Respect Me In The Morning.  That killer guitar work I referred to earlier is on full display on Loss Of Control.  How out of place do the horns sound on Lady Luck?  Pretty out of place.  But I kind of like it. I think Power Play is the best song here.

Like I said, it's very decent.  But not as good as the last two or three.

[Jon]

It is Kennedy on that track, but she takes a backseat to Peg Bundy.

[RJhog (Admin)]

Not hardly.

[Scott]