The 1981 Listening Post - Molly Hatchet - Take No Prisoners

 Molly Hatchet - Take No Prisoners

#614

By Geo Rule

November 1981

Molly Hatchet

Take No Prisoners

Genre: Southern-Fried Shred

Allen’s Rating: 3 out of 5

Geo’s Rating: 3.75 out of 5

Highlights:

Respect Me in the Morning (A Hatchet duet ballad!?)

Loss of Control (sue me, I love the line “The only thing to blame it on is filthy rock ‘n roll”)

All Mine

Power Play

Dead Giveaway

We’ve talked about Molly Hatchet here at LP in the past, mostly tangentially to other aspects of the project, like Southern Rock, One-Hit Wonders, the power of marketing over substance, and what a kick-ass cover-artist Boris Vallejo is.

As we’ve also mentioned previously, there was something in the water in Jacksonville, FL in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s producing long-haired boys who could play a guitar like nobody’s business.

Flirtin’ With Disaster, in 1978 had produced the title track that is arguably the greatest one-hit wonder song of all time. It’s that good for its genre. In that era of the band, they toured with absolutely everybody you’d want to tour with if you were a hard-rocker. I won’t give you the list; if you imagine it, you’re close.

Now it’s 1981, so let’s check on the context. Well. . . first, the lead singer has now departed (temporarily, at least). Danny Joe Brown is no longer fronting. Jimmy Farrar is behind the mic and doing a lot of the song-writing. Strong, gravelly voice, but no Danny Joe. Otoh, he enunciates a lot better, so you can actually hear a lot more of the lyrics now. Secondly, this is clearly not as shred-tastic as the earlier version of the band, and the R&B influence is much stronger. Trust me, they can still play, and the drumming is still strong and insistent, but it’s not overwhelming the actual lyrics as much as it did before. There’s a duet with a guest artist (Joyce “Baby Jean” Kennedy). There’s a HORN SECTION even. And fun trivia –Katey Sagal is singing backup. So, clearly this isn’t your older brother’s Hatchet.

So, what does all this do to the music? Surprisingly (and I wasn’t familiar with this album before doing DD for this review), I rather like large parts of it. Allen and I once had a conversation about could you put together a decent mix tape of 10-12 songs with Hatchet that wasn’t just a loop of Disaster, and after listening to this, definitely a few would make the cut.

The album leads with “Bloody Reunion”, and it’s probably the closest to “the old Hatchet” on the list. Maybe that’s why it’s leading. Genre-wise, it’s solid, and really, “Flirtin’ With Disaster” and this song are in that sub-genre of Molly Hatchet that could be described as, “Music to Rob Banks With”.

The obligatory cover is Little Richard’s “Long Tall Sally”, and it’s not bad. They start it slower than I liked, but about half-way in they kick on the after-burner and it delivers reasonably well. I really liked “Loss of Control” even if it is sort of the obligatory “we made it big now, but we paid our dues on the road” song. “Power Play” checked my solid rocker boxes as well.

The commercial reception is pretty adequate. #36 on the Billboard 200. Three singles, with “Bloody Reunion” (eh) reaching #31 in Mainstream Rock.

This album changed the way I think about Molly Hatchet a bit. I rather liked it. Sure, there’s a good bit of trite (Hello, “Lady Luck” and “Don’t Leave Me Lonely”, I’m looking at you), and no actual spark of genius. Having said that, for a full album, I’ll take it over anything 38 Special produced.  I may have to go make a mix tape now. . .

https://open.spotify.com/album/0FbF1bZuBhLnw6ASbkFBYo?si=ETOOw-WHTjKs1B7cIQG8cQ

The 1980 Listening Post - Molly Hatchet - Beatin' the Odds

 Molly Hatchet - Beatin' the Odds

#369

by Chris Roberts

September 1980

Molly Hatchet 

Beatin’ the Odds

Genre: Florida boogie rock

Allen’s Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Chris’ Rating: 2 out of 5

Highlights: 

The Frazetta album cover 

Double Talker  

This is an album, that if I found in a used bin, I would absolutely buy it, unheard. It has a Frank Frazetta cover! (he painted three of MH’s covers). But I realized, I could not name a single Molly Hatchet song. What was I forgetting? The band name is wicked cool. Hatchet? Fun to say. Frazetta art? Killer. I assume this has got to be Heavy Metal Magazine but in album form! I’m a fan of The Metal, so this has to be my jam, right? I expect it will sound like proto-stoner rock. Like, The Sword or Sleep! 

Not long into the title track, I knew Molly wasn’t remotely going to beat the odds. The song is fast, fist pumping, truck driving stuff. More “8-Track” than vinyl, I thought, this is the kind of music you buy at the carwash, which is a shame. That Frazetta art would not hold up at that 8-track size. The title song reminded me of Judas Priest’s “Delivering The Goods,” but without the “good.” The singer is no Rob Halford. The only thing MH’s singer delivers is a karaoke Tuesday in the Dallas suburbs. 

Second up, “Double Talker”, is a little better. A little more aggressive, maybe on par with some of ZZ Top’s outtakes. Note, this is the last time I will say anything good about this album.

Five seconds into track 3, “The Rambler”, I’m aware it’s their Lynyrd Skynyrd “style” ballad. And again, it would be perfectly fine road-trip background music, something to ignore to while looking at a map, except the vocalist feels like he’s singing in a completely different kind of band. (Which I will later find out—he is!*) I wish MH’d had covered The Gambler instead, because at least it would’ve turn the whole thing into a concept album. 

Next we get “Sailor.” That’s when I wonder. Is this even Texas-boogie? (*No!) Where do people sail in Texas? Then I hear a siren. Not a siren like in Homer, but sirens like on a police car, and I get it. This isn’t about being on a boat. It’s about sailing down the road. Of life. Or maybe out the front windshield of your big rig because you didn’t buckle up for safety, eh sailor? Now I question the song title choices. In order, we’ve had a talker, a rambler, and a sailor… what are the odds? Poor, because next up is “Dead & Gone,” which could find a home in the OST to From Dusk Til Dawn 7.

The next three songs are forgettable filler, interchangeable with everything I’ve already heard. This is good compared to Poison Pen, the final track. As the song goes, “Poison Pen, you’re no man’s friend.” So true. I guess MH felt a need to address all internet trolls taking swings at, rather than with, the Hatchet. 

*Beatin’ The Odds is Molly Hatchet’s third album, and here they replaced their original singer, Danny Joe Brown, with Jimmy Farrar, which explains ALOT about the weird vocals, and got a lot of studio polish. So for me, I guess this is a little like reviewing 5150 without knowing about VH1 or David Lee Roth. I went back and listened to “Flirtin’ With Disaster,” a song I forgot I knew as MH. It’s an acceptable road trip song, classic rock mix tape filler. If it’s good, it’s entirely because original vocalist Danny Joe Brown has a silly Florida-muppet voice. It’s Florida boogie!

https://open.spotify.com/album/0WdRZK3ubF8Bmb0hb6eIM3?si=yODqQCetRBSjFx33164PYw

The 1984 Listening Post - Molly Hatchet - The Deed is Done

Molly Hatchet - The Deed is Done

#292
November 1 1984
Molly Hatchet
The Deed is Done
2.25 out of 5

Oh, man.
The great keyboard virus has infected Hatchet now.
This album makes me want to go back and re-rate all the other Molly Hatchet albums and lower their rating by a full point as a punishment.
To be fair, they've never rated higher than a 3.something but this is some of the least interesting beer festival band music I've subjected myself to.
"Heartbreak Radio" is as near as the boys get to something that sounds like a hit. It's not great by a long shot but it hews back to some of their more serviceable stuff. And "Straight Shooter" has so much country-rock energy I am hard pressed to understand why it's buried so deep into the record?

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-deed-is-done/280280037

The 1983 Listening Post - Molly Hatchet - No Guts...No Glory

Molly Hatchet - No Guts...No Glory

March 1983
Molly Hatchet
No Guts…No Glory
3.1 of 5

Highlights:
Ain’t Even Close
Fall of the Peacemakers

Man, Molly Hatchet…just a perfectly mediocre southern boogie band. Like Skynrd lite. But, when they boogie rock, they boogie ROCK (I bet Raging Slab listened to a LOT of Hatchet…and pound for pound I’ll take them over ZZ Top any day) The 8 minute Fall of the Peacemakers makes the whole record worth it.
Sometimes this record reminds me of The Beat Farmers only less knowingly cheeky and more earnest. I just wish Hatchet would lighten up…just a bit.