Brain Capers was inspirational, it was recorded without pressure in complete chaos and utter madness. The band was in the middle of breaking up so all caution was thrown to the wind. Guy Stevens returned and took the helm of a ship heading for the iceberg and after the disappointment that was Wildlife, Brain Capers was the closest the band got to capturing their live sound on record. You can clearly hear where Steve Jones found his 'sound' on The Moon Upstairs. Mott were renegades amongst the normality of the early 70's, they were a little Dylanesque, a little bit glam, but very much rock n' roll. The expanded Mott live album tells the story brilliantly. Whereas the All The Young Dudes album has good songs, it lacks punch with the production (Transformer suffers the same fate, sorry Dave) The 2CD Mott Live is a wonderful live legacy left by a band troubled by inner turmoil, indecision, poor management and expectation, but Mott The Hoople had something other bands would kill for...they had character, charisma and were exceptional rock n' rollers. I don't think they ever realised how good they were themselves, i am certain Hunter is shocked and pleasantly surprised that their memory has lived on for so long. I traveled to the other side of the world to see their reunion shows and they didn't let me down.
I will agree with you that "Brain Capers" was the closest they got to capturing their live energy in the studio but I'm not a huge fan of it. As far as the pre-Bowie Mott The Hoople goes I like their first two records the best. "Wildlife" and "Brain Capers" have some choice cuts on each ("Waterlow", "Angel of Eighth Avenue", "Death May Be Your Santa Claus", "Sweet Angela", for examples) but as a whole they are only so-so albums to me.
And Bowie's production during that period of his career wasn't about punch really. It was about being blending the stripped down nature of The Velvet Underground with lushness and I think it really came together nicely on both "All The Young Dudes" and Lou Reeds' "Transformer" (both of which are in my top 100 albums).
I actually just picked up the Mott live album yesterday on vinyl (listening to it right now in fact), and yes, the personality and charisma of the band absolutely comes through on it.
And I would have given almost anything to be their for just one of Mott's reunion shows. It says a lot for the lasting impression of the band that they sold out like they did.
i recall that i used to have hunter's 'diary of a rock n roll star' paperback many years ago, it was very good.
my favourite mott the hoople lp is 'the hoople', i like songs from the other albums too.
shame they didn't quite 'make it.'
once upon a time i was really into hunter's solo career. i only have his first 2 lps now though.
i actually got bored with his releases to be honest, nothing ever seemed to change and i found them a little embarrassing. the same formula.
plus i never liked his dylan impersonations on some of his ballads.
"The Hoople" was probably their most fun release and has some of my favorite songs by them on it. I "Alice" is a great deep cut from that album.
I am a huge fan of Ian's solo career but not all of them are winners. His first few solo records were great and then he released a lot of.....somewhat predictable ones. His last three albums he's put out though are beyond great and I actually think they're the best of his career, particularly "Rant" and "Shrunken Heads". He also is suppose to have a new one coming out at some point this year that I'm really excited for.
"All the Young Dudes" is a song that continues to define generation after generation.
Yes it does. Mott had a bit of a resurgence a couple years ago in younger generations after "All The Young Dudes" was used in the movie Juno. I was delighted by that.
Ian's vocals are really good though. 
