Taking four songs from 1975's Use Your Imagination, three from 1976's
Its Better Than Working, and adding a handful of minor-hit singles, this 1977 release was designed to serve as an introduction to glam rock legends
Mud. By this time, however, punk was in full swing in the U.K. and
Mud's professional, if unspectacular, pop sound was terribly passé.
Mud Pack offers none of the band's trademark material as recorded by producer
Mickie Most and written by the pop songwriting team of
Nicky Chinn and
Mike Chapman, relying instead on original compositions by guitarist
Rob Davis and bassist
Roy Stiles. The result is a mixed bag of style and substance; more often than not the pair comes across as inferior shadows of the often-brilliant
Chinn and
Chapman. For every lively track, like the rockabilly-flavored "Beating Around the Bush," there is a "Shake It Down," which mimics "Disco Lady" with whistles and cheers and too-precious harmonies. "Under the Moon of Love" sounds suspiciously like "Runaround Sue," while the embarrassingly saccharine "Show Me You're a Woman" illustrates the band's most annoying MOR qualities. The single "Night on the Tiles" hits pretty hard, though, sounding a bit like
Slade-lite, and an inspired, soulful cover of
Bill Withers' classic "Lean on Me" shows hints of the band's previous strength and form. Curious record buyers would be better served by digging up a copy of
Mud's
Best of the 70s compilation, which shows the band in a better light.