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From the Vault...
06/25/2006
#1000 |
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info
Montrose
"Montrose"
© Warner Bros. Records
Rating:
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track listing
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Rock The Nation
Bad Motor Scooter
Space Station #5
I Don't Want It
Good Rockin' Tonight
Rock Candy
One Thing In My Mind
Make It Last
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WSVNRadio Archives
Montrose related sites:
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Montrose
"Montrose"
A Milestone... This week marks
an important situation with WSVNRadio... Since May, 1987, WSVNRadio has been
selecting albums, calling them The Album Pick of the Week... In 1997,
WSVNRadio discovered a great album review website,
The DailyVault.com. The
moderator of the DailyVault suggested WSVNRadio to also feature album reviews.
And since September, 1997, WSVNRadio has been reviewing each album ever since.
Even though our archives lists many non-reviewed albums, we are working on
having each album chosen in our archives to be actually reviewed. Therefore,
if we count the number of weeks since our anniversary date, May 3, 1987, this
week marks the important fact that this week's Album Pick of the Week, and
review is our 1000th Album Chosen!
And the 1000th album is from the band Montrose, with their 1973
self-titled debut.
Montrose was lead by it's guitarist, Ronnie Montrose. Like some hard rock
bands from the 1970s, they would be lead by a promising guitarist with another
musician handling the vocals. Two bands come to mind, Ritchie Blackmore's
Deep Purple, and Robin Trower. Deep Purple would have a few vocalists in the
spotlight, Rod Evans was the original vocalist when they first debuted in 1968,
followed by Ian Gillan, and David Coverdale. Robin Trower, another great
guitarist, inspired by Jimi Hendrix, featured bassist James Dewar, who would
be Trower's prominent vocalist throughout his years in his career. Ronnie
Montrose, like Trower, named his band after him, with a young lead singer by
the name of Sam Hagar. Hagar, Montrose and crew would only record two albums
together, their debut and Paper Money. Hagar would become a much
greater name on his own, with his solo career, and replacing David Lee Roth
in Van Halen.
It is obvious in listening to Montrose's debut, Hagar's vocal and musical
style would become a staple for his own solo career. Montrose's debut
classifies as pure hard rock, as many bands during their heydays of the 1970s.
The album kicks off a great rocker, called "Rock The Nation," and
as the first word implies, this song definitely ROCKS. And for those who are
Sammy Hagar fans, as the vocals start, it's easy to recognize them as Hagar's.
But -- it's not Sammy on his own, it's when he was a young singer for a hard
rocking band called Montrose. "Bad Motor Scooter" is a good rocker,
and it's highlight is Ronnie Montrose's "sound effects" of a racing motor
scooter by his guitar. "Space Station #5" has a dreamy intro, yet it
rocks as good as any early Deep Purple song. Another good rocker is "I
Don't Want It," showcasing another common sound in great 1970s hard rock
style, like again, Deep Purple.
The remake of "Good Rockin' Tonight" is definitely different here --
It is much faster, and hard rock driven. "Rock Candy" also shows a
different direction, as it has a hard rock blues style, as heard in the early
Aerosmith. "One Thing On My Mind" returns back to the common hard rock
style as heard in many songs before it, and what would become Hagar's trademark
rock style. "Make It Last" also has its great moments too, being another
great rock song, with some overdubs on Hagar's vocals.
While growing up in the 1970s, Ronnie Montrose's name was floating around,
yet I didn't really follow his career. Montrose would release albums throughout
the next two decades, with his band Montrose, solo, and, like Ritchie Blackmore,
formed another band called Gamma in 1979 and recorded 3 albums with them until
the early 1980s. Again, I didn't follow his career, but after listning to
Montrose's debut, it's obvious that Sam Hagar (that's how is name is credited
on the album), stole the show. Montrose's debut definitely is a great hard
rock/heavy metal album, and for fans of this music, and Hagar, it will
definitely be enjoyed, especially those who didn't know that Hagar started
out with Montrose. Hagar would begin his solo career in 1976, and joined
Van Halen in 1985.
With Montrose being the 1000th album chosen for WSVNRadio, it's a
good choice, and a great rocking album.
© WSVNRadio.net. All rights reserved.
Review or any portion may not be reproduced
without written permission. Cover art is the
intellectual property of
Warner Bros. Records
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