Rock the nation (Montrose) (LP 3248 - 3252)

Montrose  Montrose (CD, Warner Bros. Records, 1973) ****  

Montrose  Paper Money (CD, Warner Bros. Records, 1974) ***  

Montrose  Warner Bros. Presents Montrose! (CD, Warner Bros. Records, 1975) *** 

Montrose  Jump On It (CD, Warner Bros. Records, 1976) ****  

Ronnie Montrose  Open Fire (CD, Warner Bros. Records, 1978) ****  

Genre: NZ Music, pop 

Places I remember: HMV

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Bad Motor Scooter (Montrose); Let's Go (Get On It)

Gear costume: Make It Last (Montrose)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5

Active compensatory factors: Consider that cover for the first album, Montrose, for a bit. Men with shirts off is a hard rock sub-genre right. Doesn't bode well.

The band is named after lead guitarist Ronnie Montrose but is probably best known for giving Sammy Hagar his start (he of Van Halen, Chickenfoot and a solo career).

The boys play hard rock with a lot of spirit. Their debut features a good set of 1973 style rock songs (that's a positive btw), and Sammy's vocals are already impressive, as is Ronnie's guitar work.

Second album, Paper Money, wasn't as strong as the debut but it does have its moments. The slowed down version of The Stones' Connection is an interesting avenue and I Got The Fire has an excellent Ronnie Montrose riff and committed vocals from Sammy. If the whole album had been as good as that effort, it would have been a five-star classic. On the whole though, it's patchy and it has synths (Grrrrr).

Warner Bros. Presents Montrose! was next, but without Sammy Hagar who had clashed with Ronnie on the previous album. New vocalist Bob James (no, not the jazz fusion guy) and a keyboardist had joined the band, so the signs weren't great.

This is a cohesive album and it has all the right moves and Bob is a good rock vocalist...but it doesn't have Sammy.

Jump On It is better for it being Bob's second album. He sounds more distinctive and confident. The first two songs are great and set it up for a pleasurable experience.

Ronnie's guitar moves are great from Montrose to Get On It. He always turns up. I don't have the band's final album before they split. But I do have Ronnie's first solo album - Open Fire.

It starts with an orchestral overture which isn't always a great sign. But when he opens up on second track - the title song, I can relax. 

Edgar Winter helps out and it's an extremely successful instrumental enterprise (Ronnie had clearly had enough of vocalists). He tries a mixture of styles on for size and proves adept at them all. Go Ronnie! What a talented, under-appreciated guy.

Where do they all belong? The band is kind of a hidden gem in the hard rock stakes these days, but they reward rediscovery on at least two of their albums above.