Montrose (album)

Montrose
Studio album by Montrose
Released October 17, 1973 (1973-10-17)
Genre Hard rock, heavy metal, blues rock
Length 32:22
Label Warner Bros.
Producer Ted Templeman
Montrose chronology
Montrose
(1973)		 Paper Money
(1974)
Ronnie Montrose chronology
They Only Come Out at Night
(1972)		 Montrose
(1973)		 Paper Money
(1974)
Sammy Hagar chronology
Montrose
(1973)		 Paper Money
(1974)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

Montrose is the debut album by the California-based hard rock band Montrose released in 1973 on the Warner Bros. label. It was produced by Ted Templeman. The album marks the recording debut of vocalist Sammy Hagar, who would later achieve international success as a solo artist and member of Van Halen.

History

After having done session work for various musicians including Van Morrison, Herbie Hancock and Edgar Winter, Montrose was Ronnie Montrose's first record leading his own band which featured Denny Carmassi on drums, Bill Church on bass, and a then-unknown Sammy Hagar (at that time 'Sam Hagar') on vocals.

While considered a classic by many hard rock fans, tracks from the album received scant radio airplay, with "Rock Candy" and "Bad Motor Scooter" being notable exceptions. It has been reported that the band's label, Warner Bros., did not know how to market Montrose, and, already having the Doobie Brothers and Deep Purple to cover the rock and hard rock genres, saw the band as something of a redundancy on their roster of artists. Though the album was not a big seller upon its initial release, peaking at #133 on the U.S. Billboard chart, it eventually proved to be an international sleeper hit which over a period of several decades has sold in excess of one million copies, attaining platinum status. Often cited as 'America's answer to Led Zeppelin', it is held to be highly influential amongst hard rock/heavy metal musicians including Iron Maiden, who have recorded and/or performed cover versions of songs from the album. Some critics have arguably labeled it the "first American heavy metal album".

Ronnie Montrose chiefly used a Gibson Les Paul, a Fender Bandmaster amp, and a Big Muff fuzzbox by Electro-Harmonix to record the Montrose album.[2]

"Make It Last" was covered by Van Halen in their early club days (available on Van Halen bootlegs).

The album was voted as the 4th best Metal Album of All Time by Kerrang! Magazine in 1989.

Iron Maiden has recorded & performed several cover versions of songs from the album, including "Space Station #5", which was released as the B-side of their single "Be Quick or Be Dead" (1992).

Punk band Stiff Little Fingers used the riff from the "Space Station #5" for the introduction on their single "Suspect Device" (1978).

European release

In 1974, the album was released in Europe via Germany under the title Rock the Nation. This version featured a track listing which duplicated the U.S. release but featured a different front sleeve image that replaced the band's photo with that of a large-busted blonde girl sporting a pink see-through blouse.[3]

Track listing

  1. "Rock the Nation" (Ronnie Montrose) – 3:03
  2. "Bad Motor Scooter" (Sammy Hagar) – 3:41
  3. "Space Station #5" (Hagar, Montrose) – 5:18
  4. "I Don't Want It" (Hagar, Montrose) – 2:58
  5. "Good Rockin' Tonight" (Roy Brown) – 2:59
  6. "Rock Candy" (Denny Carmassi, Bill Church, Hagar, Montrose) – 5:05
  7. "One Thing on My Mind" (Hagar, Montrose, J. Sanchez) – 3:41
  8. "Make It Last" (Hagar) – 5:31

Personnel

Production

References

  1. ↑ Allmusic review
  2. ↑ "Ronnie Montrose | Vintage Guitar® magazine". Vintageguitar.com. 2002-10-28. Retrieved 2012-03-02.
  3. ↑ "Welcome To The Number One Sammy Hagar Discography". Redrockerdiscography.com. Retrieved 2012-03-02.
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