Montrose, 1973

Guitarist Ronnie Montrose has done a number of albums over the years, but this is the one that everyone should really know him for. Montrose had already played with Van Morrison and Edgar Winter before forming his own band. He brought in Bill Church (Bass), Denny Carmassi (Drums) and a young singer named Sammy Hagar to fill out the line-up. The band just takes off and plows straight forward. They don't exactly sound like anyone, but in some ways I think of them in the same ways that I think of Thin Lizzy. In that they are no frills, solid hard rock and they are a bit like the missing links between early 70's stuff like Sabbath, Zeppelin and Purple and the late 70's stuff like Van Halen. This is just solid, very pure hard rock and holds up very well even today. Tracks like "Rock the nation", "Space Station #5" and "Bad Motor Scooter" are all prime examples of just how good these guys were at this point. This album is a must listen for any hard rock/metal fan. It must also be noted then that this is maybe one of the best debuts of the 70's. Unlike many other debuts, these guys were tight from the get go.This is oftentimes looked at as an important hard rock album as well as an important album for guitarists. I agree with that take because Ronnie Montrose has a style that is somewhat unique at the time as his playing very sharp and distinct. Ted Templeman of Van Halen fame does the production and it's a marvelous job too. Sammy Hagar would return to do another Montrose album called "Paper Money" in 1974 before leaving the band. Montrose the band would do a few more album in the mid 70's before Montrose the guitarist went on to do various other projects. However none of his albums has garnered the reputation of this one and rightfully so. I first heard this album back around 1986. It seemed like when Sammy Hagar joined Van Halen that his back catalog got more of a push. Anyways, it's just as exciting to me now as it was then and I still listen to it fairly often. It's also probably my favorite album that Sammy Hagar has sang on.