Montrose – Montrose (1973)

For a debut album, this is a winner. Sammy Hagar found Ronnie Montrose on his travels on the west coast of the USA and became the singer in his band. Ironically, Sammy Hagar would become the second singer in Van Halen. They, and many others, loved this recording. It’s a definite classic and shines bright, even today.

Rock The Nation starts off the album, and it is truly awesome. It’s a rifftastic and wonderful number. And Sammy Hagar’s unique high octave voice is here. Interstellar Overdrive Part Two? Not quite, but this is very, very good indeed.

Bad Motor Scooter is next, and has some interesting guitar sounds on it. It keeps this song alive, and shows just how underrated this band was at the time. It’s a classic rock tune, listen to it and smile. Sounds much like a distorted Gibson Les Paul with a slide piece added to it. Nice.

The next cut is definitely Interstellar Overdrive Part Two. Space Station #5 is a great piece with some awesome trippy guitar sounds on it. It then bursts into a loud and raw rocker which makes you want to go to the moon and back. Brilliant. It has a great twist at the end.

The follow up is more a song like piece, I Don’t Want It. It has an anthemic chorus to boot. It also shows a great riff off throughout the song. These guys obviously knew how to rock, and very well at that.

Good Rockin’ Tonight arrives next and is an up-tempo piece about dancing, and just having fun in general. Nowadays the lyrics and music style would be canned, but this is just really well done. Was music really better back in those days? We will never know for sure.

Rock Candy – what a tune! It sounds awesome, from the drum lead off, to the riff and to the main part of Sammy Hagar’s singing. Everything about it hits the spot, and is likely the best song from the album. A must hear.

The next song, One Thing On My Mind, is about the music, and the love of a woman who likes to dance away the night. It’s a great anthemic tune, and by this point, we know we have a really great album on our hands.

The last song on the album, Make It Last, is a good piece to close this album. It does sound a little longer than should be, but still, it fades out nicely and we conclude this wonderful album.

Real hard rock starts here. The album has sold steadily over the years, and Sammy Hagar became a star over time. Be sure to check out the reissue with many demos and other goodies that have been previously unreleased.

8/10