Montrose Minnesota

Montrose

Montrose

Warner Brothers Records, 1973

http://www.ronniemontrose.com

REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 07/03/1998

You can argue over which band was the father of heavy metal, anargument I won't even try to touch on. But for my money, the groupthat gave birth to the whole hard rock presence on the radio in the'70s was Montrose.

A veteran of the Edgar Winter Group, Ronnie Montrose was awell-respected guitarist when he formed his own band in 1973. Thatband, featuring future Heart drummer Denny Carmassi, bassist BillChurch, and a young vocalist named Sammy Hagar, epitomized melodichard rock, even if Montrose isn't well remembered in 1998. Their1973 debut effort Montrose is still an enjoyable album, even 25 years afterits release.

The album was once best known for the track "Bad Motor Scooter,"which demonstrated Hagar's talents as a singer as well asMontrose's axe work. However, what is striking about Montrose'sguitar playing for almost the entire album is that he does notindulge himself in flashy solos. Instead, he crafts more controlledsolos that meld with the songs and highlight the whole band, notjust himself. You have to admire Montrose for taking such a stance- it turns out to help strengthen the songs that much more.

That's not to say that Montrose doesn't take any time to put hisguitar through an aerobic workout. On their cover of "Good Rockin'Tonight," which is more of a rock shuffle, Montrose finally letsloose on his guitar. Again, instead of sounding self-indulgent, thesolo almost seems to be called for on this piece, and it fits inperfectly.